England and South Africa are set for a three-match ODI series, with the first game starting on Wednesday. This series has come at the right time for the two teams as the Champions Trophy is schedule for June 1 start, and it will be ideal preparation for England and South Africa ahead of the ICC event.
It gives England and South Africa an opportunity to try different combinations and get everything right before they feature in the all-important Champions Trophy, which is hosted by England. Irrespective of the teams and the combination, they choose for the series, victory will always be on their minds in this series.
England have always been one of the teams on the rise. They are a young team, which has been doing extremely well, especially in limited overs cricket. England are an aggressive unit, and with players like Alex Hales, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes led by Eoin Morgan, they are a team, which will be difficult to beat on their home soil.
Having said that, South Africa are always a special team. And when the team has a fit AB De Villiers, they look super strong, capable of beating any team in the world, anywhere. They hardly have weak points in their squad.
Hashim Amla, JP Duminy, De Villiers form their core of the batting while Chris Morris and Kagiso Rabada will shoulder the pace department.
Looking at both the teams for the three-match ODI series, it could be highly competitive. The team, which wins the series, can head into the Champions League with immense confidence behind their back as well.
England vs South Africa three-match ODI series schedule
1st ODI @ Leeds
Date – May 24
Time – 2 pm local time (6:30 pm IST)
Result: England won by 72 runs
2nd ODI @ Southampton
Date – May 27
Time – 11 am local time (3:30 pm IST)
Result: England won by 2 runs
3rd ODI @ Lord's
Date – May 29
Time – 11 am local time (3:30 pm IST)
TV listings: India – Star Sports 1/HD. UK: Sky Sports 2/HD. South Africa: SuperSport.
England squad: Eoin Morgan(c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
South Africa squad: Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers(c), Jean-Paul Duminy, David Miller, Chris Morris, Wayne Parnell, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Imran Tahir, Dwaine Pretorius, Keshav Maharaj, Farhaan Behardien, Morne Morkel
MATCH RESULTS AND HIGHLIGHTS WILL BE UPDATED AFTER THE MATCHDAY
