Daijiworld Media Network

London, Jun 19 : Hello and welcome to the coverage of the first semi final of the Champions Trophy. Let's start with the big news: Dale Steyn has been ruled out of the game after he failed a fitness test. England have concerns too. Swann is not a sure starter and England will not risk him ahead of the Ashes if he is not completely fit. Bresnan will miss the game as well; he has gone to be with his who is pregnant.

England have won the toss and elected to field

AB de Villiers: 'We've done very well in England over the last two years, hope it gets better today. We would have bowled first as well. We had a lot of discussion before the toss on what to do, we were not sure. Steyn is unfortunately not ready yet. We've got a good team spirit at the moment. We aren't worried about whatever has happened in the past. We are proud to be here and we represent a very proud nation. Kleinveldt is playing in place of Steyn.'

Cook: 'We were desperate to get into the semi final and it was good to get through at Cardiff. The wicket here does something initially. Swann and Bresnan are out, for different reasons. Tredwell is playing in place of Swann. '

Teams:

England (Playing XI): Alastair Cook(c), Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Ravi Bopara, Jos Buttler(w), Stuart Broad, James Tredwell, Steven Finn, James Anderson

South Africa (Playing XI): Hashim Amla, Colin Ingram, Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers(w/c), Jean-Paul Duminy, David Miller, Ryan McLaren, Robin Peterson, Chris Morris, Rory Kleinveldt, Lonwabo Tsotsobe

Match preview

Hosts England take on South Africa in the first semi-final of the Champions Trophy in London on Wednesday. While South Africa would be desperate to perform well and shed their 'chokers' tag; England, on the other hand, will be looking for some winning momentum before the Ashes. Expect a mouth-watering clash as both teams will fight for glory and a golden chance of getting close to the coveted trophy in the final ICC Champions Trophy tournament.

England

Tournament so far: Won against Australia by 48 runs, Lost to Sri Lanka by 7 wickets, Won against New Zealand by 10 runs.

Team description:

A strong and confident batting unit coupled with an unpredictable but talented bowling attack, England start as one of the favourites to win the cup.

The English batting has been in form all throughout the tournament with noteworthy performances from the top order batsmen. Skipper Alastair Cook has been wonderful in all three matches and along with Ian Bell, has given England good starts. In the previous match against New Zealand, his brilliant knock of 64 runs which helped England reach a respectable total also won him the Man of the match award. Number three batsman Jonathon Trott has supported the openers well and Eoin Morgan, Joe Root, Jos Buttler, Ravi Bopara have given the required stability to the middle order. When required, their bowlers are also known to to hit a few lusty blows and boost the score. Overall, England's batting is their strength and they will be keen on exploiting it further to their advantage.

The English bowling attack has mostly been unpredictable, falling short on many occasions. In their first match against Australia, they gave a fairly decent performance, restricting the Aussies to 221/9 but then were not able to defend a total of 293 runs against Sri Lanka and managed to take only three Lankan wickets. Even in the last rain-affected match against New Zealand, they won narrowly by only 10 runs as they were unable to stop the run-flow in the middle overs. Only James Anderson seems his usual self, maintaining his form of previous season and attacking the batsmen well. Sadly, his partners Tim Bresnan and Stuart Broad have been pretty expensive and LOOKED lacklustre. Graeme Swann has only played one match so far and done nothing exceptional to write home about. Surprisingly, Ravi Bopara has been very good and contributed effectively with both bat and ball.

With a fantastic and in-form batting line-up, England just needs to concentrate on bowling a disciplined line and length. If they are able to do that and put up a solid team effort, South Africa will indeed find it very difficult to counter-attack.

Players to watch out for: Alastair Cook, Ravi Bopara, James Anderson

Probable XI: Alastair Cook (c), Ian Bell, Jonathon Trott, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Ravi Bopara, Jos Buttler (wk), Tim Bresnan/James Tredwell, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson

South Africa

Tournament so far: Lost to India by 26 runs, Won against Pakistan by 67 runs, Tied with West Indies (D/L method)

Team description:

South Africa have finally made it to the semi-finals but not so confidently. They will have to thank the Duckworth Lewis (D/L) method for ending their match against West Indies as a tie and giving them an opportunity to progress forward. But mostly, throughout the tournament, they have been very mediocre and inconsistent and have a lot of work ahead if they want to reach anywhere close to the final title.

On paper, South Africa boast of a power-packed batting line-up which in reality has failed to live up to the expectations. Openers Colin Ingram and Hashim Amla have looked good in one match each but have been unable to click as a unit. The remaining batsmen have struggled to convert good starts into decent scores. One expects huge scores from the likes of David Miller, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis and JP Duminy and the Proteas will be hoping that these big guns fire against the formidable English bowling attack.

Spearheaded by the best pace bowler in the world, the South African bowling attack is an intimidating one. The return of Dale Steyn has given them something to cheer about after the unexpected return of Morne Morkel due to an injury and Steyn has not let them down. Steyn bowled well in the match against West Indies and took two crucial wickets. He only managed to bowl 6 overs in the last match and struggled thereafter. The news is out that Steyn has failed the fitness test and would not be taking part in this crucial game. Morkel's replacement in form of new-comer Chris Morris has been encouraging with the youngster giving off a good impression. Ryan McLaren has been in a surprisingly good touch and also wielded the bat just as effectively.

The Protean fielding has been remarkable as usual and they would look to derive inspiration from it and try to curtail the run-flow from England.

Players to watch out for: Dale Steyn, Ryan McLaren, AB de Villiers