The 1st ODI between South Africa and England will take place at Johannesburg on Nov 20th 2009. England and South Africa shared last week's Twenty20 series 1-1, but that scoreline disguises the staggering gulf that emerged between the sides in the second of the two fixtures at Centurion. Eoin Morgan's unbeaten 85 from 45 balls in the first match had set English pulses racing, but two days later, his effort was put into stark context by Loots Bosman and Graeme Smith, whose world-record 170-run opening stand came from a ridiculously rapid 13 overs.
Pietersen, however, has seen it all before - nothing will ever compare to the reception he received on his first tour to South Africa in 2004-05, and on that occasion he responded with three centuries in five innings. Trott, meanwhile, has been one of England's most consistent performers on the tour so far, most recently in the warm-up at Potchefstroom, where he made 78 from 89 balls to overcome South Africa A.
England's biggest concerns are all internal ones, with two players - Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad - already ruled out of the first two ODIs, and a host of key players, including Paul Collingwood and James Anderson, fighting for full fitness. Andrew Strauss, who missed the Twenty20s, returns to resume his rivalry with Smith, the man whom he refused a runner during an heroic but futile century in the Champions Trophy back in September.
That match, incidentally, is a reminder of England's improbable ODI record in recent fixtures against South Africa. With five wins and a washout in their last six encounters, they have a few bragging rights to fall back on, that Centurion debacle notwithstanding.
South Africa squad
GC Smith*, HM Amla, J Botha, MV Boucher†, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, JH Kallis, CK Langeveldt, R McLaren, JA Morkel, WD Parnell, AN Petersen, DW Steyn, LL Tsotsobe, RE van der Merwe
England squad
AJ Strauss*, JM Anderson, TT Bresnan, SCJ Broad, PD Collingwood, AN Cook, JL Denly, SI Mahmood, EJG Morgan, G Onions, KP Pietersen, LE Plunkett, MJ Prior†, AU Rashid, GP Swann, JC Tredwell, IJL Trott, LJ Wright
