ICC Champions Trophy, South Africa
Venues: Centurion and Johannesburg Dates: 22 September - 5 October
Coverage: Live text commentary on England matches, both semi-finals and the final on the BBC Sport website and mobiles; live scorecards and reports on all other games. Also live on Sky Sports
**England coach Andy Flower has challenged his side to continue to raise their game and secure a win over South Africa in the Champions Trophy.**A victory over the hosts and top-ranked one-day team at Centurion on Sunday would put England into the semi-finals.
“South Africa have got a very good side,” said Zimbabwe-born Flower.
“They were number one in the world when the tournament began, we are down at number six. We will have to play above ourselves to beat them.”
South Africa, who lost to Sri Lanka in their opening match before recovering to beat New Zealand, will also be desperate for a win to help maintain their challenge.
New Zealand, meanwhile, take on Sri Lanka in Sunday’s first match, knowing that they must win to keep alive their hopes of reaching the semi-finals.
England surprisingly beat Sri Lanka in their Group B opener to give the side a boost after they had entered the tournament on the back of a 6-1 hammering by Australia.
606: DEBATE
Can England beat South Africa
“Every victory like that helps. Of course, it is only one game but it is confidence boosting,” said Flower.
“The guys did brilliantly against a very good side. We knew they would be tough to turn over. It was great to see the batsmen see it through after some of our batting travails against Australia.”
England’s bowlers will be working on avoiding the 17 wides, at a cost of 21 runs, that they conceded against Sri Lanka, while their batting line-up also showed signs for encouragement.
Paul Collingwood scored a rapid 46 after coming in at 19-2, Owais Shah a patient 44 and Eoin Morgan a cultured 62 as England got the 213 required for the win.
“Giving Paul the man-of-the-match award was the right thing because he changed the momentum of the game,” added Flower.
“Owais Shah’s determination and Eoin Morgan’s skill against the spinners made it a very good performance.”
“At the 2007 World Cup when we had a must-win game against England we managed to do it and pull through”
AB de Villiers
England want Morgan to provide the one-day “finisher” role that previous left-handers Neil Fairbrother and Graham Thorpe supplied - and the early signs since his switch from Ireland are encouraging.
With Sunday’s match at Centurion - a venue more suitable for bowling spin and less friendly to the seamers compared to Johannesburg - Adil Rashid could come in for Luke Wright but that would be England’s only change.
For South Africa, Herschelle Gibbs is passed fit and will play, while both spinners - Johan Botha and Roelof van der Merwe - are expected in the side.
They could still lose and get through on a combination of favourable results and run rates, but that will be the last thing on the hosts’ minds on Sunday.
Batsman AB de Villiers said: "The most important thing for us is to win and to get to four points on the log. If we get to 40 overs and we are close to winning the game, then we will definitely up the tempo a bit.
“It is a massive game for us. We normally come off when the pressure is there and we need to win. The same thing happened at the 2007 World Cup when we had a must-win game against England and we managed to do it then and pull through.”
England (from): Andrew Strauss (capt), James Anderson, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Joe Denly, Eoin Morgan, Graham Onions, Matt Prior, Adil Rashid, Owais Shah, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann, Luke Wright.
South Africa (from): Graeme Smith (capt), Johan Botha, Hashim Amla, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Albie Morkel, Makhaya Ntini, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Roelof van der Merwe.
Umpires: Steve Davis (Aus) and Tony Hill (NZ)
TV umpire: Billy Bowden (NZ)
Referee: Roshan Manahama (Sri)