It does not get tighter than this. It has been a neck-and-neck contest, and no one wants to give an inch. The South Africa-England T20I rivalry is tied at 12-12. The two arch-rivals have played out some memorable encounters in the past and will again lock horns in an important Super 8 clash in the 2024 T20 World Cup at the high-scoring St Lucia on Friday. Such are the groupings that the winner of this high-octane match is likely to go through to the semi-finals. Who will it be - England or South Africa - who will make it their Lucky 13th?

England started the tournament slowly but have roared back to form in the last few matches. South Africa has been outstanding in the bowling department but their famed batting order has been much below-par in the competition.

LAST 5 MATCHES

SOUTH AFRICA - LWWWW

ENGLAND - WNRLWW

THE LIKELY PLAYING XIs FOR SOUTH AFRICA & ENGLAND

South Africa likely XI

Batters - Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller

All-rounders - Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj

Wicketkeeper - Quinton de Kock

Bowlers - Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi

England likely XI

Batters - Phil Salt, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook

All-rounders - Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran

Wicketkeeper - Jos Buttler

Bowlers - Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Chris Jordan, Mark Wood

Statistical Performance (South Africa)

1. David Miller

David Miller rescued South Africa from 12 for 4 against the Netherlands scoring an unbeaten match-winning 59. Miller is one of the most dangerous middle-order batters in limited-overs' cricket and can clear the boundary at will.

DAVID MILLER IN T20 WORLD CUPS

2. Anrich Nortje

Anrich Nortje is in red-hot form in the tournament. He has a great propensity to pick wickets and has raised his game in T20 World Cups.

ANRICH NORTJE IN T20 WORLD CUPS

Players who can make a Difference (South Africa)

1. Heinrich Klaasen

Klaasen is widely regarded as the most destructive finisher in white-ball cricket in the world. He is particularly severe against spin and has a strike rate of 150 against the slower bowlers. Klaasen was in blistering form in the IPL where he had a strike rate of 238 in the death overs.

2. Tristan Stubbs

Stubbs is another devastating South African batter capable of annihilating any bowling attack in the world. Stubbs was in imperial form in IPL 2024 where he blasted 378 runs in just 198 deliveries at a strike rate of 191. Stubbs has a strike rate of 211 in the final 4 overs in all T20 cricket.

Statistical Performance (England)

1. Harry Brook

Harry Brook showed glimpses of his batting prowess against Namibia and has a strike rate of close to 170 against pace in T20I cricket.

HARRY BROOK IN T20Is

2. Jofra Archer

Jofra Archer will be a handful with the new ball and has an excellent record in T20I cricket. His ability to extract extra bounce off a good length makes Archer a very awkward customer to face especially in the powerplay.

JOFRA ARCHER IN T20Is

Players who can make a Difference (England)

1. Phil Salt

Phil Salt was in devastating form in the IPL and will look to maximize the powerplay at St Lucia. Salt has had a brilliant start to his T20I career and has an aggregate of 757 runs in 25 innings at an average of of 33 and strike rate of 167!

2. Jonny Bairstow

Jonny Bairstow is one of the most feared hitters in international cricket and has an aggregate of 1607 runs in 69 innings for his country at an average of 29.8 and strike rate of 137.8.

Team Head to Head

South Africa and England have faced each other 25 times in T20Is and the rivalry stands neck to neck at 12-12.

ENGLAND v SOUTH AFRICA - HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD

MATCHES ENGLAND WON SOUTH AFRICA WON NO RESULT

T20 WORLD CUPS 6 2 4 0

LAST 5 T20Is 5 2 3 0

ALL T20Is 25 12 12 1

Player head-to-head

1. JOS BUTTLER vs KAGISO RABADA IN T20Is

INNINGS - 6

BALLS FACED - 20

RUNS SCORED - 36

WICKETS - 0

Jos Buttler has hammered the great Kagiso Rabada and not been dismissed by him even once in six innings. This will be a great battle in the powerplay.

2. JONNY BAIRSTOW vs TABRAIZ SHAMSI IN T20s

INNINGS - 10

BALLS FACED - 65

RUNS SCORED - 117

WICKETS - 2

Jonny Bairstow has a great record against Tabraiz Shamsi and this will be an interesting battle in the middle overs.

3. HEINRICH KLAASEN vs ADIL RASHID IN T20s

INNINGS - 7

BALLS FACED - 46

RUNS SCORED - 84

WICKETS - 3

Heinrich Klaasen is widely regarded as one of the most destructive finishers in white-ball cricket in the world and has a strike rate of 150 vs spin in T20I cricket. His battle with Adil Rashid could define the outcome of the match.

Venue and Pitch

The Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet at St Lucia has hosted 21 T20Is. The captain winning the toss has opted to bat on 12 occasions. The probability of winning the match after winning the toss is 47.6%. The average score in the first innings is 166 for 6 while the average score chasing is 150 for 7. Australia chased down Scotland's 180 at St Lucia in a thriller in this World Cup.

St Lucia is a great wicket for batting. 160 has been crossed 19 times at the venue in 42 innings. The team chasing has a marginal advantage winning 10 of the 19 matches at the venue. The two highest team totals in this tournament have been witnessed at St Lucia. Sri Lanka piled on 201/6 against the Netherlands while the West Indies blasted 218/5 against Afghanistan.

Match Prediction

It will ultimately be a clash between England's batting and South Africa's bowling. The wicket at St Lucia is good for batting thus advantage England but not by much. Jos Buttler is likely to score big in this match. Nortje will be the trump card for South Africa with the ball while the two danger-men in batting will be Klaasen and Stubbs. Based on the relative strength of both units, England start marginal favourites with a 55% chance of win.

Fantasy XI

And finally, this is our Fantasy XI for the South Africa vs England encounter. We have 6 players from South Africa and 5 from England. Anrich Nortje will be lethal with the new ball while Shamsi and Rashid will control the middle overs. Jos Buttler will open the innings with Stubbs while the middle order will comprise of Klaasen, Miller and Bairstow.

Our backup players include Aiden Markram as batter, Liam Livingstone as the all-rounder and Jofra Archer as the bowler.

FANTASY XI FOR SOUTH AFRICA vs ENGLAND

Wicketkeeper: JOS BUTTLER (C)

Batters: DAVID MILLER, HEINRICH KLAASEN (VC), JONNY BAIRSTOW, TRISTAN STUBBS

All-rounders: MOEEN ALI, SAM CURRAN, ADIL RASHID

Bowlers: ANRICH NORTJE, KAGISO RABADA, TABRAIZ SHAMSI

BACKUP PLAYERS:

BATTER - AIDEN MARKRAM

BOWLER - JOFRA ARCHER

ALL-ROUNDER - LIAM LIVINGTONE

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