South Africa vs Australia ODI Live stream info, team news, match prediction and probable playing XI
SUMMARY
South Africa take on Australia for the third time in the seventh match of the tri-series, to be held at Bridgetown, Barbados.
Honours have been shared equally, and each side stands with two wins each, with as many losses to their name. With the series entering into a crucial phase, either Australia or South Africa will get the edge and stand a higher chance of qualifying to the finals.
Hashim Amla scored a century, and Imran Tahir captured seven wickets as South Africa completed a drubbing of hosts West Indies in the previous match. Australia on the other hand lost to Marlon Samuels’ effort of 92, which usurped Khawaja’s 98 in Australia’s total of 265.
Steven Smith sat out of two training sessions and is recuperating from a slight niggle, but is expected to take the field against South Africa.
NEWS
SOUTH AFRICA
The South Africans will be riding high after a convincing win over the hosts in the previous match of the tournament. Hashim Amla has been in good form at the top of the order, following up his 60 against Australia with a 110 against the hosts which helped his team post 343-4. In the process, he also became the quickest to 23 ODI tons beating Virat Kohli’s record of 157 innings. .
Imran Tahir then returned with career best figures of 7-47 to beat out any resistance from the West Indians. He also became the fastest South African to 100 ODI wickets. The rest of the batsmen also chipped in with useful scores, including a 40 run cameo from the promoted Chris Morris. Glenn Maxwell is likely to come in place of Travis Head, who had a forgettable debut against West Indies.
AUSTRALIA
Australia started off on a strong note but were dealt a major blow when their in-form player David Warner picked up an injury. This might be a blessing in disguise for Australia’s problem of plenty at the top of the order. Usman Khawaja opened with Finch in their previous match, and scored a career-best 98 before he was the victim of an unfortunate run-out. More will be expected from the lower-middle order, as the Australian line-up runs deep and can pack a mean punch in the concluding overs. Mitchell Starc, the left arm seamer was left out of the previous encounter. He requires just five more wickets to reach the 100-wicket mark in ODIs. The Australians have been shuffling their bowlers to maintain the workload, and Nathan Coulter Nile might make way for Starc. They come back after a five day gap, and will be fresh and raring to go.
AUSTRALIA VS SOUTH AFRICA MATCH PREDICTION
The two teams are equally tied with a win apiece against each other. With two wins each in the series, the match is expected to be a tight one. The Australian batting order in the absence of the prolific run scoring of David Warner, is likely to be tested by a probing South African attack spearheaded by the in-form Tahir. Aaron Finch, the other opener, has been in indifferent form since his IPL exploits, and the South African pace attack will be hoping to cash in on that.
The Australian bowling attack has been shuffled and changed to keep in mind the workload on the bowlers.
The pitch is expected to assist the batsmen, but it will also be a welcome change for the bowlers as the boundaries here are bigger than those on offer at the Warner Park.
AUSTRALIA VS SOUTH AFRICA HEAD TO HEAD
These two teams have met twice in the tournament. The first encounter saw the Proteas notch up a 47 run win over Australians. The Australians came back to claim honours in their second meeting, clinching the match by 36 runs after David Warner made 109 at the top of the order.
Before the tri-series, the last time these two teams met was in a rain-curtailed match in late 2014, when, in pursuit of 275, the Australian suffered a middle order collapse, but managed to eke out a 2-run wickets by D/L method.
This is the third time these two teams meet before the final two teams are decided.
AUSTRALIA VS SOUTH AFRICA PREDICTED XI
AUSTRALIA: Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith (C), George Bailey, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Wade (WK), James Faulkner, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
SOUTH AFRICA:
Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock (WK), Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers (C), JP Duminy, Farhaan Behardien, Wayne Parnell, Chris Morris, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Imran Tahir
LIVE SCORES AND STREAMING INFORMATION
Follow the ball-by-ball commentary and scoreboard here.
You can watch the live streaming of the match here.