South Africa v England, 3rd T20I: Fantasy Preview

South Africa would look for a consolation win when they take on England in the third and final Twenty20 International at Newlands, Cape Town on Tuesday (December 1). The home team put up a good fight in the first two T20Is, which went down to the last over, but it was England who emerged victorious both times.

HEAD TO HEAD

Overall: Matches – 20 | SA – 9 Wins | ENG – 10 Wins | NR 1

Last 5 T20Is: SA – 1 Win | ENG – 4 Wins

Suggested teams

While you could go for the above team, you also have the option of choosing your own team from cricket.com Fantasy Research Centre. Based on algorithms we come up with six different teams that could fetch crucial points.

Ground details and team combination

The past record might suggest something different but the surface at Newlands is more favourable to the batsmen than Boland Park, Paarl, which hosted the second T20I on Sunday. England chased down the target of 180 in the first T20I with four deliveries to spare, and the surface didn't really have much for the bowlers. Meanwhile, the visiting side struggled to hunt down the target of 147 at Boland Park because of the sluggish nature of the surface.

Spinners here have been more economical but it's the fast bowlers who have picked up the major chunk of wickets in the last year or two. While spinners have leaked runs at an economy of 7.2 and have a strike rate of 19.8 here since 2019, pacers have conceded at 8.5 but have picked up a wicket every 17.7 deliveries. Both South Africa and England have some outstanding pacers and it would be ideal to let them dominate your bowling line-up, but at the same time, Adil Rashid and Tabraiz Shamsi have been amongst wickets and you should have at least one of them in your XI.

Considering the series has already been done and dusted, expect both teams to make some changes in their respective line-ups.

Captain selection

Dawid Malan: The top-ranked T20I batsman averages over 47 in this format and has gone past 50 in half of his 18 T20I innings, including a century against New Zealand. Malan got out for 19 in the first encounter but played a key role in the second T20I to help his team chase down a tricky total. The 33-year-old crafted 55 off 40 balls and looked quite compact in the middle. With two T20 World Cups in the next two years, the left-hander would be eager to finish this series on a high, and could prove to be a safe bet when it comes to fantasy cricket.  

X-Factors

Quinton de Kock: The wicketkeeper-batsman played a massive role for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2020 and helped them win their fifth title. The left-handed opener scored 503 runs at an average of 35.93 and a strike rate of 140.5. No other South African batsman has scored more runs than de Kock in T20Is since 2019. He has only played 11 games in this time period but has managed to slam 412 runs at an average of 41.2 and a strike rate of 157.8. De Kock managed identical scores of 30 in the first two games and would now look to convert it into something big in the final T20I.

Adil Rashid: "Rashid was outstanding at Newlands and almost went unnoticed as he always does. He's a big part of our team," said Eoin Morgan about his legspinner who has been a consistent performer for England over the last few years. Rashid scalped two wickets in the first T20I but didn't get any despite bowling well in the second. The boundaries at Newlands are slightly bigger and you could expect Rashid to be amongst wickets on Tuesday.

George Linde: The spin-bowling all-rounder made his T20I debut in the first game and has straightaway stamped his authority. The left-arm spinner scalped two wickets in the first game and also bowled well in Paarl. On top of that, he could also give you some points via his batting. The lower-order batsman has managed scores of 12 and 29 in this series, and is a proper utility player.