England vs South Africa: ICC World Cup 2019, Match-1, Preview

The 12th edition of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup is going to begin on Thursday, May 30 with the inaugural match to be played between hosts England and South Africa at The Oval in London.England are hosting the World Cup for the record fifth time as they were the founding hosts, organizing the first three tournaments in a row – in 1975, 1979 and 1983, and later they hosted it in 1999.However, this has been unfortunate for England that despite hosting the mega event for four times could never win the title whereas Australia won it for a record five times. West Indies and India also won it twice and, Pakistan and Sri Lanka once. England were the runners-up for three times – in 1979, 1987 and 1992.Now this time, England are considered favourites for lifting the coveted World Cup trophy on the basis of their consistent form, recent performances and also having an advantage of home conditions – ground, crowd, weather, etc.On the other side, South Africa are playing World Cup for the eighth time since 1992 and they also hosted it in 2003 but they never qualified for the final of the mega event despite reaching the semi-finals for four times – in 1992, 1999, 2007 and 2015.England, who participated in all the eleven editions of the World Cup, have played 72 matches, winning 41 and losing 29 with one tied and one no result. Their winning percentage was 58. 45 whereas South Africa, who appeared in seven editions of the World Cup, have played 55 matches with 35 wins and 18 losses as two were tied but their winning percentage of 65.45 is better than England’s. Now both countries are facing each other in the opening match of the World Cup 2019 with the following squads:England: Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow (wicket-keeper), Jos Buttler (wicket-keeper), Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.South Africa: Faf du Plessis (captain), Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock (wicket-keeper), JP Duminy, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Chris Morris, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir, Rassie van der Dussen. The match will start at 3-00 pm (Pakistan standard time).

from The News International - Sports http://bit.ly/2KcDjr2