Why is Temba Bavuma not playing ICC World Cup 2023, match 20 against England?

In a surprising turn of events at the toss for the 20th match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, England's captain Jos Buttler was joined by Aiden Markram. However, it was revealed during questioning that Temba Bavuma had fallen ill and would be unable to participate in the match. He has been replaced by Reeza Hendricks, a like-for-like batter. Other than this substitution, the South African team's playing eleven remains unchanged.

Bavuma's performance in the tournament has been inconsistent, with him scoring 8, 35, and 11 in the matches against Sri Lanka, Australia, and the Netherlands. Given Hendricks' strong hitting abilities, fans are eager for him to provide more substantial support to Quinton de Kock, who had a great start to the tournament with back-to-back centuries.

During the press conference last Friday, the opening batter had expressed his enthusiasm about playing at the Wankhede Stadium, citing its strong association with Sachin Tendulkar, whom he greatly admires. He mentioned that he has always heard Wankhede Stadium being closely linked with the 'Master Blaster.'

Proteas winning juggernaut marred by Netherlands

The Proteas began the tournament impressively, with two dominant victories as the standout performance was their record-breaking World Cup total of 428 against Sri Lanka in Delhi. They triumphed over Sri Lanka by a margin of 102 runs and then went on to defeat Australia convincingly by 134 runs in Lucknow.

However, they faced an unexpected loss to the Netherlands in Dharamshala when the Dutch team scored 245 in a rain-affected 43-over match. Players such as David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen made valiant efforts to chase down the target, but the Netherlands secured a memorable 38-run win. Therefore, the upcoming match against England holds significant importance for the Proteas as they aim to salvage their campaign.