The slow pitch and red-hot form of Proteas batters make them slight favourites
Match 10: Australia vs South Africa - Review
October 11, 2023: After
nine matches played in this World Cup, almost all have been one-sided, barring
the encounter between Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The tenth match of this edition
between the two big teams Australia and South Africa, is expected to be a close
encounter, with South Africa holding a slight upper hand on current form. It
will be a battle between South Africa’s rejuvenated batting line-up against
Australia’s superior pace bowling attack, arguably the best in the world.
The
two teams with contrasting starts to their World Cup campaigns will come head
to head at Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on a brand new
pitch. While Australia’s batting struggled against India’s spin trio at
Chennai, South African batters Quinton de Kock, Rassie van der Dussen, and
Aiden Markram scored centuries in the comfortable 102-run victory against Sri
Lanka. South Africa put up the highest score of the current World Cup in its
first match. At the same time, Australians could not even touch the 200-run
mark in its first match.
Although
these are early stages, and despite the current South African team’s impressive
start in the league stage of the tournament, it will be interesting to see if
they can continue the momentum till the business end, where they have usually
failed to deliver and let down their fans. Nonetheless, they can draw solace
from an impressive record against Australia – having won 15 of their last 20
completed ODIs against Australia (not to forget from behind 3-2 victory in the
recently held ODI series in South Africa).
A
key player to watch out for Australia will be Glen Maxwell, who missed out on
the last ODI series played between the two teams last month. With his explosive
batting and more than handy off-spin, he can be an X factor for Australia,
seeking to arrest the recent slide in form. Marcus Stoinis, who sat out of the
warmup games and the first match against India, has recovered from his
hamstring niggle and could replace Cameron Green. For South Africa, inform
batters like Klassen and de Kock are likely to lead the charge, and the team
could add another spinner to accompany Keshav Maharaj to exploit Australia’s
weakness against spin.
The
unknown factor of the newly re-laid pitch, large outfield, Australia’s
impeccable record in the World Cups, despite contrasting forms of the two
teams, should make for a nail-biting finish, and that is exactly what this
World Cup needs.
- Girish, Team Pure Cricket
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Pics: Internet
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