Heading into the second T20 International match between South Africa and Australia, one side will be looking to win this series quickly, while the other hopes to draw it and play a nail-biting third game. Seeing that the Aussies were victorious in their first match, it helped them continue their roll in this T20I format and now have come out on top 6 straight times.
A group that has shown grit plus effort, no matter what situation they have been play during each game, it’s clear that their goal is to win at all costs. As this second match will be taking place in Great Barrier Reef Arena of Mackay, Australia, about 5,000-6,000 fans will be cheering them on and hoping for their side to assert dominance once again.Â
With the T20 World Cup just a few moments away, this Aussie side looks more than well-positioned, as their new captain, Mitchell Marsh, has shown to be a composed leader in the short format. For South Africa, this match is a must-win since they would potentially lose another T20I series if their side can’t get things under control. After heartbreak in the Tri-Series, they also collapsed in their last match, and hope such an issue doesn’t continue haunting them. Trying to get off a stride where they lost 4 of their past 6 T20Is, it will take a whole team effort to finally seal the deal in a close game. On their side, captain Aiden Markram has shown that he can take this team far with his batting and motivation, but it lies on the rest of his players to follow suit.
Australia: This Unit’s Middle-Order Has Become Their Life Saver
When looking at the Australia batting attack, their batsmen who enter post-2-down have really shown promise and saved this team in so many matches. Since Mitchell Marsh, 70 runs in his last 5 innings, has been a little out of touch lately, both him plus Travis Head, who only scored two runs in their first T20I, have not created a real potent opening partnership yet.
Even Josh Inglis, who had a few promising knocks in his last couple matches, has shown to be very inconsistent and has very different performances on alternate days. But the true power-hitters and danger men come after that, with Cameron Green usually being their first middle-order batsman every match. Someone who’s played this format after almost a year, his comeback has been nothing short of a success as Green’s knocked three half-centuries and improved his average past 42 over the past couple of weeks.
Seeing that he also delivered a 35-run knock last match, it really put Australia in a far better position than how their opening order had started. As good as Cameron Green has been, the main power player is Tim David, whose launched some mammoth sixes and batted at strike rates over 200 consistently.
Being a major reason for them winning two games last series against the West Indies, his 88-run knock against South Africa in this one was the only reason Australia had a defendable score. Showing that he can go for big shots that land 100+ meters deep, his strength has been a massive factor for other players like Glenn Maxwell not to worry much this series. Another rising piece in that middle order is Mitchell Owen, 31.75 average, whose shown that he can play a wide range of shots, including cover drives plus sweeps. Closing it out, Ben Dwarshuis should produce runs later on as a left-handed player.
Australia: Bowling Has Been More Than Sufficient in Clutch Situations
Looking at the bowlers for Australia, they provide a serious impact for this group whenever they are in a ton of tense moments throughout each match. A major name to mention that helped Australia with his final two overs during their first T20I is Josh Hazlewood, who continues showcasing why he can dominate across all three formats. Although he doesn’t bowl the fastest balls in the world, his accuracy and length are always on point, which is a huge reason for his economy to be under 8 while also picking up 70 career wickets. This is someone the Aussies will need to bowl his full spell, alongside Ben Dwarshuis, whose slowly worked his way up to being a regular selection during twenty-twenty matches.
Being their top left-handed option, he’s already taken 16 wickets in 8 games despite being expensive at times and leaking too many runs. It always seems like he has the intent to aim the middle of the wicket, and even if his line or length are off at times, the medium will confuse batsmen.
Nathan Ellis is another great wicket-taker who has shown game-winning potential several times, while getting 38 batsmen out in such a short time. One player who has a tremendous story of starting to play cricket 5-6 years back, when he was 27, Ellis has developed even more variations for his fast bowling. Looking at the spinners, this group’s best piece is Adam Zampa, whose been there for several years and still remains extremely economical while also producing 127 career wickets.
South Africa: Batting Attack Does Provide A Ton of Depth
As South Africa does have one of the deepest lineups amongst all teams with bat in hand, their main question in this match will be if their middle-order doesn’t lose wickets in bunches. Opening will be Aiden Markram, 1379 runs, who really hopes to show his match-winning ability during this match, while a lefty in Ryan Rickleton, is going to mix things up on the other side.
Looking back on last match, Rickleton couldn’t really get things going early on, but later turned it into a 72-run knock and almost got South Africa home before Glenn Maxwell’s amazing catch. One-down will be Lhaun-Dre Pretorious, whose shown tons of aggression as a batsman but now is hoping to put together a strong innings instead of getting out under 10 balls.
Known for also hitting some of the best sixes, he hopes to be there for several overs because this is someone who could close out matches. Seeing that he’s taking over for Rassie van Der Dussen, those are some massive holes to fill, and Pretorious will really need to show he is capable of it.
After him, Dewald Brevis is another fantastic big-time hitter whose struggled to keep a sustained innings going. Batting at a strike rate of nearly 160, he can launch sixes all over the ground, but needs to finally should that he can finish off a game completely. With Tristan Stubbs, two fifties and 707 runs, in the order as well, he will continue hitting classy fours, while also taking on bowlers. If he manages to get out, George Linde and Senuran Muthuswamy are still there are as capable run scorers who can play a wide array of shots.
South Africa: Game-Changing Pacers Could Make This Match In Their Favor
Finally, seeing who the Proteas have in their bowling attack shows that this specific group could completely help them win matches. The young Kwena Maphaka is slowly turning himself into a rising star as he had yet another 4-wicket haul last match and delivered his four overs at just an economy of 5.00. Known for his unreal pace at that age, he has also shown potential to hit the same mark on consecutive balls and create catching opportunities.
Lungi Ngidi will also continue being an important wicket-taker for this group despite his high economy, since he always gets people out in the most intense situations. Their last most impactful pacer is Kagiso Rabada, whose currently looking to break Tabraiz Shamsi’s record of the highest number of wickets by a South African in T20Is, while also being able to swing the ball both ways. This unit’s main spinner will be the extremely economical lefty, Senuran Muthuswamy.
Previous Matches
Matches Played: 24
South Africa Won: 8
Australia Won: 16
Past 5: Australia won their last 5 in a row
Match Prediction
Australia Batting 1st: 175-185 runs and 7 wickets lost
South Africa Batting 1st: 170-180 and 5 wickets lost
Australia Batting 2nd: Win by 4 wickets
South Africa Batting 2nd: Winning by 1 wicket
Final Prediction: Australia will win this match by 4 wickets if batting 2nd and lose by 1-2 if batting 1st(Another match where it will likely be the 2nd team batting will win, even though that was close to happening in the first match before the choke towards ending of the match)
Key Players
Australia
Josh Hazlewood: Best bowler in this group that will always be economical and a wicket-taker in tense situations
Tim David: Power-hitter who has slowly turned into the Aussies’ main match winner
Travis Head: Opening batsman who is unstoppable when in form
Mitchell Marsh: Great leader whose one of the most dangerous big hitters
South Africa
Kagiso Rabada: Top bowling option that can swing the ball and take wickets easily
Aiden Markram: Captain and this group’s top player when in close matches
Lhaun-Dre Pretorious: Rising star whose shown his ability to hit delightful boundaries plus a few mammoth sixes
Dewald Brevis: Best-power hitter who bats at strike rates of 160/170
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