South Africa have pulled rabbits out of the hat time and again in this ICC World T20 - pulling off wins when they looked destined for defeat. On Saturday evening, another rabbit or three against England in Chittagong, and they would have made it into the semifinals.
[Read the report HERE]
Having lost their first match to Sri Lanka in Group 1, South Africa looked like they might bow out early from another ICC tournament when they faced the brunt of New Zealand's powerful batting. However, that magic man Dale Steyn pulled them out of seriously troubled waters, with some help from Imran Tahir, before the duo were at it again, taking victory when defeat looked inevitable against the Netherlands.
As a result of those two nerve-wracking wins, South Africa find themselves with destiny very much in their hands - beat England and they are the second team to make it to the semis in this tournament after India managed to do so on Friday from Group 2.
"If we win two or three games comfortably, people are accused of peaking at the wrong time, and if we win two close games, people say we are playing badly," South Africa coach Russell Domingo said. "We can take a lot of positives out of the way we dealt with the pressure in these two tight games and we can fall back on those experiences when we get into tight games as the competition progresses."
With Sri Lanka and New Zealand playing each other, and England having lost one match already, only one other team will be able to make it to three wins if South Africa top Stuart Broad's men on Saturday.
However, a victory will be far from easy, though, and not just because of the Proteas' blow-hot, blow-cold form, particularly in their batting.
Where to Watch Live:
ICC World T20 2014: England vs South Africa Live TV and Streaming Information (Match starts 7.30 pm local time, 7 pm IST, 9.30 am ET, 1.30 pm GMT)
| Country | TV Broadcaster |
| India | Star Sports 1, Star Sports 3, Star Sports HD1 |
| US and Latin America | ESPN |
| UK and Ireland | Sky Sports |
| Europe | Eurosport |
| Canada | Sportsnet |
| Australia | Fox Sports |
| Sub Saharan Africa & South Africa | SuperSport |
| New Zealand | Sky Sport |
| Middle East and North Africa | OSN Sports |
| Pakistan | PTV and Ten Sports |
| Sri Lanka | CSN |
| Bangladesh | Bangladesh TV, Maasranga TV and Gazi TV |
| Country | Live Streaming Information |
| India | HERE |
| US | HERE |
| UK | HERE |
| Middle East | HERE |
| Canada | HERE or HERE |
| Australia | HERE |
| South Africa & Sub Saharan Africa | HERE |
| Latin America | HERE |
| New Zealand | HERE |
| Europe | HERE |
| Pakistan | HERE or HERE |
| Sri Lanka | HERE |
England are coming off a rollicking victory over Sri Lanka, where they chased a massive target of 190 against the formidable Sri Lanka. Alex Hales' immaculate hundred, and an equally wonderful half-century from Eoin Morgan saw England through to their first win in the ICC World T20 2014 this year, while putting them well in with a chance of making the semifinals.
England were the most unfancied side to make it to the final four out of the top eight teams in the tournament, and nothing will give them more satisfaction than to silence their doubters with another couple of wins - against South Africa and the Netherlands.
"It would be massive for us, we are underdogs in this tournament, playing in the subcontinent historically we haven't gone too well," century hero Hales said after guiding England to victory against Sri Lanka on Thursday.
"This win will help us build momentum for the next two games, we've still got to play Holland and SA. I think if we perform to the best of our ability we'll get two wins."
Team news: England: Stuart Broad's knee troubles continued with the skipper skipping practice on Friday. But the fast bowler was confident he would be OK to play in the match on Saturday. Jade Dernbach and Tim Bresnan have not performed with the ball as well as they, or England, would have liked, and Chris Woakes will hope he gets an opportunity, even if it looks unlikely.
South Africa: Captain Faf Du Plessis is out of the game after being suspended for a slow over rate, meaning AB De Villiers will don the skipper's hat. Morne Morkel might come back to the playing XI, along with Wayne Parnell, who has returned from Mumbai where he attended a court hearing. Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Beuran Hendricks are the likely two to make way for Morkel and Parnell.
Key men: England: While all the spotlight was firmly placed on Hales, and rightly so, it was a delight to watch Morgan bat. The left-hander can be destructive and elegant at the same time, and he will look to kill the Proteas softly.
South Africa: Cannot look beyond Steyn and Tahir, who have pulled their team out of serious trouble time and again.
England: Michael Lumb, Alex Hales, Moeen Ali, Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Chris Jordan, Stuart Broad (capt), James Tredwell, Jade Dernbach.
South Africa: Hashim Amla, Quinton De Kock, JP Duminy, AB De Villiers (capt), Farhaan Behardien, David Miller, Albie Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Dale Steyn, Mornel Morkel, Imran Tahir.
