South Africa (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Reeza Hendricks, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram(c), Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lizaad Williams

Shakib Al Hasan: Fully fit. Hridoy is not playing, I come in the team for him. Today is an important game, we have to play our best cricket to win against SA.

Aiden Markram: We will bat first. Trying to approach in a similar way to the English game. It's really hot. It took a toll on everyone, it's advantage fielding in the evening. It proves that anyone can beat anyone. We took lesson from that Netherlands game, it's a new day today. We need to try and repeat the same thing. Ngidi misses out, Lizaad comes in.

South Africa have won the toss and have opted to bat

Toss time.. Bavuma still not available, Markram to lead even today...

Pitch and ground dimensions: The square boundaries are shorter as compared to the straighter ones. You need to hit the deck hard in order to get wickets here. It's similar to the pitch that was played between England and South Africa. A pretty good surface to bat on. The weather suits Bangladesh, but the pitch suits South Africa, reckons Dinesh Karthik. A bat-first pitch, concludes Nasser Hussain.

Temba Bavuma - the South African captain and Shakib Al Hasan - Bangladesh captain, both missed their previous games owing to illness and injury respectively, so it will be interesting to see if they are fit and raring to go in this important clash. "Hello from a sweltering Wankhede. Temba Bavuma is on the field helping the bowlers with their lines. Not sure if that means he will play," quips Telford Vice from the venue. The conditions were really challenging for the players on Saturday, and it won't be any different today. Which team will come out on top in these testing conditions? We shall find out soon, for now stay around for the toss and teams..

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of today's CWC 2023 contest. South Africa lock horns with Bangladesh as the Proteas are on song in the tournament. Barring their lost against the Dutch, they have been clinical across all games, across all departments. Given the way they have brushed aside teams, they are not only the favourites to win today, but also one of the favourites to qualify for the semis. Most of their batters have fired and the bowlers have found their rhythm to perfection as well. On the other hand, Bangladesh won against Afghanistan, but barring that victory they have looked pretty ordinary in the competition. Will they be able to tur the tables around? Only time will tell..

[i]SA - 438/4 vs India. (October 25, 2015) - South Africa won by 214 runs
SA - 399/7 vs England (October 21, 2023) - South Africa won by 229 runs..[/i]

Preview:

After a minor blip, the fast and furious South Africa are back on the highway in full steam and will be looking to power their mean engine into the next gear. Standing in their way are a bruised Bangladesh outfit who will be eager to prove they are not the rabbit in the headlights, hoping that the Proteas are caught napping at the wheel like they were in Dharamsala.

But going by the flogging that the defending champions experienced at the hands of South Africa, Bangladesh's hope might just turn out to be more "Ellis Boyd Redding" and less "Andy Dufresne" a la The Shawshank Redemption. Because South Africa are flying high after the 229-run thrashing they handed England. They have the highest net run rate among all 10 teams in this World Cup and a victory against Bangladesh will propel them to the second spot. Playing another game at the high-scoring Wankhede, where they have familiarised themselves despite all the heat and humidity, is an added advantage to make the Protea Fire continue to burn bright.

Bangladesh, on the other hand, are in the bottom half of the points table and are in dire need of stringing together some victories so that their journey doesn't come to an early end. Their batting has been the main let-down, especially their tendency to suffer collapses and not capitalise on solid platforms. They were 93 for 0 against India before slipping to 201 for 6. Although their start against India was a remarkable improvement from the 56/4 against New Zealand and 49/4 against England, they still haven't been able to come up with a collective batting display.

The South African batters, on the other hand, have been in roaring form, with telling contributions all through the batting order. Hence it is no surprise that they have posted the two highest totals in this World Cup, have the two fastest centuries, and have as many as five three-figure scores from their batters, the most from any team so far in this competition. That Reeza Hendricks, having warmed the bench in the first three matches, jumped at the opportunity arising from Temba Bavuma's illness, goes to show how well tuned the South African batting engine room is. And with the bowlers too not making things any easy for the opposition - South Africa rank third currently for most wickets taken by teams in the 2023 World Cup - Bangladesh need to pull a rabbit out of the hat on Tuesday.

When: Tuesday, October 24 at 2:00 PM IST

Where: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

What to expect: Plenty of runs, with the pitch expected to aid the batters as it has so often done, and plenty of heat too with a maximum of 37 degree Celsius being forecast for the afternoon.

Team news:

South Africa

Bavuma, who missed the game against England on Saturday with an upset stomach, is likely to return at the expense of Hendricks, who replaced him minutes before the toss and scored a scintillating 85 off 75 alongside sharing 121 off 116 with Rassie van der Dussen. Hendricks' probable fate will smack of unfairness for many, especially considering Bavuma has managed 59 runs in three innings with a best effort of 35 and is the only member of the top five who is yet to score a century at this World Cup. But Bavuma is the appointed captain and was South Africa's leading run-scorer in ODIs this year leading into the tournament, remains key to the batting line-up's stability.

Tactics & strategy

Same old same old: blow them away with the bat, make do with the ball. It's not that their attack is weaker than usual but the batting is exceptionally strong. And has set the tone for the team's success so far. South Africa have won all three matches in which they have batted first - totalling 428/5 against Sri Lanka in Delhi, 311/7 against Australia in Lucknow, and 399/7 against England in Mumbai - and lost the only game in which they chased. That was against the Netherlands, no less, in Dharamsala, where they were dismissed for 207 in search of an eminently gettable 246.

Probable XI: Temba Bavuma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Gerald Coetzee, Lungi Ngidi

Bangladesh

A shoulder injury will keep Taskin Ahmed on the sidelines for a while longer. Bangladesh though are hoping that Shakib Al Hasan, who also missed the game against India, returns to full fitness. There has been considerable improvement with Shakib, who suffered a left quad injury in the match against New Zealand. But a final call will be taken after a running session and seeing how he bowls in the nets. There is also the likelihood of Tanzim Sakib getting a look in, considering he spent a lot of time in practice honing his batting skills apart from his primary role as a pace bowler. In this scenario, Shoriful Islam and Hasan Mahmud could make way, although Bangladesh are split between having three pacers or two.

Tactics & strategy

De Kock has had a couple of low scores after starting off with two centuries. Bangladesh will be hoping to take advantage of that through the trio of Mustafizur Rahman, Shakib and Mehidy, who have all dismissed the wicketkeeper-batter twice each. On top of that, the left-arm seamer has also kept him rather quiet (22 runs in 36 balls). Shakib is also a good option against Bavuma and Aiden Markram, who have strike rates of 55.8 and 75 respectively against the left-arm spinner. Meanwhile, Litton Das will be wary of the success Kagiso Rabada has had against him (48 runs in 73 deliveries with four dismissals).

Probable XI: Tanzid Hasan, Litton Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Shakib Al Hasan (c), Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Towhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah, Nasum Ahmed/Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Sakib/Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman

Did you know?

- This will be South Africa's first ODI clash against Bangladesh in Asia since 2015, when they lost a three-match series 1-2. The two teams have a 2-2 head to head record in the World Cup, with Bangladesh winning in 2019.

- The Wankhede has been a favourite hunting ground for South Africa, who posted 438 against India back in 2015 before posting the highest total by any team in an ODI against England a few days back.

- This will be Bangladesh's first match at the Wankhede Stadium since 1998 and also only their second game at this venue.

What they said?

"I enjoy scoring runs more than taking wickets; there's not so much running involved. I just love batting. Whenever I bat, it gives me more joy. Bowling is more hard work. It's nicer seeing a ball fly 80 metres off your own bat than your bowling." - Marco Jansen is growing into his role as South Africa's allrounder.

Squads:

South Africa Squad: Quinton de Kock(w), Reeza Hendricks, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram(c), Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Temba Bavuma, Lizaad Williams

Bangladesh Squad: Tanzid Hasan, Litton Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto(c), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim(w), Mahmudullah, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Mahedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Shakib Al Hasan