The first of three one day internationals between South Africa and England takes place in Bloemfontein on Friday and we take a look at the squads, recent form and the all important betting.
This is a 3 match series with the second contest also staged in Bloem on Sunday before the teams move on to Kimberley for third match. Let's start with the squads.
South Africa: Temba Bavuma (captain), Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Sisanda Magala, Keshav Maharaj, Janneman Malan, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen
England: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Dawid Malan. Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Olly Stone, Reece Topley, David Willey, Chris Woakes
Recent Form
South Africa lost 2-1 in India in October last year, winning the first contest by 9 runs but losing the next two by margins of 7 wickets.
Prior to that South Africa were in England in July 2022, they won the series opener by 62 runs, lost the second contest by 118 runs and what would have been the
decider was washed out.
South Africa lost their more recent home series 2-1 to Bangladesh in March but they did beat India 3-0 in an earlier home series in January.
England were in Australia in November last year and they lost the series 3-0 with the margin of their defeats being 6 wickets, 72 runs and 221 runs.
Just prior to the aforementioned drawn series at home to the Proteas in July last year they hosted India in a 3 match series. They lost the first match by 10 wickets, won the second by 100 runs and then lost the decider by 5 wickets.
Head to Head
Overall the teams have met 66 times with South Africa winning 31 to England's 29 with 1 tie and 5 no results
The most recent head to heads on SA soil came in Feb 2020 and a 3 match series was shared 1-1.
The Venue - Mangaung Oval, Bloemfontein
10 of the last 12 ODI's at this venue have been won by the Proteas with a 1 tie (against England in 2005) and 1 defeat (to England by 39 runs in 2016).
The most recent ODI on this ground saw the Proteas beat Australia by 6 wickets in March 2020 chasing down the Aus target of 271 with 9 balls remaining with Janneman Malan 129 not out.
You can check the weather forecast here
The Betting - 1st ODI
At the time of writing South Africa are 14/10 to win the match and England are 11/20
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
The Verdict
A tough task for the Proteas although England's recent form in this format is well below par.
I'll look to the top bat markets and whilst the most recent ODI here was a while back the happy memories Janneman Malan will have of that game means his price
makes some appeal.
For England Harry Brook gets my vote.
Bets: Top South Africa Run Scorer Janneman Malan at 4/1 with Sportingbet
Top England Run Scorer Harry Brook at 4/1 with Sportingbet
Risk Free First Bet Up to R2,000 back if you don't win
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
Subscribe to our free weekly betting mailer which will include our best and value bets below.
