The Aussie campaign in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup kicks off on Saturday night as they take on South Africa in the opening game of the tournament!
We’ll be bringing you a full preview for all of the Australian games as well as the finals in the T20 World Cup, so be sure to check our Cricket Tips page regularly for updates. You can also check out our full tournament preview and betting tips for the competition futures and props.
Australia vs South Africa Betting Tips
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Saturday 9.00pm (AEDT)
Australia
Aaron Finch (C), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins (VC), Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa
The Aussies played two warm up matches in the lead up to their tournament opener on Saturday night. They were pretty impressive against New Zealand in the first game, chasing down 158 with a ball to spare, but their performance in their 2nd game against India was a little alarming for Australian fans.
Batting first, the Aussies fell to 3/11 in the first few overs of the game and although they recovered to post a defendable total of 152, it wasn’t nearly enough to stop a rampant Indian top order, who chased down the total with more than two overs to spare.
The Aussies have real flaws across the board, particularly in their top order , with David Warner and Aaron Finch terribly out of form at the moment. It’s hard to see them competing with the best T20 teams in the world at the moment, with so few of their players having had T20 experience over the last few months.
AUSTRALIA WARM UP GAME HIGHLIGHTS
South Africa
Temba Bavuma (c), Keshav Maharaj, Quinton de Kock (wk), Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, W Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen; Reserves: George Linde, Andile Phehlukwayo, Lizaad Williams
On the contrary, some of the key South African players come into the tournament with plenty of T20 experience over the past few months in the IPL. Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Quinton de Kock, Lungi Ngidi and Aiden Markram all played leading roles in their IPL teams.
The South Africans start as underdogs here and I absolutely love the value about them. They were fantastic in both of their warm up games, winning with dominant performances with the bat in one game and the ball in the other.
SOUTH AFRICA WARM UP GAME HIGHLIGHTS
Player Props
With the lack of form in the Australian top order at the moment, I really like the value of Steve Smith to top the run scoring for the Australians. He has played as the steady hand in the Australian T20 outfit and is capable of steering them through the middle overs and going at a run a ball without taking too many risks. Back him to score the most runs for the Aussies.
Smith Top AUS Runscorer
$5.50
Anrich Nortje proved himself as an elite power-play bowler in the IPL, taking 12 wickets in eight games, finishing the season with the 8th best bowling average at just 15.58. Back him to top the SA wicket-takers at good odds.
Nortje Top SA Wicket Taker
$4.50
