da 888： Both teams made 300-plus totals in their opening games, so expect another run-fest on a flat surface in Rawalpindi
da gbg bet： Firdose Moonda24-Feb-20253:05
Australia’s batters vs SA’s bowlers – who has the upper hand?
Big picture: Expect a hard-fought contestAustralia and South Africa brushed off poor pre-tournament results to record wins in their opening matches of the Champions Trophy and they meet each other with their batters in good form. Australia may be riding slightly higher after they completed the highest successful chase in tournament history – 352 – with 15 balls to spare. South Africa’s 315 for 6 against Afghanistan resulted in victory by 107 runs and put them higher on the points table thanks to a bigger net run-rate.All that, combined with expectations of a batter-friendly pitch in Rawalpindi, means the bowling attacks can expect a tough day out after already being challenged by absences in personnel. Australia are missing more than South Africa with Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc all out of the tournament. But with Anrich Nortje and Gerald Coetzee also ruled out, South Africa had to look elsewhere for express pace. Still, they have five seamers and three spinners (if you include Aiden Markram) to choose from. Australia’s squad make-up is similar, and with Marnus Labuschagne turning his arm over, they have additional options. So the real point of difference may lie in selection and how the captains allocate overs to exert pressure on each other.Related
Inglis savours 'special' innings as Australia make winning start
Rickelton is rocking it in all three formats, one by one
South Africa 'bullish' about their chances – like Australia always are
Victory will not guarantee either team progression to the semi-finals but will leave the winner primed to top the group, so expect a contest that lives up to its billing, especially if the last one was anything to go by. In 2023, at the ODI World Cup semi-final, South Africa were restricted to an under-par total of 212 but had Australia seven down in the 48th when the winning runs were scored. That game had the tension of a low-scoring thriller. This one is likely to have the fireworks of a run fest.Whatever happens, given these two sides routinely bring out the most competitive streaks in each other, this will be one of the tournament’s showpiece matches in front of what is expected to be a sell-out crowd.Form guideAustralia: WLLLL
South Africa: WLLLL4:16
Carey: We know South Africa are a great team
In the spotlight: Nathan Ellis and Rassie van der DussenIn a match where 707 runs were scored in 97.3 overs, conceding less than six runs an over was simply outstanding. That’s what Nathan Ellis did for Australia against England, where his ten overs cost just 51 runs in a display of immense control and maturity in just his tenth ODI. Ellis is unusual in that at 5′ 9″ he isn’t as tall as we’d expect a fast bowler to be and relies on consistency and variety rather than pace to make an impact. While he may not be an outright attacking bowler, in a tournament where restricting batting sides in the middle overs has already proven to be important, how he performs in that phase could be decisive in Australia’s campaign.Part of a powerful and in-form batting order, Rassie van der Dussen has the third-best ODI batting average of all time for South Africa and is among their most consistent performers despite a recent dip, and he may have started to feel the pressure of competition for his place. His 46-ball 52 against Afghanistan was his first half-century in 11 innings. South Africa are choosing between Ryan Rickelton, Tony de Zorzi and van der Dussen for two of three top-order spots and also have Tristan Stubbs on the bench, so van der Dussen will want to do all he can to keep proving his worth.Team news: Heinrich Klassen to have fitness testAustralia don’t have reason to change things and Alex Carey suggested the XI would remain as is. They may consider a switch in their attack, and swap out one of their two left-arm quicks – Spencer Johnson and Ben Dwarshuis – for Sean Abbott.Australia: (possible): 1 Matthew Short, 2 Travis Head, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 Marnus Labuschagne, 5 Josh Inglis (wk), 6 Alex Carey, 7 Glenn Maxwell, 8 Ben Dwarshuis, 9 Nathan Ellis, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Spencer JohnsonHeinrich Klaasen missed South Africa’s opener against Afghanistan because of an elbow niggle and will have a fitness test to assess his availability for this match. If Klaasen is fit, South Africa are likely to change their opening combination to make room for him in the middle order, which would mean leaving de Zorzi out after Rickelton made himself undroppable with his century against Afghanistan. South Africa seem content to play one specialist spinner and have the option of four quicks, which could leave Tabraiz Shamsi on the bench again.South Africa (possible): 1 Temba Bavuma (capt), 2 Ryan Rickelton, 3 Rassie van der Dussen, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 6 David Miller, 7 Wiaan Mulder, 8 Marco Jansen, 9 Keshav Maharaj, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Lungi Ngidi4:00
Agar: Australia’s bowlers need to control middle overs better
Pitch and conditionsBefore this tournament, Rawalpindi had not hosted ODIs since April 2023, when Pakistan and New Zealand made scores of 288, 291, 336 and 337 in two matches. South Africa’s captain Temba Bavuma and Carey said they expected another high-scoring encounter on what should be a flat surface. Bavuma also revealed that South Africa noted significant dew during a training session at the venue over the weekend and both he and Carey expected chasing to be easier than defending a target. The weather will be cooler than in Karachi or Lahore with a high of just 17 degrees, and there is some drizzle forecast in the afternoon which could impact the match.Stats and trivia Australia’s chase of 352 against England was their second-highest successful chase in ODIs. In that game, Josh Inglis became the fourth Australian men’s cricketer to complete a hundred in all formats, after Aaron Finch, Glenn Maxwell and David Warner. Since 2016, South Africa have batted first 12 times against Australia in ODIs and lost only two of those matches. The most recent of these defeats was the semi-final of the 2023 ODI World Cup. Travis Head has scored 62 runs off 55 balls off Kagiso Rabada in ODIs and been dismissed by him three times. Against Lungi Ngidi, however, he’s scored only 15 off 25 balls for two dismissals. Klaasen has scored 121 runs off 89 balls from Adam Zampa in ODIs and been dismissed twice by him.Quotes”We probably don’t want to chase 350 too many more times but our bowlers will learn a lot from that hit out.”
“We’re quite bullish about our chances. Even though in the [preceding] tri-series, we didn’t have all our guys, it still was an opportunity for us to get whatever intel that we can on the conditions and share that information with all the other guys who came in. Confidence is good. We’re quite optimistic about our chances and how far we can go in this competition.”
