Sports Blog 21/06/2017: Twenty20 Preview – England vs South Africa, Wednesday 21st June 2017

After the disappointment of hosting an unsuccessful ICC Champions Trophy campaign, captain Eoin Morgan is looking for an injection of fresh blood when England take on South Africa in the first of 3 T20 fixtures.

Morgan has an eye on the August/September test against the West Indies and, a bit further down the line, the 2020 Twenty20 World Cup, and appears to be using Wednesday’s match to experiment with some new talent. One such player is Mason Crane, who is guaranteed to make his international debut on home turf. Potentially joining the Hampshire spinner are Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Tom Curran and Craig Overton, all of whom enter Wednesday evening without a cap to their name.



They will have some big shoes to fill. Jake Ball, Adil Rashid, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes and star man Joe Root are all absent, rested following the shock Champions Trophy semi-final defeat to eventual victors Pakistan.

There are similar absences from the South African side – who similarly suffered at the hands of Pakistan in the Champions Trophy – namely captain Faf du Plessis, who is at home awaiting the birth of his first child. Instead the Proteas will continue to be led by AB de Villiers, who sits at a Player Performance spread of 36-40 (where its 25 points per stumping, 20 per wicket, 10 per catch and 1 per run).

Interestingly Jason Roy returns to the top of the order for England alongside Alex Hales. Roy, who was actually born in South Africa, had an absolute shocker during the Champions Trophy, forcing Morgan – an ardent supporter both before the tournament and during the group stages – to replace him with Jonny Bairstow in the semis. He heads to the Ageas Bowl with a Player Performance spread of 30-34, aiming to prove Morgan he made a mistake in dropping him this time last week

As for the match itself, despite the likelihood of Morgan fielding an inexperienced side the hosts are still expected to win, with Spreadex offering an England/South Africa Supremacy spread of 5-13 alongside an England to win binary of 54.5-60 to the Proteas’ 40-40.5.