South Africa v Bangladesh: World Cup betting preview, tip, team news & TV

TV: Sky Sports Cricket / Main Event, 10.30am Sunday

The Oval, London

South Africa can be forgiven for losing the World Cup curtain-raiser against spirited tournament favourites England, but failure to defeat Bangladesh on their return to the Oval could put them under early pressure.

Despite taking a wicket with the second ball of the match, the Proteas were unable to capitalise on a rare glimpse of vulnerability from England's batsmen.

Quinton de Kock's knock of 68 was the highlight in a relatively flat team performance at the crease and improvements will need to be made on their ground fielding if they are to tame the Tigers in London.

Best bets

Bangladesh have been on the fringes of the world's elite since appearing in their first World Cup in 1999 but there's reason to be optimistic about their chances in England this summer.

Victory in their recent Tri-Series against Ireland and the West Indies was a welcomed boost for Mashrafe Mortaza's men, who made the quarter-finals of the last World Cup in 2015.

They have won three of their last four one-day international series and a line-up featuring Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim could cause problems for South Africa's bowlers, who failed to make inroads into England's top order.

Of those, wicketkeeper-batsman Rahim has been the most consistent.

He scored 32 not out, 63, 35, 36 and 90 in his matches against the Windies and Ireland before blasting another 90 against India in their recent warm-up fixture.

That knock came on a spin-friendly Sophia Gardens pitch against India's premier spin duo Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal and he can expect a similar experience at the Oval.

South Africa are continuously over-reliant on De Kock with the bat, while pacemen Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada took time to assert themselves against England's confident top-order.

Should Bangladesh continue playing the aggressive cricket that has been winning them series recently, they could inflict one of the shocks of the tournament on the Proteas in the capital.

Recommendations
Bangladesh
1pt 3-1 general
M Rahim top Bangladesh batsman
1pt 9-2 bet365, RedZone

Team news
South Africa
Hashim Amla, who suffered a blow to the grille of his helmet off the bowling of England's Jofra Archer, is a potential absentee after not appearing in training. David Miller is expected to replace him. Dale Steyn continues his recovery but is unlikely to play until their third match against India on Wednesday.

Bangladesh
Tamim Iqbal will miss his team's opener after sustaining a wrist injury in Friday's practice session.

Venue
England's total of 311 in the World Cup opener at the Oval was deemed small by their standards but players anticipating a batting paradise should take note of India being bowled out for 158 there in the 2017 Champions Trophy final.

Afghanistan were also skittled out for only 160 in their final warm-up match at the London venue against England.

Weather
Cloudy with little chance of rain and temperatures reaching 20C.

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