RSA v ENG, 1st T20I – Fantasy Cricket Tips
by Karthik Atchuta
Date: 27 Nov, 2020 – 09:30pm IST
Venue: Newlands, Cape Town
RSA T20I Squad: Quinton de Kock (c/wk), Faf du Plessis, Temba Bavuma, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Junior Dala, Bjorn Fortuin, George Linde, Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Janneman Malan, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lutho Sipamla, JJ Smuts, Glenton Stuurman, Pite van Biljon, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne
ENG T20I Squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonathan Bairstow, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, Mark Wood
Fantasy XI:
Batsmen: Faf du Plessis, Eoin Morgan, David Miller
WK Batsman: Quinton de Kock (captain), Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow
All Rounders: Ben Stokes (vice captain), Sam Curran
Bowlers: Lungi Ngidi, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid
Given the form Quinton de Kock is in, I am instinctively going with the Proteas skipper as my fantasy captain – handy with the gloves and as a aggressive opener, I hope this pick wouldn’t disappoint. Ben Stokes displayed supreme form with the bat in the later stages of IPL. His batting role could be flexible in England’s unit given the strong top order they pose. Thus, I went with him tentatively as a vice captain to start with in the first match of the series. If he hits notch with his bowling form he would soon be my captain going forward.
Bowling wise I went with slog over specialists Lungisani Ngidi and Jofra Archer along with Adil Rashid who has the capability of making break throughs in the middle overs. Dwaine Pretorius who usually was my X-factor pick – known for his big hits and decent bowling abilityis ruled out with hamstring injury – hence Sam Curran if he gets a chance in the XI is my choice. Moeen Ali is another choice to reckon with as he had a good outing the last time in South Africa.
Batting wise I went with the ever reliable Faf du Plessis, English captain Eoin Morgan and David ‘the killer’ Miller. Not picking Eoin Morgan did prove costly in the past and the form he is in T20 International cricket, he is a sure shot pick. David Miller offers the strike rate points even though he comes to bat in the last few overs not scoring more than a 30 odd. On his day, David Miller can be a deciding factor to the end scoring.
Surprise surprise! I did drop Kagiso Rabada from my fantasy XI – majorly because of his work load during IPL and the fatigue. Also, his record at Newlands is not so great. He picked 4 wickets in 5 matches he played at the venue – averaging 47.25 going at over 9 runs an over.
Probable XIs:
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (c/wk), Reeza Hendricks, Faf du Plessis, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lungi Ngidi, Lutho Sipamla
England: Jos Buttler (wk), Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Eoin Morgan (c), Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer
My dream team will feature Marcus Trescothick and Anil Kumble
