by Renee Israel
With the Tests and ODIs part of the series over the focus is now
on the England versus South Africa T20s. There
are three fixtures scheduled, which are as follows.
1st T20 at Chester-le-Street on Saturday, September 8
2nd T20 at Manchester on Monday, September 10
3rd T20 at Birmingham on Wednesday, September 12
Importance Of England Versus South Africa T20s
The importance of this T20 cricket series lies in that it is
being played just before the ICC T20 World Cup that begins in Sri
Lanka on September 18. It is the final chance for both the teams
to try out players and tinker with the batting order in order to
find the perfect eleven. It is also a time for mind games. The
team that wins will enter the World Cup in a positive frame of
mind.
England is the reigning champion of the T20 World Cup, having
won it in 2010 in the West Indies. Kevin Pietersen was the Man of
the Tournament in that event. He is not in the England T20 squad
for controversial reasons. But in the recently concluded ODI
series England has held its own without Pietersen and that will be
a positive for them going into the T20 series against South
Africa.
The biggest problem for England is Ravi Bopara. He is failing to
fire despite being given repeated chances. In the ODI series he
could just make 22 runs from four innings. Captain Stuart Broad
and Coach Andy Flower will have to take a call on whether to give
him more chances in the T20 games or give match practice to a
potential replacement from the squad of 15.
England will not want to think of the threats they face from the
South African team. Conventional wisdom is to focus on one’s
strengths. But Hamish Amla has been a one man demolition squad in
the Tests and ODIs.
Clearly the England game plans against Amla have failed and they
will have to go back to the drawing board. One thing England
cannot afford is to lose the T20 cricket series 0-3. It would
leave them with a taller mountain to climb in the World Cup.
England Versus South Africa T20 Betting
The online betting site Bet365 offers a number of markets for
the England versus South Africa T20 cricket series. Bet365 will
cover individual fixtures and the odds for the first T20 game have
already been posted.
Bet365 also offers live in-play betting on T20 matches. These
being short duration events are ideal for live betting.
Bet365 has also posted odds for the T20 series outcome. England
has been given odds of 11/10 and South Africa has been given odds
of 8/11.
