Australia vs South Africa
The Aussies and Proteas renew hostilities this week at the Metricon Stadium on the Gold Coast, in a big-bash T20 game which could break a few windows.
The fastest format of the game is all about big hitting, and both sides have explosive batters in their line-ups, so the Brisbane crowd have a great night in store. This T20 1: Australia vs South Africa match is a fascinating clash and not an easy one to call.
Australia had a terrible year in the one-day game, but they are better in the 20-over format. ICC rankings put the Proteas ahead in the ODI table, but the two teams swap places in T20 with the Aussies looking down at their guests, and that means the hosts are marginally favourites for this clash.
Talking Points
When will Australia recover?
The ball-tampering scandal which rocked Australian cricket at the start of the year has left the Green Baggies in turmoil, as well as leaving them to cope without the undoubted talent of the disgraced Steve Smith and David Warner.
Smith and Warner were not only as hard as nails in their pursuit of winning at all costs, but they were also two of the best players in the world. The psychological damage to a team and a nation tearing itself apart over the scandal has been magnified by a serious weakening of their quality in every format.
But they still have some big hitters in the T20 game. Skipper Aaron Finch is ranked second in the world but he couldn’t lead his team to success when they were recently hammered 3-0 by Pakistan. He does have an impressive back-up in the middle order, though. Glen Maxwell is a key hitter and an ICC top all-rounder. He’s also a good mentor for fellow all-rounder Marcus Stoinis, who was left out for the UAE series against Pakistan but has earned a recall and looked in good nick in the last of the three ODIs. In Australia’s unsuccessful chase in Hobart, he hit an impressive 63, and he could be one to watch in Brisbane.
It seems the Aussie selectors are looking to the future, leaving out the experienced Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Marsh. Having recovered from injury, quick left-arm bowler Jason Behrendorff has been drafted in to spearhead the bowling attack alongside Billy Stanlake. He’ll be keen to impress as the Green Baggies try to get some confidence back before they come up against India in a forthcoming three-format series.
South Africa skipper hitting big
The Proteas have their own six hitting batsmen ready and primed after winning the 50 over series in spectacular style. The best Australia vs South Africa highlights in the ODI series belonged to the tourists, culminating in an exciting series win in Hobart.
T20 captain Faf du Plessis and left-handed middle-order batsman David Miller both hit big hundreds in a record fourth-wicket partnership of 252 to give South Africa a winning total. Du Plessis has been a consistently high scorer in the one-day game and Miller is aggression personified. They’re backed up by the skilful batting of Quinton de Kock: on his day, he has a look of Australia’s legendary wicket-keeper batsman Adam Gilchrist.
The tourist’s bowling attack is led by the quick-fire Kagiso Rabada, while Chris Morris can make a big contribution with both bat and ball. The Proteas are by no means infallible, crashing to a big defeat to Sri Lanka in a summer test when they were skittled for just 73 runs. That raised some eyebrows around world cricket, but we’re unlikely to see such a capitulation from Du Plessis’ team any time soon.
History
Australia is ahead in the T20 head to heads with five series victories to two, and one drawn, and the Aussies have won the last two, in 2015 and 2016, both by a 2-1 margin.
South Africa’s two victories came on home soil and were back in 2006 and 2009. But the recent ODI win was the Proteas’ first series victory in Australia since 2009.
Betting Tip
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Australia vs South Africa | South Africa Asian Handicap 0.00 @ 2.12 |
| November 17, 16:20 (GMT+8) |
Australia cricket has been in some turmoil over the last year, but they start this game ahead of the Proteas in the ICC T20 rankings, up in third place while the visitors are sixth.
So the latest Australia vs South Africa betting odds at SBOBET unsurprisingly pitch the hosts as favourites at odds of 1.75. But they are depending a lot on an inexperienced attack. And if one side is going to take the game away with some fast scoring, I have a sneaking suspicion it will be the tourists.
| A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR () BETS ARE WORTH: |
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 = €20 (Highly confident) |
 = €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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