South Africa were inching closer to pulling off a victory in the first ODI of the series but Marnus Labuschagne and Ashton Agar played some brilliant cricket to help Australia win by three wickets. The visiting team lost a few wickets early on and there was immense pressure on them as the likes of Kagiso Rabada and Gerald Coetzee were sensational in the middle. However, Labuschagne, who replaced Cameron Green as a concussion substitute hit 80* runs, while Agar hit 48* runs as Australia pulled off a thriller.
Ahead of the ODI World Cup, there are a lot of concerns that the Proteas need to address. Temba Bavuma hit an incredible century in the last match but unfortunately, none of the batters helped him in the middle as South Africa posted 222 runs. When it comes to bowling, they failed to put pressure, despite picking up seven wickets and that’s a matter to worry about. Australia, on the other hand, looked good in the absence of many of their senior cricketers but the batters would aim to improve.
SA vs AUS Match Details:
Match: South Africa vs Australia, 2nd ODI Match
Venue: Mangaung Oval, Bloemfontein, South Africa
Date & Time: Saturday, September 9, 04:30 PM IST
Live Streaming Details: Star Sports Network and FanCode
SA vs AUS Pitch Report:
The surface at the Mangaung Oval is quite balanced in nature. The skipper winning the toss should elect to bowl first and anything over 270 runs will be perfect on this surface.
SA vs AUS Head-to-Head:
Matches – 104, South Africa – 51, Australia – 49, NR – 1, Tied – 3
SA vs AUS Probable Playing XI
South Africa (SA):
Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi
Australia (AUS):
David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (c), Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis, Alex Carey (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa
Probable Best Performers:
Probable Best Batter:
Temba Bavuma (South Africa):
South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma hit a sensational century in the last match and will aim to continue his sublime form as many other batters are yet to find their rhythm. He has represented the national team in 27 ODIs and has amassed an impressive 1,264 runs in the process.
Probable Best Bowler:
Josh Hazlewood (Australia):
In the absence of Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood has the responsibility of leading the pace unit. He picked up three wickets in the last match and will be hoping to continue with the same momentum to help Australia take a 2-0 lead in the series.