MATCH: South Africa v Australia 2nd ODI
DATE: Sunday, October 23, 2011
TIME: 1300 hours local (1100 hours GMT)
VENUE: St. George’s Park, Port Elizabeth.
South Africa will look to prevent Australia from winning the second ODI and hence the series when the two sides meet on Sunday.
Past Record:
The two sides tied in the T20I series before Australia (10/11 at
Boylesport) were clinical in their decimation of the home side in the first ODI. Australia made 183 in their 29 overs which, by the quirk of Duckworth-Lewis meant that South Africa needed to get 223 to win the game in the same number of overs. South Africa (1/1 at
Blue Square) were then rocked by Patrick Cummins’ three-wicket haul and went down by 93 runs.
Team News:
South Africa will be a tad worried about former captain Graeme Smith’s form. He, much like Ricky Ponting, had given up on his captaincy at the end of the 2011 World Cup, but while Ponting has been able to regain that fresh, hungry feel for runs, Smith has scored 4, 24 and 0 in the series so far.
What could be another worrying sign is that their usually monumental scorer, Hashim Amla has not be able to get a move on, while the rest of the middle-order has had their issues as well.
Dale Steyn has followed up his poor performances in Champions League T20 with a spell of six overs that cost him 48. Still, it could just be a matter of time for a class of his kind to get things right. Australia will do well to not ignore him.
It was the second wicket stand between Australia’s new opener, Ponting and captain Michael Clarke that was responsible for their win. Because they added runs quickly enough and did not separate before the rain interruption, the D/L system added 40 runs to their total in the end.
Michael Hussey provided the acceleration towards the end, but with Brad Haddin at five and Mitchell Marsh at six, the batting looks slightly weak in the middle. South Africa would be looking to exploit this loophole.
Cummins’ performance on the tour has impressed enough for suggestions for him to make his Test debut later this tour. His presence has definitely taken the pressure off Mitchell Johnson and the side would look to hunt in a pack.
Players to look out for
It has been some time since Dave Warner exploded and he would be itching to have a go. South Africa will hope for Lonwabo Tsotsobe to come good again, although Steyn will be the go-to bowler for the South Africans.
Prediction:
South Africa will look to make it 1-1.
