England Tour Of South Africa – Tour Preview

England are set to play a 3-match T20I series in South Africa followed by 3 ODIs. The T20I series will begin on 27 November 2020 and will end on 1 December 2020 with the third T20I. The first and third T20Is will be played in Cape Town, whereas the second one will take place in Paarl.

Tour Information

After winning the Cricket World Cup and consistently performing well in the T20 format, England are going to play against South Africa. In the previous series held in December-February 2019-20, England won the last 2 T20 matches consistently with a thin margin after losing the first one to secure a series win. All 3 matches were thrilling and were lasting almost until the last ball was bowled.

This year, England are going to play in Africa. This time again it will be a thrill to follow the event, but judging by the current form of both teams’ players, England have more chances to win this tour and they will definitely be strong contenders. England will win the series by 2-1.

Match Analytics and Odds

This is the first limited overs international series for both teams after the IPL 2020. England’s top-order batting lineup will be key performers for them as all top-order batsmen have scored some runs in the IPL also. Jonny Bairstow and Joss Butler performed well in the last IPL and England’s T20 captain, Eoin Morgan, had an amazing IPL run. Ben Stokes along with Sam Curran will be the players to watch out for in the series and are among the best all-rounders in the current scenario. Another key player is Jofra Archer who has been consistently performing well for the team.

On the other side, South African pacers had a wonderful IPL tournament with both Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje included in the list of the IPL’s top 10 wicket-takers. Captain Quinton de Kock has been in good form and similarly, Faf du Plessis has huge experience in the middle order and has played consistently for CSK in the IPL 2020. The two surprise picks for South Africa are Glenton Stuurman and Junior Dala. Spinners Adil Rashid and Moin Ali for England and Bjorn Fortuin, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj for South Africa will play a crucial role in the middle overs.

Except for the players who have taken part in the IPL 2020, many players from South Africa have not played cricket since March 2020. Hence this series will be their first international series after such a huge gap.

Stats of the previous series between England and South Africa

The following are some key stats from the previous series played in 2019-20:

Eoin Morgan was the top scorer of the series and scored 136 runs in 3 innings at an average of 68.00 followed by Quinton de Kock with 131 runs in 3 innings.

Top scorers from the T20 series

Lungi Ngidi with 8 wickets from 3 matches and Andile Phehlukwayo with 5 wickets from 3 matches were the top wicket-takers.

Top wicket-takers from the last series

Match Predictions

In this tour, the matches will be played in Cape Town and Paarl which are traditionally high-scoring venues. The series could turn out to be a thrilling one and there’s every chance of it going to the decider in the 3rd match of the series. Both teams have T20 specialist players in addition to good batting and bowling attacks. England are bookmakers’ favourites for this series and have a slight edge over South Africa. Cape Town especially seems more suitable to England. South Africa does have the advantage of playing home, but England will definitely be tough to beat in this format of the game. Thus, we think England have high chance to win this series 2-1.

Preview Summary

This T20 series will be an important one for the South African team because they will be looking forward to starting their international campaign after a long-lasting gap. The English team have played some matches during the pandemic and seem to be in great form. Both teams will try to finish on a good note before playing the new season the next year. This is a tough call to make, but England will bring the trophy home.