England will be looking to win the ICC Champions Trophy for the first time since it was first introduced in 1998 but will have to first defeat South Africa in what promises to be a thrilling showdown at the Oval on Wednesday.
After a comfortable final group win over New Zealand, England ran out Group A winners, South Africa on the other hand managed to grab second in Group B finishing behind India who face Group A runners up Sri Lanka on Thursday.
South Africa will be looking to bring back the memories of 1998, the first ICC Trophy when it was in Knockout form, since then they have failed to reach the semi-final stage of the tournament so they will be hoping to continue the form they have shown and reach the final.
England will know that they can rely on a strong batting performance as previously shown by Alastair Cook, Joe Root, Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell. With batting figures of 269 and 293 in their group outings England show evidence of a strong batting attack that will need to be stopped by South Africa's bowlers.
Dale Steyn will be one of South Africa's hopes ahead of their encounter with England, Steyn was a key performer in their rain delayed match against the West Indies on Friday, he took two wickets with a run rate of 5.50 per over.
The fast paced bowler did bowl 5 wides although and if the game is close he may be considered a risky approach but South Africa will also look towards Robin Peterson who also took a wicket against West Indies with an identical run rate to Steyn's.
In terms of England's bowlers, James Anderson, James Tredwell and Stuart Broad are all fully capable of taking wickets and have shown that in the group games. Tredwell will come off the back of a hattrick taken against the Kiwis whilst Anderson will as well. Broad, who took two against New Zealand also.
So it is shaping up to be a thrilling showdown with both teams looking to prove a point in what should be a packed Oval crowd on Wednesday morning.
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