ICC Men’s CWC 2023: Will South Africa continue to dominate Australia in ODIs?
The 10th match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 will be played between five-time World Cup champions Australia and four-time semi-finalists South Africa on October 12 at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.
Head-to-Head
Australia and South Africa have played 108 ODIs against each other since 1992, of which Australia have won 50, South Africa have won 54, with three matches ending in a tie and one not producing a result. These two teams have played three ODIs against each other in India and South Africa have won all. At the World Cups, Australia and South Africa have met six times between 1992 and 2019, with Australia winning on three occasions and South Africa winning on two, with that memorable 1999 match ending in a tie.
| Particulars | Australia | South Africa |
| ICC Rankings (ODI) | 3 | 4 |
| Performance in ODIs overall | 50 | 54 |
| In India | 0 | 3 |
| At World Cups | 3 | 2 |
Performance in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 so far…
Australia and South Africa have had contrasting starts to their ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 campaign. Both teams have played one match each. While South Africa have started on a positive note by demolishing Sri Lanka at Delhi by a massive margin of 102 runs after scoring 428, Australia, on the other hand, suffered a demoralising defeat at the hands of India by six wickets in Chennai after getting bowled out for 199.
Australia v South Africa: Squads, injury updates, playing conditions, weather, and players to watch out for
Squads
Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Steve Smith, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis, Sean Abbott, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitch Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa, Mitchell Starc.
South Africa: Temba Bavuma (c), Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Lizaad Williams.
Injury updates
Australia’s all-rounder Marcus Stoinis has been struggling with hamstring issue and hence was not fit to bowl in the first match against India in Chennai. If he is cleared for fitness, he may make his way into the playing XI replacing Cameron Green, who has looked out of colour. On the other hand, South Africa do not have any fitness issues.
Playing conditions
Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow will host the encounter between Australia and South Africa. It will be a day night match. While Australia will play their first ODI here, South Africa have played one ODI here last year and won that by nine runs against India. The venue will host its first game of this World Cup. Previously, four ODIs have been played here between 2019 and 2022, with teams batting first and second winning two matches each. The highest total scored is 253 and the lowest is 194. In Lucknow, there are black soil and red soil pitches, of which black soil ones assist the spinners and the red soil ones assist the faster bowlers.
Weather
The weather is expected to be hazy. The maximum temperature attained during the day will be 35 degrees Celsius. There will be no cloud cover and no chance of rain. The wind will blow from the west.
Players to watch out for
Australia may have had a disappointing start to their World Cup campaign, but the five-time champions are expected to bounce back stronger. The two-most experienced batters in the side, David Warner and Steve Smith will be expected to take the onus of the team’s batting. Both of them played a good hand against India with Warner scoring 41and Smith scoring 46. Among the bowlers, Josh Hazlewood has an excellent outing as he picked 3/38 in nine overs, including one maiden.
On the other hand, South Africa could not have asked for a better start to their World Cup campaign. They thrashed Sri Lanka by 102 runs after scoring 428. Three of their batters, including Quinton de Kock, Rassie van der Dussen, and Aiden Markram scored centuries. Like batters, bowlers were impressive, especially Gerald Coetzee who bagged 3/68 in nine overs.
Match details
Date: October 12, 2023
Time: 2:00 PM IST
Venue: Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow
Live streaming: Star Sports, Hotstar
All the statistics are sourced from ESPN Cricinfo