The ICC Champions Trophy continues on Saturday night with a big clash between England and South Africa which will shape the playoff picture in Group B. Check out our full preview and betting tips for the clash below.
2025 ICC Champions Trophy Preview & Betting Tips
England vs South Africa
Karachi, Saturday 8.00pm (AEDT)
England
It’s been a tough tournament for England so far, losing to Australia in their opening match before suffering a shock defeat to Afghanistan a few nights ago. Bowling first, England got off to a great start, having Afghanistan 3-37, however, opener Ibrahim Zadran smashed 177 off just 146 balls to lead his team to a fantastic total of 7/325.
Despite a big hundred from Joe Root, England were unable to chase down the total, falling 18 runs short after being bowled out on the second last ball of the match. It’s unclear whether they will make any changes leading into their last match, but given their hopes of making the playoffs are dashed, they could opt to mix it up a little for their final match of the tournament.
Predicted XI: Ben Duckett, Phil Salt, Jamie Smith, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler, Liam Livingstone, Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
South Africa
The Proteas are yet to put a foot wrong in the tournament so far, winning their opening match against Afghanistan in dominant fashion before their following game against Australia was abandoned due to weather. Ryan Rickelton was the standout performer in that opening game, smashing 103 off 106 balls before Kagiso Rabada did his thing with the ball, taking 3/36.
The Proteas will likely have at least one big change to make coming into this game, as hard hitting middle order batsman Heinrich Klaasen has recovered from an elbow injury which kept him out of the first game.
Predicted XI: Ryan Rickelton, Tony de Zorzi, Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Wiaan Mulder, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi
Prediction
Tough game to call here, England are arguably at their best when they have nothing to play for and can throw caution to the wind. That’s the situation they’ll be in here and they’ll be desperate to spoil South Africa’s party.
However, I think South Africa should be too strong here. They have won three of their last four ODI games against England, all four came fairly recently in 2023. Their batting line-up is strong at the moment with anchors Klaasen and Miller two of the best white ball batsmen in the world and their bowling unit is just as impressive. Back them to win as slight favourites here.
South Africa to win
$1.75 (1 Unit)
Player Prop
Klaasen has been near unstoppable in both forms of white ball cricket over the last few years. He is currently they No.4 ranked ODI batsman in the world and in his last five innings he has reeled off scores of 21, 86, 97, 81 and 87. In 7 ODIs against Englnad he averages 48.5 at a healthy strike-rate of 126.
