🏏ICC Champions Trophy 2025: South Africa vs England, 11th M, Gr B🏏 - Page 4

Originally posted by: WildestDreams

Thanks for the tag and thread, Madz.❤️

I thought it was India vs NZ today

Almost time for the toss. South Africa could bring in Heinrich Klaasen today, after he sat out there opening win over Afghanistan with an elbow problem. England will need to settle on a replacement for Mark Wood, after he knacked his knee

Wajid Jawaid, meanwhile, has had a wicked thought: "Aren't South Africa the only team that can pull even this off? I am referring to losing by 200 runs in a crunch match when all they need to do is not to lose by that margin!"

Pitch Report: It's pretty warm out here, the good news is that there is no chance of rain today. Talking about the dimensions, 62m to my left and 67m to my right and 79m down the ground. It's the quickest outfield in the tournament so there's value for shots. A lot of cracks, looks very Australian in nature, it's not going to hurt the batters much. After dark, it turns more for the spinners. South Africa have already played here against Afghanistan so that gives them an advantage. It looks like a very good surface for batting, reckon Shaun Pollock and Ramiz Raja.

England have won the toss and have opted to bat

England have won the toss and have opted to bat

Jos Buttler: We are gonna bat first today, looks like a decent wicket, a few cracks there. I felt like it was time, so I didn't want to take more time to take that decision.

Jos is like, I don't care. What ever happens happens. I want to get out of here as soon as I can.

England have won the toss and have opted to bat

Jos Buttler: We are gonna bat first today, looks like a decent wicket, a few cracks there. I felt like it was time, so I didn't want to take more time to take that decision. It was an easy decision and I will do it for one last time, hopefully we can do well. A bit of sadness as well, it's an honour to captain your country, it's something you dream about. Saqib Mahmood comes in.

Aiden Markram: We are actually happy to chase, haven't chased in this comp yet. Two guys have had illness around the camp, Tony and Temba miss out. Unfortunate that they miss out but hopefully they will recover.

Aiden Markram: We are actually happy to chase, haven't chased in this comp yet. Two guys have had illness around the camp, Tony and Temba miss out.

England win the toss and bat, Buttler gets the pick one last time. "Looks a decent wicket, few cracks it in," he says, adding that South Africa's win over Afghanistan here informed England's thinking. On stepping down as captain, he says: "Felt like the right time, no need to wait around and make that decision. Time to move on. Honoured to do it one last time and would like to go out with a good performance."