Australia
South Africa
The beginning of the ODI World Cup for Australia has been disappointing and now in their second fixture, they will be up against another heavyweights South Africa. The fixture between the two teams is scheduled to take place on Thursday at Ekana Sports City, Lucknow.
Australian camp will be reassessing and scrutinizing their sub-standard performance against team India on Sunday. The loss will create nonessential pressure on the team for the upcoming match.
South Africa had a positive start to their World Cup campaign with a dominant win against Sri Lanka in the first fixture. The Proteas would like to continue the momentum on Thursday as well. The top bookmakers in India have odds with them.
Josh Hazlewood has picked up 8 wickets in the last 5 ODIs he has been part of.
The betting tip is...
Josh Hazlewood to pick 2.5+ wickets
68 %
32 %
AustraliaSouth AfricaSkipper Pat Cumminsg will be disappointed with the performance of his team against the hosts. Mitchell Marsh’s early exit without scoring any runs shocked the whole team and the middle order was unable to handle the pressure to score runs. David Warner (41 off 52) and Steve Smith (46 off 71) tried to stabilize the innings at the top order but the partnership was broken at an early stage.
Surprisingly, Australia’s middle order was a complete disappointment. Marnus Labuschagne (27 off 41), Glenn Maxwell (15 off 25), Alex Carry (0 off 2), and Cameron Green (8 off 20) were all failures and couldn't put any effort to help Australia to reach a winnable score.
On the bowling front, Josh Hazlewood picked up 3 wickets in 9 overs at an economy of 4.22 and Mitchell Starc picked up a single wicket. The spin attack was a complete failure and the rest of the bowlers failed to stop the opposition from winning the match. Josh Hazlewood has a good momentum going and in 2023, he has picked up 11 wickets in 6 ODIs at an economy of 6.
Skipper Pat Cummins won’t be making any changes in the squad and will be expecting the same players to perform at their best.
Predicted Lineup: Steven Smith, David Warner, Cameron Green, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa, Mitchell Starc, Marnus Labuschagne
A positive start for the Proteas squad in the first fixture of the tournament will give a much-needed boost to the team for the upcoming fixtures. Batting first, Quinton de Kock (100 off 84) & Rassie van der Dussen (108 off 110) gave a solid start to the team with Aiden Markram 106 runs off 54 balls at a strike rate of 196.30. Henrich Klaasen (32 off 20) and David Miller (39 off 21) also played a cameo to give a push to the overall score of the team.
The only concern for the Proteas team management will be the disappointing performance of Temba Bavuma in the 2nd consecutive ODI.
On the bowling front, Gerald Coetzee picked up 3 wickets at an economy of 7.56 in 9 overs. Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, and Marco Jensen picked up two wickets each. The bowlers will have to control their economy against Australia or else the efforts of the batters will go in vain.
South Africa has a winning combination of players and they won’t be making any changes to the same.
Predicted Lineup: Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma, Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen, David Miller, Keshav Maharaj, Heinrich Klaasen, Quinton de Kock, Gerald Coetzee, Lungi Ngidi, Aiden Markram
According to head to head-to-head stats between the two teams in 2023, South Africa has won 4 ODIs and Australia is currently at one win. However, the Aussies have a balanced team and they are known to bounce back after a loss.
Even though South Africa had a good start, we predict a win for Australia on Thursday because the bowler will make a huge impact and won’t allow the batting unit of the opposition to control the game.
