ENG vs SA, ICC World Cup: England captain Buttler eyes revival against South Africa at happy hunting ground

The last time the two teams met at the venue, way back in 2016 during the T20 World Cup, England chased down a target of 230 with two balls to spare.

England, led by Jos Buttler, suffered a shock loss to Afghanistan in its previous match and will look to turn the tides against South Africa. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

England and South Africa, following losses to Afghanistan and Netherlands, respectively, will look to get their World Cup campaign back on track, facing each other at the Wankhede Stadium on October 21.

In ODIs, the two teams have met 69 times so far, with South Africa winning 33 times, tying one while five games ended in no result.

“We have very much moved on (from the Afghanistan loss) and we’re fully focused on the game tomorrow night. We can’t change what happened in the previous game. We trained really well yesterday and today,” said England captain Jos Buttler.

The shock defeat led to some soul-searching for the Three Lions. “We had a few days to let the defeat sink in. We had some good conversations and the energy and hunger around practice has been very high,” he said.

Afghanistan beat an unsuspecting England to script a historic 69–run victory, ending its 14-match losing streak in the World Cup since 2015. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

The last time the two teams met at the venue, way back in 2016 during the T20 World Cup, England chased down a target of 230 with two balls to spare.

Buttler has fond memories of that outing.

“It’s one of my favourite games that had a lot of value in terms of where we were going as a team and the direction we wanted to play,” Buttler said.

“That style is a different format. We want to find ways to make a play, to put the opposition under pressure in lots of different ways.

“That doesn’t always mean hitting fours and sixes, it means can we push back when the opposition is on top or can we really take the initiative in different ways and that’s what we want to live by as a team…”

The venue has always been a happy hunting ground for Buttler, where he amassed 746 runs in 23 IPL (Indian Premier League) innings between 2016 and 2023 and more than 160 international runs.

Jos Buttler of Rajasthan Royals celebrates after scoring a hundred for Rajasthan Royals at Wankhede Stadium in the Indian Premier League. | Photo Credit: PTI

“This is one of the great grounds in India. I love playing cricket here. It’s a fantastic cricket wicket,” he said, “I’ve enjoyed playing here before. I started my IPL journey here with Mumbai Indians as well, so it’s always a place with fond memories…”