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 one-day series and first ODI.

Where to watch

Live on Sky Sports Cricket & Main Event, 11am Tuesday

South Africa v England best bets

England to win 3-0
2pts 11-4 Betfred
Back this tip with bet365

Rassie van der Dussen top South Africa series runscorer
1pt 9-2 bet365
Back this tip with bet365

Tom Curran over 39.5 performance points in first ODI
3pts 5-6 bet365
Back this tip with bet365

South Africa v England preview

England beat South Africa 3-1 in the Test series, winning the last three matches in impressive style, and another away victory looks likely in the 50-over series.

It is England’s first ODI assignment since last July’s remarkable World Cup final against New Zealand although they are without a trio of stars from that Lord’s triumph for the three-match series against the Proteas.

Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler have been rested and paceman Jofra Archer is out with an elbow injury but the world champions remain a force to be reckoned with in the 50-over format.

Openers Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow both scored centuries in the warm-up games while Joe Root and Eoin Morgan are classy operators in the middle order.

Spinners Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid bring further experience to the squad – something that is lacking in a South Africa side starting to rebuild after a disastrous World Cup campaign in 2019.

Soundly beaten by England in their opening game, the Proteas never recovered and further defeats to Bangladesh, India, New Zealand and Pakistan left them to reflect on an ignominious group-stage elimination.

A new-look side will take the field at Newlands but the Test series exposed the lack of talent in South African cricket at the moment and new ODI skipper Quinton de Kock has a tough job on his hands.

De Kock is confident he can balance the demands of captaining, opening the batting and keeping wicket.

South Africa v England schedule

ODI series
Tuesday Cape Town
Friday Durban
Sunday Johannesburg

Twenty20 series
February 12 East London
February 14 Durban
February 16 Centurion

He is 2-1 favourite to top-score for South Africa in the series – a feat he achieved lower down the order in the Tests – but preference is for Rassie van der Dussen, who has shown great consistency at the start of his international career.

Van der Dussen had a decent Test series against England, finishing second on the hosts’ runscoring list, and also proved his white-ball quality at the World Cup. He made 50 in the tournament opener against England, an unbeaten 67 against runners-up New Zealand, and 95 as the Proteas signed off with a surprise win over Australia at Old Trafford.

That effort against the Aussies took Van der Dussen’s one-day record to seven half-centuries in 14 innings and he is a tempting price to lead the way in a batting unit that lacks depth.

World Cup winner Mark Wood is another player to be rested after his starring role in the Test series so England’s seam-bowling department features Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, Sam and Tom Curran, and uncapped Lancashire quick Saqib Mahmood.

Tom Curran’s performance line for the first ODI in Cape Town is set at 39.5 by bet365 (one point per run, ten per catch and 20 per wicket) and the Surrey all-rounder can exceed that mark.

Curran has plenty of experience bowling the death overs in Twenty20 and 50-over cricket and he finished his Big Bash stint with Sydney Sixers by claiming 13 wickets in his last six games.

He has an excellent strike-rate in OD1s, picking up 27 scalps in 17 games, and his six wickets in three games against Pakistan last May earned him a place in the World Cup squad.

The senior Curran brother didn’t get a game at the tournament but he remains an exciting part of England’s limited-overs plans.

Two wickets would be enough for the performance bet to cop but Curran can also contribute with the bat, scoring 47 not out, 31 and 29 not out in his last three ODI innings.

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