South Africa will look to continue their positive start to the 2023 Cricket World Cup when they take on Southern Hemisphere rivals Australia at Ekana Sports City in Lucknow on Thursday morning.
These familiar foes were involved in a gripping five-match ODI series less than a month ago, and the South Africans may be carrying a slight psychological advantage into this match, having come from 2-0 down to win that series 3-2.
Match preview
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Australia lost their first match of the competition to the host nation India and will enter this match in seventh place with a net run rate of -0883.
The Baggy Greens were outplayed in that match, managing just 199 runs before they were bundled out in the final over of their innings, while none of their batsmen were able to score a half-century or better.
Pat Cummins's side found it particularly difficult against the Indian spin attack as Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravichandran Ashwin strangled their opponents while also bagging a total of six wickets between them.
However, the one positive that they would have taken was their bowling at the top of the order, where Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood knocked over three of the first four Indian batsmen for just two runs, though that was until Virat Kohli and KL Rahul put on a match-winning fourth-wicket partnership.
The Aussies were beaten in South Africa early last month and then suffered another 2-1 series defeat against India a couple of weeks later, which sees them carrying a record of just two wins in their last seven matches into this encounter, one of which came over Pakistan in the warm-up matches.
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Meanwhile, South Africa could not have asked for a better start to their 2023 CWC, as they delivered possibly the greatest batting performance in the history of World Cup cricket.
After losing the toss and being asked to bat by the Sri Lankans, the Proteas rewrote history by scoring a mammoth total of 428/5 in their 50 overs, which was the highest score in the almost five-decade history of the tournament.
In an additional sub-plot, the previous highest total was 417 made by none other than their opponents in this match, when they overcame Afghanistan back in the 2015 CWC in Perth.
Following Temba Bavuma's early dismissal, Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen put on a 204-run stand for the second wicket, with both players scoring centuries, but the headlines went to Aiden Markram, who smashed a 49-ball century to claim the record of the fastest World Cup century, which Kevin O'Brien previously held.
However, while there was much to admire about the South African batting lineup, their bowling unit was less impressive, with all five bowlers going for more than a run a ball.
The South Africans will know that a similar type of performance with the ball against an Australian side that has good depth will likely prove problematic, and the Proteas may be tempted to tweak their lineup subtly in this one.
Team News
Australia received a major injury boost in the week when all-rounder Marcus Stoinis was cleared to return to the squad, having overcome the hamstring injury he sustained in the series against India last month.
With Ashton Agar injured, the Baggy Greens do not have another recognised spin bowler aside from Adam Zampa in the side, which could mean that part-timers Glenn Maxwell and Travis Head may be called into action with the ball in hand.
Considering South Africa's incredible knock in their first match of the competition, it will come as no surprise if they remain unchanged in the top order with De Kock and Bavuma opening the batting.
However, after seeing the impact that the Indian spinners had against Australia last week, they may be tempted to throw mystery spinner Tabraiz Shamsi into the mix to support Keshav Maharaj, who was arguably the pick of the bowlers against Sri Lanka.
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Steve Smith, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis, Sean Abbott, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa, Mitchell Starc
South Africa squad: Temba Bavuma (c), Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Lizaad Williams
Tournament so far
Australia
Match one: Australia lost by six wickets
Australia - 199 (49.3)
India - 201/4 (42.2)
South Africa
Match one: South Africa won by 102 runs
South Africa - 428/5 (50)
Sri Lanka - 326 (44.5)
We say: South Africa to win
The Australians are struggling to find their best form at the moment, while the Proteas batting lineup has been destructive over the last few months. As is usually the case when these two powerhouses meet, we are expecting a closely contested match, but we feel that the South Africans may just edge this one.
Devesh Jaganath
