David malan

ODI World Cup:  Victims of upsets in their previous encounters in the ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023, defending champions England and South Africa meet in a crucial match at the Wankhede Stadium here on Saturday with their title hopes on the line.

Though it may sound a tad early to their fans, England are in trouble in the World Cup, having lost two of the three matches they have played so far. Their stunning 69-run defeat against minnows Afghanistan shook the tournament to the core. They had started the defence of their title with a 9-wicket defeat against New Zealand in a rematch of the 2019 final. Jos Buttler's team won their lone match so far against Bangladesh.

South Africa is in a slightly better position, having won two of their three matches. Their 38-run loss to the Netherlands was equally, if not a bigger, upset of the tournament. But before that, the Proteas defeated Sri Lanka by 102 runs and then got the better of Australia by 134 runs. But the defeat to the Netherlands pulled them down, though South Africa are still in the race for the top four, placed third with four points behind New Zealand and India, who have eight points from four matches.