England, South Africa Looks Take Lead

London: Having taken back the number one ranking in the 50-over version from the visitors, the hosts will be keen on retaining it and go 2-1 up in the series.

England could well go with an unchanged side which would still mean no place for Jonny Bairstow. Ravi Bopara's tight 10 overs in the previous match will probably earn him another outing despite his batting struggles. Samit Patel did not bowl in last game, so in theory Bairstow could replace him.

On otherhand, Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and JP Duminy - with this batting order, South Africa have in them a line-up that is capable of winning the match from any position. While the openers Smith and Amla have been scoring pretty well and are in good form with the bat, de Villiers and Duminy have not done much in this series.

Teams from:

England: Alastair Cook (captain), Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott, Ravi Bopara, Eoin Morgan, Craig Kieswetter (wk), Samit Patel, James Tredwell, James Anderson, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Tim Bresnan, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Bairstow, Chris Woakes.

South Africa: Hashim Amla, Graeme Smith, Dean Elgar, AB de Villiers (captain & wk), Faf du Plessis, Jean-Paul Duminy, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Imran Tahir, Albie Morkel, Ryan McLaren, Justin Ontong

Pitch and conditions
It would be good to see a one-day pitch with some pace and bounce to encourage stroke play. Now that September has arrived the start time to day games is a little earlier which may encourage some movement for the pace bowlers, but Lord's is usually pretty flat. The forecast is for an overcast, but dry, day.

Stats and trivia

Morne Morkel needs three wickets to reach 100 in ODIs
England have won the two previous ODIs at Lord's against South Africa, both by seven wickets, in 2003 and 2008. James Anderson and Graeme Smith played in the 2003 match which was the NatWest Series final.
James Anderson requires one more 4-wicket haul to surpass Darren Gough as the England bowler with the most 4-wicket hauls in ODIs.

Match facts
Sunday September 2, 2012
Start time: 10.15am local (0915 GMT)

Scores	Upcoming	Results
Australia vs India - 4th Test South Africa vs Pakistan - 1st Test Zimbabwe vs Afghanistan - 1st Test 1st T20I - New Zealand v Sri Lanka - December 28, 06:15 GMT 2nd T20I - New Zealand v Sri Lanka - December 30, 06:15 GMT 3rd ODI - South Africa v Pakistan at Johannesburg Pakistan won by 36 runs (DLS method) 3rd ODI - Zimbabwe v Afghanistan at Harare Afghanistan won by 8 wickets (with 139 balls remaining)

Related links

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