The big picture: Australia seeks to halt their slide
Is there a World Cup rivalry more famous than the one between South Africa and Australia? It’s hard to argue against that. In the top 20 ODI matches according to ESPNCricinfo, two of the top three matches were played between South Africa and Australia. Granted, one of them was not in a World Cup, but the other was in a World Cup clash, the Edgbaston semi-final in 1999. Even that match came after a thrilling clash at Headingley four days earlier.
The two teams will meet in the World Cup semi-finals again after eight years. South Africa was on the wrong side of history in those three encounters. But they got revenge four years ago in another famous World Cup match in Manchester.
Having had a dismal season in 2019 and missing out on the semi-finals, South Africa still played a big role in shaping the outcome of the tournament, beating Australia in a high-scoring thriller to turn the semi-final ties that would ultimately lead to an England victory. New Zealand final.
While history has fans salivating, the 2023 teams are tired of seeing each other. This will be the sixth ODI played between South Africa and Australia in just over a month, not to mention the three T20Is played before last month’s five-match ODI series in South Africa. Australia did not show all their cards on that tour as they lost Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Steven Smith and Glenn Maxwell. Regardless, South Africa have found irresistible form in the series they maintained in their World Cup opener, while Australia have continued to falter since squandering a 2-0 lead at Highveld. They have lost six of their last seven ODI matches including the World Cup opener in Chennai.
The South African players are in dazzling form after amassing 428 against Sri Lanka, with Quinton de Kock, Rassie van der Dusen and Aiden Markram all blazing centuries. It’s the same form they found against Australia where they made scores of 338, 416 and 315. Meanwhile, Australia’s problems with bat and ball continued despite the return of key players. And in Chennai against India, the middle order collapsed from 110 for 2 to 199, just as has happened regularly in South Africa. At Potchefstroom, they were 140 for 1 in the 15th over chasing 338 and were bowled out for 227 with Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi leading to the collapse. South Africa did not play with two spinners in Delhi against Sri Lanka, but they would have noticed the success of India’s three spinners against Australia in Chennai.
Lucknow as a surface is not entirely unknown to both teams, but both are well aware of the recent dramas surrounding the repositioned strip and the way it has played out during this year’s Indian Premier League.
Form guide
Australia LWLLL (last five ODIs completed, most recent first)
South Africa WWWWL
In the spotlight – Alex Carey and Marco Janssen
Alex Carey He has been a cornerstone of the Australia team since his standout performance in the 2019 World Cup, even captaining Australia in three ODIs in 2021. But his place in the team is firmly under the microscope. He made 99 off 77 balls in the third ODI in South Africa in a hopeless losing cause. But outside of that, he has failed to reach 40 in his other 12 ODI innings over the past 12 months and has only crossed 15 three times. What is even more worrying is that over the last four years, he has achieved just 85.73 with the bat. With the Australian middle class lacking firepower, and the talented and innovative Josh Inglis traveling with the team, Carey desperately needs some runs to keep the Wolves out the door and help Australia halt their slide.
Marco Jansen He is a pivotal player in South Africa’s squad for the current World Cup and was a key contributor to their turnaround in fortunes in the recent series against Australia. While he cleared the rope in his seven-ball cameo with the bat against Sri Lanka, he was very costly as the ball conceded 92 runs although he dismissed both openers and also had some bad luck with two falls. But Jansen’s days are likely to be expensive, as he showed early in the series against Australia. His extra bounce and left-arm angle make him a weapon on the fast pitches in South Africa, but could make him a target on some of the slower pitches in India. His control of length and line with the new ball will be crucial against David Warner and Mitchell Marsh, in particular, since both men like to grab anything short or wide on the power play.
Team news: Stoinis for green?
Marcus Stoinis was not available to bowl as a bowler in the first match in Chennai due to a hamstring problem that has ruled him out of the last two ODIs against India and the two warm-up matches. However, he is fit and available for selection, and could come in for the struggling Cameron Green. Australia are unlikely to make any further changes unless there are any questions about the fitness of the three fast bowlers given they only have three days off and there is another short window before the next match against Sri Lanka.
Australia (Possible XI): 1 David Warner, 2 Mitchell Marsh, 3 Steven Smith, 4 Marnus Labuschagne, 5 Glenn Maxwell, 6 Alex Carey (wk), 7 Marcus Stoinis/Cameron Green, 8 Pat Cummins (capt), 9 Mitchell Starc , 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood
The South Africans have no fitness concerns, they just have to make tactical decisions. They have to decide whether to stay with the same team that beat Sri Lanka or add a second spinner in Tabraiz Shamsi given Australia’s weakness against spin and his recent success against them. If Shamsie does turn up, Gerald Coetzee appears to be the man who is unfortunately likely to miss out.
South Africa (Possible XI): 1 Quinton de Kock (week), 2 Temba Bavuma (captain), 3 Rassie van der Dussen, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Heinrich Klaassen, 6 David Miller, 7 Marko Janssen, 8 Gerald Coetzee/Tabraz Shamsi, 9 Keshav Maharaj, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Lungi Ngidi
Pitch and conditions
The pitches at the Ekana International Cricket Stadium were dug up after IPL 2023 as it was widely viewed as the worst surface in the tournament. This came in the wake of the coordinator’s sacking following a low-scoring T20I between India and New Zealand in January. There were only four ODI matches here, and the highest score batting first in those games was 253. Both pace and spin were equally successful in those games. However, on the eve of the match, Australia captain Pat Cummins said he expected “speed and bounce” after taking a look at the Lucknow pitch.
Stats and trivia
David Warner became the fastest player to reach 1,000 runs in a World Cup, reaching the milestone in his 19th innings against India. He needs just 53 runs to overtake Adam Gilchrist to take second place on the all-time Australian World Cup run-scorers list behind Ricky Ponting.
Adam Zampa has been wicketless in four of his 10 ODIs this year and has just five wickets in five ODI World Cup matches in his career at an economy rate of 7.
South Africa’s median ranking has the highest average (44.6) and run rate (6.4) over the past four years in offshore private equity institutions. The average order in Australia averaged 29.9 with a run rate of 5.40 over the same period.
But South Africa’s powerplay bowling is the worst in the world this year, averaging 43 at an economy rate of 6.6 in ODIs in the first 10 overs of their bowling innings. The Australian bowlers average 40.7 but have an economy rate of 5.4.
quotes
“As I always find with South Africa; we always play quite similar. They always have some fast bowlers and some batsmen who are controlling the game, and maybe leg spinners. So, it always feels like a clash between two very similar teams.” So yeah, no doubt it will be another great game tomorrow.”
Pat cumin Concerning the rivalry between Australia and South Africa
“We and Australia – we always have a great history and a good competitive background. Both teams will come out fighting tomorrow. Whoever makes the right choices under pressure will come out as the stronger team.”
Quinton de Kock
Alex Malcolm is an associate editor at ESPNcricinfo
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