T20 World Match Prediction: England Versus South Africa 39th Match. Who Will Win?

South Africa have won three out of four games to date, but they are still in tight spot when it comes to qualification for the semi-finals. Their last match of the Super 12s is against England, who have been one of the best teams at the tournament so far, and it is a match that South Africa need to win. England have won all of their games and have a very healthy Net Run Rate, so they should make it through to the semi-finals, even if they go on to lose. Who will win this match? Read on and find out our prediction.

England Team Preview

This England side have been completely unstoppable in the T20 2021 World Cup to date. They entered this tournament with a squad of quick bowlers and only one full-time spinner and everyone thought that this was a strategy that would fail big time. However, as England have shown us, this has not been the case.

When it comes to their batsmen, there is one player that has stood out above the rest and that is Jos Buttler. Not only did he hammer the Australian bowlers for 71 runs, but he then went and smashed the first century of the competition against Sri Lanka. When it comes to their bowling, Chris Woakes has been very good with the ball, but the Sharjah surface is tricky to bat on and is more helpful to the spin bowlers. Thus, putting your money on Adil Rashid, Liam Livingstone or Moeen Ali to get wickets is not a bad idea.

England have a really strong batting lineup, but Sharjah is not an easy venue to play the aggressive brand of cricket that Eoin Morgan likes his team to play. This is the one surface where their talented batting lineup could end up failing. Put your money on the "To Hit a Six" betting market for players such as Buttler, Morgan, or Jonny Bairstow.

South Africa Team Preview

South Africa know that they need to win this match if they want to be in with a chance of making it to the semi-finals, and even a win might not be enough to see them over the line. If Australia win their match against the West Indies, then it will come down to the Net Run Rate and Australia hold the advantage here.

However, it is not all doom and gloom for South Africa. Kagiso Rabada bowled very well in the last match and he now has a dangerous bowling partnership with Anrich Nortje. Also, the likes of Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi will fancy their chances of picking up wickets on the slow Sharjah surface. This is not a South African bowling attack that can be taken lightly.

The main problem for South Africa has been their batting. This is the match where the likes of Quinton de Kock needs to fire on all cylinders and make a real statement. Him, David Miller, and Aiden Markram are their most dangerous batsmen.

Toss Prediction

The captain that is lucky enough to win the toss will likely opt to bat first. This England team prefer to chase, while South Africa will want to know exactly what they need to do in order to try and improve their Net Run Rate.

Pitch Conditions

The conditions at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium will be helpful for spin bowling, and it will be a tricky pitch to score off. It does get slower as the match wears on, but if any dew forms, then the team that is batting second will have the advantage, that is for sure. The par score on this wicket is about 140, so if the team batting first can score 150-160, they will think that they have a really good chance to win the game.

Our Match Prediction

We are going to put our money on an upset in this game and back South Africa to come out on top. The conditions at this venue are not really to England's liking, and their batting advantage could be negated because of this. To add to this, South Africa also has a really good bowling attack that can cause England numerous issues.

Our match prediction: South Africa to win.