Australia begin their tour of South Africa with an ODI in Durban on Thursday – Richard Mann previews the action.
Cricket tips: South Africa v Australia
2pts South Africa to beat Australia at 6/5 (General)
Cricket fans have much to look forward to in the coming months, and Australia’s tour of SOUTH AFRICA is most certainly one of the autumn highlights.
The Test series promises to be a cracker, but before then a three-match ODI series begins in Durban on Thursday (09:00).
These are two powerhouse nations of world cricket who hold a fierce recent rivalry, and the current ODI standings have Australia only marginally ahead of the Proteas, in third and fourth respectively.
I’m not sure that tells the whole story, either, with my view being that Australia are very much a team in transition in the shorter formats, as demonstrated by their poor showing at this year’s T20 World Cup in India where South Africa performed much better in reaching the semi-finals.
The visitors do come into this series match sharp, having just beaten Zimbabwe 3-0, but their frailties in this format were again in evidence in the final game when they only scrambled home by one wicket having looked second best for much of the day.
Finding a way to win has long typified their cricket, but this doesn’t look a vintage Australia side by any means, even with big guns Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc returning for this trip.
On the other hand, I’ve long felt South Africa have been on the cusp of doing something special with the white-ball, as they have done in Test cricket, and this year’s T20 World Cup did feel like an opportunity missed having hammered eventual winners India in the group stages. They were also beaten finalists in the previous edition of that tournament.
50-over cricket is an equally nice fit for this powerful outfit, as demonstrated by their series win in Australia just over a year ago, the Proteas bossing the first two matches before losing the dead-rubber finale.
Though without the services of bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi for this series, along with the big-hitting Dewald Brevis, the hosts still boast a strong squad brimming with quality.
The team is well led by Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock continues his reincarnation as an international cricketer, while Matthew Breetzke and David Miller are key men in the middle order.
Don’t worry about the bowling, either, with the likes of Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch and Keshav Maharaj ensuring no lack of experience and firepower.
Furthermore, South Africa have won the last two home ODI series between these two sides, along with last winter’s instalment Down Under, suggesting odds-against quotes for the hosts make no sense whatsoever.
I’ll be backing South Africa accordingly.
Preview posted at 13:50 BST on 21/09/26
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