England have made one change to their team for the third one-day international against South Africa on Sunday.
Surrey all-rounder Jamie Overton will replace Saqib Mahmood for Sunday’s match at the Utilita Bowl in Southampton, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10.30am.
England, 2-0 down in the three-match series, will be playing for pride.
England saw their hopes of ODI series victory over South Africa end with a game to spare on Thursday, following a crushing seven-wicket loss at Headingley with a narrow five-run defeat at Lord’s, putting South Africa 2-0 up.
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Ben Duckett has been rested from the upcoming T20 series against South Africa
The England players are facing a demanding schedule. Those two losses to South Africa in little over 48 hours came in the days following The Hundred and after a packed international summer, as England contested a hard-fought five-Test tussle against India in which every match went to a fifth day.
Joe Root, Ben Duckett, captain Harry Brook and Jamie Smith have played regularly during that period, while Jofra Archer has also played across all three formats.
Duckett is on the team sheet for the final ODI at the Utilita Bowl this weekend but it was announced on Friday that he will now be rested for the three T20s that follow, starting in Cardiff on Wednesday.
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Jos Buttler was bowled by a superb dipping slower ball from South Africa’s Lungi Ngidi as England slipped to an ODI defeat at Lord’s
‘Good enough and fit enough’
Brook has said: “We want to try and play our strongest side in every white-ball game. We’ve World Cups coming up – the T20 World Cup this winter and the one-day World Cup the following winter.
“It’s easy to say that [we’re tired] but, in my eyes, that’s just an excuse. We’re good enough and fit enough to be able to keep playing for the time being.
“There’s obviously a bit of a break at the end of this series so it’s one game at a time, and try to be fit and raring to go for the rest of this series.”
Trescothick admits England revival is needed to book World Cup spot
England assistant coach Marcus Trescothick accepts England’s struggling One Day International side cannot afford to take their World Cup spot for granted, stressing the need to “climb those rankings”.
Back-to-back defeats against South Africa have kept them rooted at eighth in the ICC standings. For a side who were trailblazers and world champions in 2019 that is a significant fall from grace and one that even raises concerns over their automatic place at the next tournament.
Co-hosts South Africa and Zimbabwe are already guaranteed to be there, with the next eight berths determined by the table. While there is plenty of time to pull away from the likes of Bangladesh and the West Indies before the cut-off, there is an realisation in camp that the malaise cannot continue.
England’s Will Jacks walks off after being dismissed against South Africa in the first ODI
“If you look solely in terms of making sure we qualify for the World Cup, that is the situation we find ourselves in at the moment,” Trescothick admitted.
“We’re in an interesting position where we need to climb those rankings. Longer term there’s also a bigger picture and we need to look at being at the top of those rankings and beyond. We want to go and compete in the biggest competitions like we did in 2019.
“No doubt it’s been a challenging period and a sustained amount of time where you’re trying to adapt and get back to the formula we want. The journey hasn’t been easy, of course not, but I definitely feel we’re improving and moving in the right direction even though the last two results have been disappointing.”
England vs South Africa fixtures
All live on Sky Sports, all times UK and Ireland 🕰️
- First ODI (Headingley): South Africa won by seven wickets
- Second ODI (Lord’s): South Africa won by five runs
- Third ODI: Sunday September 7 (11am) – Utilita Bowl
- First T20: Wednesday September 10 (6.30pm) – Sophia Gardens Cardiff
- Second T20: Friday September 12 (6.30pm) – Emirates Old Trafford
- Third T20: Sunday September 14 (2.30pm) – Trent Bridge
Watch England’s ODIs and T20s against South Africa live on Sky Sports, with the third ODI at Utilita Bowl on Sunday (10.30am on air, 11am first ball). Stream without a contract.
