T20 World Cup 2021, Australia vs South Africa: Predicting 3 bowlers who will take the most wickets
A well-balanced pace attack is the only thing in common between Australia and South Africa's marquee match-up in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 on Saturday (October 23).
With Australia already announcing they will be going with four specialist bowlers, expect Mitchell Starc to spearhead the attack. His experience and pace make him a threat to the South African batters.
Likewise, Kagiso Rabada's express speed and Tabraiz Shamsi's rich haul in 2021 put them as contenders to put Australia in trouble in the T20 World Cup Super 12s opener.
Ahead of the much-awaited clash, we take a shot at predicting the three bowlers who will pick the most wickets.
#1 Tabraiz Shamsi: SA's T20 World Cup trumpcard
It has been that sort of year for Tabraiz Shamsi, who is just four wickets away from taking the most scalps in the T20I format in 2021. His player of the series performance against the West Indies earlier this year saw him pick up seven wickets at an economy rate of 4.00.
He can be quite a handful in the middle overs and will look to add to the tally of 28 wickets he's bagged so far.
#2 Mitchell Starc
On an Abu Dhabi surface that's favored to assist the quicks, who better than Mitchell Starc to execute those toe-crushing yorkers and the nagging lines that trap batters?
Starc may have gone wicketless in his scrimmage against India in the T20 World Cup warm-up, but he will be eager to get into the wickets column and add to the 51 T20I wickets the has taken in his 41-match career in the shorter format.
#3 Kagiso Rabada
Rabada was one of the bowlers to impress in SA's T20 World Cup warm-up fixture against Pakistan. If Rassie van der Dussen stole the limelight with his explosive hundred, it was Rabada who finished with figures of 3/28 as the Proteas walked away with a win.
It will be interesting to see how Rabada fares against David Warner who's out of form at the moment and against Glenn Maxwell, who he's prised three times in T20s in a span of 27 deliveries.