The countdown to the ICC ODI World Cup is on and the top nations in the world are beginning their white ball preparations for the tournament. Australia will travel to South Africa for a three game T20 series kicking off this Thursday morning.
We have you covered with a full preview and betting tips for the Game 1, set to be played from Kingsmead on Thursday morning at 2.00am (AEST).
South Africa vs Australia 1st T20 Preview & Betting Tips
Kingsmead, Thursday 31st August, 2.00am (AEST)
The Australian Cricket team has not played since they retained the Urn after a 2-2 draw in the Ashes back at the start of August. They’ll begin an 11 game white ball preparation for the ODI World Cup which includes games against South Africa followed by India later in September.
Australia Predicted XI: Matthew Short, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Steve Smith, Josh Inglis, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Sean Abbott, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Jason Behrendorff
With new skipper Mitch Marsh now at the helm of the Australian T20 side, it feels like the start of a new chapter for the Aussie white ball setup. The squad for the South African series consists of a bunch of Big Bash League stars who have been awaiting a more permanent call up into the international side, including the likes of Matthew Short, Sean Abbott, Aaron Hardie, Nathan Ellis and Spencer Johnson.
Short, in particular, forced his way into the international side on the back of one of the more dominant Big Bash seasons last year, amassing 458 runs to go along with 11 wickets. The only player who scored more runs than Short last season was impressive all-rounder Aaron Hardie, who may have to wait his turn as the incumbent all-rounders in Marcus Stoinis and Tim David both look primed to play a big part in this series.
The Aussies will be without T20 stalwart Glenn Maxwell, who suffered an ankle injury in the lead-up to the series and was replaced in the squad by veteran Matthew Wade.
South Africa Predicted XI: Aiden Markram, Reeza Hendricks, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma, Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Gerald Coetzee, Tabraiz Shamsi
South Africa will also come into the series with plenty of youth in their squad. Key cogs in Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Dewald Brevis and Tristan Stubbs are all under the age of 24, making it an exciting prospect for South African white ball fans.
The stalwarts of South African cricket will still be around in the likes of Bavuma, Markram, van der Dussen and Ngidi, but they will be without regular pace duo Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada.
Betting Tips
I have some concerns about the strength of the South African batting line-up in this series. If two of their top three fail on any given night, there will be so much pressure on the all-rounders, all of whom are largely unproven with the bat in international cricket. The Aussies start as $1.70 favourites on the road and I’ll be taking them to get the job done in Game 1.
Player Prop Quick Tips
Mitch Marsh Over 22.5 Runs ($1.83) - Marsh hasn’t played a lot of white ball cricket in recent times but he was one of the standout performers for the Aussies in the Ashes and will want to impress as the new captain of the T20 side.
