England take on South Africa in the second of a three-match One Day International (ODI) series at the Rose Bowl in Southampton on Saturday.
Having won the first ODI by a 72-run margin on Wednesday, the hosts will be looking to seal the series as early as tomorrow and head into the 2017 Champions Trophy, starting 1 June in London, on a high. South Africa, on the other hand, have little time to put behind the loss and make a comeback to keep the series alive.
England look strong contenders for the Champions Trophy this year and their performance at Leeds would have sent a strong message to the other teams in the race.
Put into bat, the Three Lions were led from the front by skipper Eoin Morgan, who struck a 93-ball 107. While Alex Hales laid a solid platform with a 60-ball 61, Moeen Ali gave the late impetus to the team with a quickfire 77 as England scored more than 100 in the last 10.
Later in the day, Chris Woakes, fresh from his successful Indian Premier League stint, skittled the South African chase with four wickets. Hashim Amla (73), Faf du Plessis (67) and AB de Villers (45) got starts, but none of them were able to steer the team past the line.
South Africa were let down in the first ODI because of their batsmen's poor shot selection and some shoddy death bowling without proper plans for opposition batsmen. Facing a must-win situation tomorrow, the visitors will be well-served if their key players of the likes of skipper De Villiers, Hashim Amla and Imran Tahir.
England though will be concerned about the availability of all-rounder Ben Stokes after the all-rounder injured his knee in the series opener.
Team News
England
Possible XI: Morgan (c), Roy, Hales, Root, Bairstow, Buttler (wk), Ali, Woakes, Willey, Plunkett, Wood
South Africa
Possible XI: De Villiers (c), Amla, De Kock (wk), Du Plessis, Duminy, Miller, Morris, Parnell, Rabada, Tahir, Phehlukwayo
