Cricket World Cup 2023: England ready for South Africa test

Ben Stokes is fit to play against South Africa on Saturday

A match against South Africa in Mumbai? With England's World Cup hopes on the line?

We have been here before.

Back in 2016 at the T20 World Cup, England were a fresh-faced white-ball side captained by Eoin Morgan - flexing their muscles on the world stage for the first time since their rebirth by chasing 230 to beat the Proteas.

Now they are double world champions but are trying to regain that spark, the sense of youthful naivety, that took them all of the way.

"[It was] one of my favourite games that I think had a lot of value in terms of where we were going as a team and the direction we wanted to play," said Jos Buttler, merely a wicketkeeper seven years ago but now the captain.

"We've had some good conversations about how we want to play our cricket, and how we want to commit to the style that we play."

For four years, England's style in 50-over cricket was second nature. Dominate the powerplay and don't look back.

So far in their title defence in India, they have struggled to find the formula they made look so easy.

England have spent more time talking about returning to their attacking ways than delivering it.

Defeat by New Zealand was an early warning sign. The batters laboured to 282-9 before the bowling was systematically taken apart.

A convincing win over Bangladesh suggested that was a rare bad day but those frailties resurfaced in a shock loss against Afghanistan in Delhi.

The point of no return has not yet been reached but, with India, Australia, Pakistan and co to come, it is not far away. England can probably only afford one more defeat if they are to reach the semi-finals.

"It is a long tournament and the games that have gone before can drag your mind too much away from the game in hand and what you really want to focus on," Buttler said.

"I have been encouraging everyone to focus solely on this game and the way we want to play our cricket, the way we want to commit to our cricket and the rest of it will take care of itself after this game."

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Buttler's side are able to call on their talisman to face the Proteas, with Ben Stokes having overcome his hip injury to make his first appearance of the tournament.

A boost, yes, but Stokes' return muddies selection waters.

Does Stokes replace Harry Brook - the spare batter in the squad but the only one to make fifty against Afghanistan?

If not, then he must replace one of the all-rounders - Liam Livingstone, Chris Woakes or Sam Curran - but with Stokes' knee leaving him unable to bowl that would leave the bowling attack more exposed.

And what of Woakes? For eight years he has been England's new-ball banker but in India his opening spells have cost 95 runs for one wicket.

Training on Thursday and Friday has given little away, nor Buttler's news conference.

"He's [Woakes] been a fantastic performer for an incredibly long time for England in all the formats and especially in one-day cricket," England's captain said.

"And we're all honest guys, right? We're all honest professionals who hold each other to high standards and individually expect a lot of ourselves.

"He knows he's not performing quite how he would like to at the minute and that's frustrating but there's no judgment from our side."

David Willey, the most likely option to replace Woakes, bowled well in the nets while the batters took the opportunity to pepper the stands.

Jofra Archer has joined the squad in India but is only a travelling reserve and not yet fit enough himself to play.

If practice is anything to go by, South Africa's 428-5, the highest total in World Cup history made in their opener against Sri Lanka, could be under threat.

The famous Wankhede Stadium, where India held the World Cup aloft 12 years ago, is known as one of the best batting grounds in India, while spinners often struggle here.

After starting with two convincing wins, the Proteas bid for their first World Cup title hit its own tricky spot on Tuesday with a surprise defeat by the Netherlands.

Get through their fearsome top six of Quinton de Kock, Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller and they can be beaten.

"We have pace in both attacks and both teams like pace on the ball so it should be a really fascinating contest," Buttler said.

Mumbai was a key staging post on England's road to white-ball success.

They must relocate their magic or have it also become the place where this era slides towards its end.