England wins toss, elects to field against unbeaten South Africa at T20 Cricket World Cup

GROS ISLET, St. Lucia (AP) — Defending champion England won the toss and elected to field against unbeaten South Africa in the Super Eight stage of the Twenty20 Cricket World Cup on Friday.

South Africa, which won its four group games in the first round, and England made a winning start in Super Eight, Group 2, beating co-host United States and the West Indies respectively.

England retained the same team that thumped the West Indies by eight wickets at the same venue, chasing down a target of 181 with 15 balls to spare.

“We fancy another chase,” England captain Jos Buttler said at the toss. “Potentially a bit of moisture in the pitch and I’m sure the ball will swing.”

England has started to gain momentum after a bumpy start to the defense of the title it won in 2022. After its opening World Cup group game against Scotland was washed out, the team boosted its net run-rate with wins over Oman and Namibia.

South Africa tinkered with its side and brought back fast bowler Ottneil Baartman in place of wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi, who was expensive against the United States.

South Africa captain Aiden Markram said he would have bowled first had he won the toss, but will “try to put a good score on the board and squeeze them after that.”

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Line-ups:

England: Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Reece Topley.

South Africa: Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram (captain), David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Ottneil Baartman.

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

The Associated Press