South Africa wary of underperforming England

South Africa coach Rob Walter said his team will be wary of an under-performing England, who have the ability to beat anyone on their day, when they meet in a key Champions Trophy match on Saturday.

The sides face off in Karachi with South Africa still in contention to reach the semifinals of the 50-over tournament, while England are already out.

South Africa hammered Afghanistan in their opener, but their second match against Australia was washed out without a ball being bowled.

They now take on a wounded England whose captain Jos Buttler stepped down from white-ball captaincy yesterday. 

"League cricket around the world, they do well, which should suggest that they're adaptable," Walter told reporters.

"If you look at the names on the sheet, I think there's some quality players there, there's no doubt about that.

"Cricket can be fickle and sometimes that results in you losing.

"To ask if I'm surprised (by England's performance), as I said I think there's good cricketers that could turn out tomorrow and deliver an international standard performance," he added.

Buttler, who has been under pressure to relinquish the leadership of the white-ball team, was unable to replicate England's success as ODI and T20 captain since he led them to a T20 World Cup title in 2022.

England won only three of their nine matches as defending champions at the 50-over World Cup in India in 2023.

They faltered in the semifinal of last year's T20 World Cup and recently suffered a 3-0 ODI whitewash in India before the Champions Trophy.

Walter, meanwhile, said Proteas wicketkeeper-batter Heinrich Klaasen is set to return to the team after missing the opener due to an elbow injury.

Batting at number four, Klaasen has been the accumulator and aggressor for South Africa in white-ball cricket and remains key to their title goals.

"He's a super player, isn't he?," said Walter.

"And I think that you probably notice his strength also based on who the guys are around him that allow him to play that way.

"Obviously he's got a skill-set at the moment that is right up there with the world's best, I think we all agree with that.

"And it's great to have him in your team because you know how destructive he can be."