Roy v Rabada, Archer v De Kock...the key battles as England face South Africa in the World Cup opener

The Cricketer takes a look at the head-to-head battles which could define the World Cup opener at The Oval as England and South Africa begin their campaigns

Jason Roy vs Kagiso Rabada
Warm-up games tell you very little. In truth, their primary purpose appears to centre around providing the ICC with a further couple of rounds of fixtures to chuck onto any broadcast rights. For the teams, they represent little more than an unwanted opportunity to pick up needless injuries. England appear to have come through just about unscathed. And in Jason Roy, their second practice game – against Afghanistan – provided him with the perfect occasion to batter himself into prime form.

An unbeaten 89 off just 46 deliveries was a mixture of classy brutality and intimidating swagger. And as the ribbon is finally cut on this long-awaited World Cup, Roy, in the comfort of his home ground at The Oval, seems primed to kick things off with a bang.

Tasked with stopping him, of course, is Kagiso Rabada. Arguably the world’s premier fast bowler, the 24-year-old feels like something of an anomaly in a competition being seen as a 'my bat is bigger than your bat' convention, where bowlers will be little more than cannon fodder to an array of bludgeoning six-hitters. Rabada, though, will not stand for any of that. Quite simply, the guy is operating on a different level.

With Dale Steyn already ruled out of the tournament opener, there is yet more onus on his successor as the leader of the Proteas' attack. He has proven time and again that he is up to the task and on a day that promises to be something of a run-fest, his 10 overs could go some way to dictating the outcome. Last time he faced England in an ODI, by the way, he took four wickets as South Africa rolled their hosts for 153 at Lord’s.

^{England have not lost an ODI at The Oval since 2015.}

Jofra Archer vs Quinton de Kock
By the same token, South Africa have a top-order dasher of their own. A left-hander who simply oozes talent, there are few batsmen easier on the eye than Quinton de Kock in full flow. Although he didn’t take part in his side’s first warm-up game against Sri Lanka, his game looked in fine order against the West Indies.

In the 12.4 overs possible before persistent rain took hold, the wicketkeeper found the time to whip, clip and flash his way to an unbeaten 37. An ODI average of 45.56 in 106 innings highlights an immensely dangerous prospect. He will – at one point or another – take this World Cup by storm.

England, however, will hope he saves it for another day. And in Jofra Archer, fast-tracked into an all-conquering one-day side specifically for showdowns like this, England will think they have a man capable of toppling the South African opener.

There is little more that needs to be said of Archer’s talents; when questions have been asked, he has answered them with his searing pace, an accurate toe-crusher of a yorker and a nasty bouncer.

Whether it all comes to fruition is every England fan’s great query. Even Virat Kohli has earmarked his IPL rival as an ‘X-Factor’ player, a game-changer for this England side. He should be. Nothing suggests he won’t. Only, this is England and World Cups we’re talking about…

De Kock averages 66.14 in ODI cricket against England.

A battle of expectation…
And that, really, is the big question hanging over these two nations. Traditionally, neither of these sides have dealt well with expectation. South Africa have built up their own litany of infamous moments – of misfortune, of collapses under pressure, of rank incompetence. Allan Donald’s run out, Herschelle Gibbs’ drop, Shaun Pollock’s Duckworth-Lewis miscount, an inspired Grant Elliott in 2015. If it can go wrong, it has gone wrong.

Yet, this time, South Africa come into a World Cup without the usual fanfare. AB de Villiers has called it quits on the international stage; Hashim Amla’s powers are on the wane despite a hundred against Pakistan in January and some encouraging warm-up form; Steyn, Rabada and Lungi Ngidi all suffered injuries before or during the IPL; much rests on the form of De Kock.

It is a turn of events that has allowed Ottis Gibson’s side to arrive in England without being cast in all quarters as potential victors. Of course, that is not to say they won’t: in Faf du Plessis and Rassie van der Dussen, there lies a middle-order engine room stacked full of runs. In Imran Tahir, a wicket-to-wicket leg-spinner with all the tricks and even more experience, he poses an ageless threat. They could absolutely leave in July as World Cup winners, and they’d probably be doing it quietly beneath the radar. Just, presumably, as they'd like it.

Both of these teams have suffered World Cup heartache in the past.

England, meanwhile, do not possess such a luxury. A nation expects, if you will. Never before has an English side entered a World Cup justifiably tagged as favourites. Their gung-ho brand of cricket has dragged a fanbase along with them. Rarely has any England national team – across any sport – evoked so much feeling of genuine goodwill.

And yet, the feeling among England fans is an excitement mixed in with an unquantifiable trepidation – the idea that this is the moment, but that it could so easily slip away. There are those asking not who will lead this swashbuckling team to glory, but at which stage the dream will fall apart.

And that is what this England team has to face over the next month and a half: a nation of semi-believers – well-aware that this team has what it takes, but all too familiar with that feeling of best-laid plans drifting away.

A win for either of these two sides at The Oval will go some way to arresting this. For South Africa, that quiet 'dark horses' tag would just see its volume turned up if they were to do a job on the pre-tournament pick of many - even Glenn McGrath has said as much. For England, a convincing win might just shovel away any of those nagging doubts.

Our coverage of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 is brought to you in association with Cricket 19, the official video game of the Ashes. Pre-order your copy now at Amazon.co.uk