South Africa and England clash in the final Group B match of the Champions Trophy in Karachi on Saturday with the Proteas needing at least one point to advance to the semifinals.
With the match between Australia and Afghanistan ending in no result because of rain and the two sides getting a point each, Australia are assured of a place in the semifinal.
Afghanistan are still in the race for the final four. However, South Africa still hold the advantage with a game in hand and a higher Net Run Rate (NRR).
A win against England will be enough to seal the deal for the Proteas. However, their opponents will also be eyeing to close the tournament with a win. Afghanistan are totally dependent on England for their progress.
The equations are quite simple:
Afghanistan will qualify If England bat first, they have to win by a margin of 207 runs for any target if the match lasts the full 50 overs.
South Africa are likely to qualify if they bat first and don't get bowled out cheaply as their their NRR won't go below Afghanistan's. Their chances will be hampered if England chase very quickly.
However, South Africa's chances are strong because they have done quite well in the one match that lasted the full quota of 100 overs. They defeated Afghanistan by a huge margin in their opening match.
For South Africa, opener Ryan Rickelton is in good form while Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, and skipper Temba Bavuma have done well in recent times. In the bowling department, Kagiso Rabada has been on fire while Keshav Maharaja could make life difficult for the England batters as the conditions would help the spinners.
South Africa coach Rob Walter said they are focussed on their job and not thinking about other factors. He said though England are out of contention, they are capable of turning out a world-class performance on Saturday.
I suppose if you look at the quality of the players, I think that the English players, they're quality players, they do well. League cricket around the world, they do well, which should suggest that they're adaptable. I think there are good cricketers that to be honest could turn out tomorrow and deliver an international standard performance against us.
But England are in disarray with skipper Jos Buttler deciding to step down from captaincy after this match.
Yeah, Just to let you all know, I'm going to stand down as England captain. It's the right decision for me, it's the right decision for the team, and hopefully, somebody else who can come in and work closely alongside Baz to take the team back to where it needs to be.
Buttler, who was supposed to be England's batting mainstay, has not done enough while the rest of the batters barring Ben Duckett have fared poorly. They did post a huge total of 351 against Australia in their opening match but could not defend it as their bowlers looked ineffective against Josh Inglis.
The boys will hopefully put on a good show to send him off from his captaincy journey. I want to say I feel incredibly sad for Jos, I think we've all seen over the last couple of years how much he's invested in captaining his country and trying to get the very best out of those guys around him, and people forget that he won a World Cup only a couple of years ago and that can never be taken away from him.
Squads:
South Africa: Temba Bavuma (c), Tony de Zorzi, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Rassie van der Dussen, Corbin Bosch
England: Jos Buttler (c), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Tom Banton, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Jamie Smith, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Saqib Mahmood, Phil Salt, Mark Wood.
