12 years later after that iconic World Cup-winning six by ex-skipper MS Dhoni, the tournament returns to the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai with a game which enthralled this very crowd seven years ago in the 2016 T20 World Cup with probably the best-ever match in the tournament history - England and South Africa. However, this time around, both teams are flawed and on Saturday are looking to forget their respective shock losses as Afghanistan thrashed England in Delhi while the picturesque Dharamsala ended up being a nightmare for South Africa against the Dutch.
England are hoping for Ben Stokes to return on Saturday, which it seems has become a necessity for the defending champions as they are looking like headless chickens in the middle phase with players like Jonny Bairstow and skipper Jos Buttler having not hit form just yet. Mumbai will be high scoring as always and hence England could add a fourth pacer to their side to take care of the in-form South African batting.
On the other hand, the Proteas have their issues to resolve. Chasing. It's been 31 years the Proteas have been playing the World Cup and it seems chasing has been their Achilles heel for the longest time in the tournament history and even the Dutch exploited that. Obviously, bowling has to take a bit of blame for that loss having let the Netherlands get to 245 in 43 overs after having them 141/7. Their death bowling will be tested to the hilt at Wankhede Stadium to the hilt, especially in the absence of someone like Anrich Nortje.
Mumbai weather
Mumbai will be hot and humid. Nothing new but since there is an anticipation of cyclone 'Tej' hitting the shores, the weather was expected to get a little pleasant. There is no imminent threat to the city from the cyclone and hence, Saturday looks like another warm day for the players and the crowd in Mumbai. It will be clear throughout the day with the temperatures hovering around a high of 37 degrees and a low of 28 degrees.
Probable playing XIs
England: Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Jos Buttler (capt), Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, Liam Livingstone, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Reece Topley
South Africa: Temba Bavuma (capt), Quinton de Kock, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Gerald Coetzee, Lungi Ngidi
Live streaming and telecast
The England-South Africa clash will kick off at 2 PM IST with the toss scheduled to take place half an hour before. The match will be live on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 1 Hindi HD and other language-specific channels in Kannada, Tamil and Telugu on TV. The live streaming of the ENG vs SA match will be available on the Disney+ Hotstar app and website. Mobile users can watch the match for free on Hotstar.
