South Africa v England: ODI cricket betting preview, free tips & where to watch

Free cricket tips, best bets and analysis for South Africa v England in the third ODI in Johannesburg.

Where to watch

Live on Sky Sports Cricket, 8am Sunday

Best bet

Temba Bavuma to score over 27.5 runs
2pts 5-6 Coral, Ladbrokes

Joe Root top England runscorer
1pt 7-2 Sky Bet

Match preview

Frustrated by South Africa in the first ODI and by the weather in Friday's second game, world champions England are hoping for a better result at the third time of asking in Johannesburg on Sunday morning.

Rain permitted only 11.2 overs of play in the second ODI in Durban, during which South Africa – who won the series opener by seven wickets – progressed to 71-2.

That abandonment leaves England needing a victory at The Wanderers to square the one-day series and they are 4-7 to see off a Proteas side who are rebuilding after their dismal failure to reach the semi-finals of last year’s World Cup.

Heavy showers are forecast to disrupt play once again in Johannesburg so pre-match bets should be kept modest given the likelihood of a reduced-overs contest.

One man aiming to cement a place in the South Africa side is number three Temba Bavuma, who made a century against Ireland on his debut in 2016 but has played only three subsequent games in the 50-over format.

The recalled Bavuma made an instant impression by scoring 98 in the first ODI against England and he struck a fluent 21 off 17 balls before being pinned lbw (on review) by Chris Jordan just before the abandonment in Durban.

He is clearly in fine fettle, having made a career-best first-class score of 180 for the Lions against the Dolphins last month, and the number three can exceed a runs line of 27.5.

Joe Root’s main impact on this series has been dismissing dangerman Quinton de Kock in both games but the England man could star with the bat in Johannesburg.

Root was just getting started in the first ODI, scoring 17 off 21 balls without a boundary, when he was run out by a livewire piece of fielding from Rassie van der Dussen.

Root warmed up for this series with 91 off 89 against an Invitational 11 in Paarl and had a cracking one-day series in South Africa in 2016 with scores of 52, 38, 125, 109 (at The Wanderers) and 27.

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