WT20: Bruised England face Proteas challenge in battle of equals

Bruised and battered by Chris Gayle’s mauling on Wednesday, England are faced with a must-win situation as they look for ways to contain South Africa in their ICC World Twenty20 match in Mumbai on Friday.

Shell-shocked by Gayle's record 47-ball century, England need to win beat the Proteas if they are to progress to the semi-finals from Group 1.

However, it does not look easy for England, who lost 0-2 in the bilateral series against the Proteas just before the WT20.

England, the 2010 champions, face a massive task against a strong rival batting line-up comprising the innovative A B de Villiers -- holder of the world's fastest 50, 100 and 150 in ODIs --  big-hitting David Miller and the solidity of captain Faf du Plessis, Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock and J P Duminy.

The key, perhaps, would be the effectiveness of England's spinners -- Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali – who were sent to the cleaners by the big-swinging bat of Gayle.

They were tilted over for 171 as recently as February 21 at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg by the Proteas' bowling attack comprising young tear-away pacer Kagiso Rabada, Kyle Abbott, Chris Morris and Imran Tahir.

South Africa chased the target for the loss of just one wicket, with openers de Villiers and Hashim Amla smashing half centuries to help the side complete a 2-0 win.

In the opening game of that series at Cape Town, Tahir bamboozled the England batsmen with a four-wicket haul before South Africa chased down the small total of 134 for the loss of seven wickets.

With Steyn back into the squad after his injury woes, South Africa's bowling attack looks truly formidable, though the track at the Wankhede is a bit different from those back home.

England, on their part, could rejig their bowling attack a bit and rework on their strategies to stop the South Africans, who have the chokers’ tag hung around their necks.

Apart from their spinners, England's pace battery was also ripped apart by Gayle and Marlon Samuels, who belted sixes off Ben Stokes and David Willey.

If England want to alter their pace combination they have Liam Plunkett, a late replacement for the injured Steve Finn, to call upon to fill in for one of the pacers.

Also in their reserves is slow left-arm bowler Liam Dawson who could replace Rashid, whose confidence could have been dented after being torn apart by Gayle.

Ali’s all-round ability could help him keep his place in the team for the next game.

But the simple fact is that the England bowlers need to get their act together against South Africa. To be fair, the attack was also handicapped by dew on the outfield, which made gripping the ball difficult.

The toss, won by Darren Sammy, proved an important one for West Indies, and come Friday, the team winning the toss could adopt the same ploy that was used by Sammy, so as to avoid bowling and fielding when the dew fall is heavy.

The one major plus in England's heavy six-wicket defeat to the Windies was the forthright batting, sans the T20-style slogs, by the stylish Joe Root.

His elegant 48 was the platform on which England posted a competitive score of 182. Had Root continued for a while, they would have crossed the 200-mark.

England can take heart from his approach as well as those of opener Alex Hales, wicket-keeper Jos Buttler, who made a quick-fire 30 with three soaring sixes, and captain Morgan himself (27 not out in 14 balls).

It's not going to be an easy task for Morgan's side, who have a 3-1 record against the Proteas in past WT20 events, though they do have the personnel to deliver the goods under pressure.

And it's also not an impossible task as was shown recently by Australia, who came back from 0-1 to defeat the Proteas in their backyard 2-1 prior to the start of the WT20.

Teams (from):

South Africa: Faf du Plessis (capt), Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock (wk), AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Chris Morris, Aaron Phangiso, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn, David Wiese.

England:  Jason Roy, James Vince, Alex Hales, Joe Root,  Moeen Ali, Eoin Morgan (capt), Jos Buttler (wk), Ben Stokes, Sam Billings, David Willey, Liam Plunkett, Reece Topley, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Liam Dawson.

Match commences at 7:30 pm.

• Points Table: ICC World T20 2016
• Coverage: World T20 2016