It's not quite a last-chance saloon for England in the defence of their Cricket World Cup crown – but defeat to South Africa in Mumbai on Saturday would be a seismic blow to their hopes of becoming 50-over world champions again.
Jos Buttler's side were stunned by Afghanistan in their latest group-stage outing and have lost two and won one of their opening three matches in India, while opponents South Africa must also pick themselves up from a shock defeat, having been beaten by the Netherlands on Tuesday.
- South Africa to win
- Aiden Markram top South Africa run scorer
- Heinrich Klaasen to hit most team sixes for South Africa
Proteas Equipped To Bounce Back
South Africa's loss to the Dutch came just two days after England's sorry demise at the hands of Afghanistan, but the Proteas are fancied to bounce back at the Wankhede Stadium.
Temba Bavuma's side were excellent in their first two matches of the World Cup, compiling a tournament record 428-5 in an opening 102-run thrashing of Sri Lanka before thumping Australia by 134 runs.
And the Proteas appeared well on course to make it three wins out of three on Tuesday, having reduced the Netherlands to 82-5 before a counter-attacking 78 from Dutch skipper Scott Edwards swung the match in his side's favour.
Providing South Africa have got Tuesday's loss out of their system, they look to have the measure of an England side whose three performances in India have suggested they are approaching the end of an era.
England had no answer to New Zealand in their opening contest, losing by nine wickets, and then weren't quite as convincing as a 137-run margin of victory suggests against a bang-average Bangladesh side.
They were then deservedly beaten by Afghanistan, and there is a sense that their time at the top of the 50-over game may be coming to an end.
Markram To Take Fight To England
South Africa opener Aiden Markram made just one against the Netherlands, but he is a class act and is fancied to find his form against England.
The usually dependable Chris Woakes has leaked runs in the powerplay overs and it has been evident that England's seam attack lacks the express pace needed to extract something from Indian wickets.
So Markram should fancy his chances of getting South Africa off to a flying start and, despite his failure against the Dutch, he has been in good nick of late.
He hit a century against Sri Lanka and then a fifty against Australia in the Proteas' opening two matches, following on from a couple of stellar showings against the Aussies prior to the World Cup.
AIDEN MARKRAM TOP PROTEAS RUN SCORER
Klaasen Has Six Appeal
Middle-order dynamo Heinrich Klaasen has yet to get going at the World Cup, but scores of 32, 29 and 28 hint that a big score may not be far off for the South African.
Klaasen likes to play his shots and is enjoying an excellent year in one-day cricket, averaging 51.33 in 14 ODIs in 2023.
He has hit 28 sixes in those matches, which is 12 more than he had managed in the previous five years combined, and he could be worth a punt to clear the ropes the most time for the Proteas in Mumbai.
Three of those maximums came in his brisk 32 against Sri Lanka, and England's bowlers could be in trouble if Klaasen gets going.
HEINRICH KLAASEN MOST SIXES FOR SOUTH AFRICA
