Tri-Series 2016, Match 3 Preview: South Africa aim to get off the mark

Having lost their first encounter against the West Indies, South Africa will be looking to get off the mark in the ongoing Tri-series. The Australians, on the other hand, are on a roll. With thumping wins in their last few matches, Steven Smith and his men look seemingly unstoppable. However, the roadblock practically presents itself with the Proteas licking their wounds from their defeat against the West Indies.

Pitch conditions

As seen right through the tournament, the Guyana wicket is anything but easy to bat on. Moreover, the fact that spin plays such an important role in proceedings has made it even harder for the batsmen to play their shots. Dew also will play a major role in proceedings as all matches have been played under lights thus far. In short, it will be all to play for as Guyana hosts its final match of the Tri-series.

Team Analysis

Australia

It was business as usual for the Aussies as they thrashed a hapless looking West Indies unit. However, the batting and bowling frailties were there for all to see. In spite of just returning to the fold, a plethora of wides and no-balls saw the West Indies batsmen make life easier for themselves. David Warner began to reprise the similar role he performed for the Sunrisers Hyderabad by being the only significant top scorer in the side.

That said, the Aussies will have their work cut out. Facing a Proteas side with their backs against the wall is anything but easy. Steve Smith and the Australian management will be hoping for continuity and will not be looking to make any changes to the side going into their second encounter of the tournament. Winning the toss will be an important aspect as far as Steve Smith is concerned.

South Africa

AB de Villiers and his Proteas were outplayed rather badly against the West Indies. However, it will be up to de Villiers and his band of merry men to pick themselves back up and show some character. The Proteas will be looking at Rilee Rossouw to perform in a similar fashion that he did in the inaugural match of the tournament. The southpaw looked solid in his innings and his side will be certainly hoping that he can produce a something similar against the Aussies.

One aspect of South Africa’s loss at the hands of the West Indies was the poor quality of spin bowling on display. In spite of picking wickets, Aaron Phangiso and Imran Tahir failed to remove Kieron Pollard as the latter made light work of the spin twins. With Chris Morris providing a secondary pace option for de Villiers, Kagiso Rabada may be sacrificed to include a third spinner in the form of Tabraiz Shamsi.

Playing XI (Probable)

Australia: Steve Smith (C), Matthew Wade (WK), David Warner, Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, Adam Zampa, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazelwood

South Africa: AB de Villiers (C), Quinton de Kock (WK), Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis, Rilee Rossouw, JP Duminy, Chris Morris, Aaron Phangiso, Kyle Abbott, Imran Tahir, Kagiso Rabada/Tabraiz Shamsi

StAttack

1. Australia has a 100% record at Providence having played and won just the one match at this venue. This came in the victory against the West Indies a couple of days back.

2. David Warner needs just 8 runs to complete 2600 runs in ODIs. Aaron Finch and Steve Smith require 3 and 12 runs respectively to complete 2100 runs in their respective ODI careers.

3. Mitchell Starc needs 8 wickets to complete 100 ODI wickets. Incidentally, Imran Tahir also requires just 6 wickets to complete 100 ODI wickets. In what is a double irony, no player on both sides has reached the 100-wicket mark in ODIs.

4. Rilee Rossouw requires 79 runs to complete 1000 runs in his ODI career.