The match in Mumbai seven months ago was perhaps the lowest moment in England’s disastrous defence of their 50-over World Cup title.
Captain Jos Buttler’s extraordinary decision to field first in sweltering heat saw England concede 399, their highest score in a one-day international match, and suffer a crushing defeat by 229 runs – the biggest defeat in the tournament’s history.
It was one of six losses from nine matches for England that have seen them miss out on a place in the knockout stages in India.
Buttler’s England, however, look set to successfully defend their T20 World Cup crown after beating co-hosts West Indies by eight wickets in St Lucia on Wednesday.
Chasing a target of 181 with 15 balls remaining, England recorded an unexpected and tense 18-run victory over the USA with a better net run-rate than South Africa.
Another win against the Proteas in St Lucia will ensure England’s place in the semi-finals.
Some of the players who appeared in India for both England and South Africa are expected to take part again on Friday.
But England opener Phil Salt, who scored a remarkable 87 runs against the West Indies, and in-form fast bowler Jofra Archer were not involved in October’s disastrous defeat.
The tournament marked Archer’s return to international action after a long injury layoff and the Barbados-born player showed his aerial agility during England’s heavy defeat at the Wankhede Stadium.
“To be honest, I wasn’t able to watch the game because I was on my way back to the UK. I know it wasn’t a great tournament for the players but we’ve put that behind us,” Archer said at his pre-match press conference on Thursday.
“We’ve just won what will probably be one of the toughest matches of the tournament… This group is tough and South Africa are as big a challenger as any other team. They have a lot of batsmen from No. 1 to No. 6 so it won’t be too different.”
“We just need to come up with a different plan that works.”
Archer certainly did so when he bowled his 16th over against West Indies dangerman Nicholas Pooran, the tournament’s leading run-scorer.
He bowled five six-balls without conceding a run and also dismissed Pooran.
In contrast, Salt struck out Romario Shepherd for 30 in the same England innings.
“Everything we talked about in that bowling meeting just clicked,” Archer said. “I’m really pleased that that over was probably a turning point.”
England will now face another great batsman, Heinrich Klaassen, whose blistering century was the cornerstone of South Africa’s win in Mumbai.
“Hopefully we can get back on track and score against England,” Klaassen said.
“But they are a very dangerous team. They have a lot of players who can decide the game, so we need to be aware of that and play better than them in the big moments.”
“Hopefully we can continue our trend of playing good cricket under pressure and it would be great to get two wins in a row and all but seal a place in the semi-finals.”