South Africa captain Temba Bavuma has been ruled out of the crunch Cricket World Cup clash with England due to illness. Image: @ProteasMenCSA
Proteas World Cup fixture released, tough road ahead
The Proteas will kick-off their World Cup campaign against a qualifying nation before facing their biggest rivals.
South Africa captain Temba Bavuma has been ruled out of the crunch Cricket World Cup clash with England due to illness. Image: @ProteasMenCSA
The Proteas have a tough fixture ahead of the ICC World Cup which starts in October.
Temba Bavuma and his troops will open their campaign on 7 October against one of the two teams from the qualifying tournament.
On paper, their opening game much easier and should they play well in that game, they might have a good tournament. Their second match is against five-time world champions Australia in Lucknow, before facing another qualifying team on 17 October.
Tough World Cup awaits SA Men’s Cricket Team
The Proteas’ first three matches are very crucial and should they win all of them, then it will allow them to play freely throughout the tournament.
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After their third fixture, the Proteas now face the rest of the big guns, with a run of successive matches against title holders England, Bangladesh, Pakistan, New Zealand and hosts India. Those five fixtures should test their World Cup credentials and should they win at least three of those games, they should qualify for the semi-finals given they win their first three matches.
They will play their last match group against Afghanistan on 10 November which they should win but given the tournament is being held in the sub continent, a win for the Proteas might not be a mere formality.
Proteas World Cup fixtures
7 October – South Africa v Qualifier, Delhi
13 October – South Africa v Australia
17 October – South Africa v Qualifier, Dharamsala
21 October – South Africa v England, Mumbai
24 October – South Africa v Bangladesh, Mumbai
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27 October – South Africa v Pakistan, Chennai
1 November – South Africa v New Zealand, Pune
5 November – South Africa v India, Kolkata
10 November – South Africa v Afghanistan, Ahmedabad
