The first of five One Day Internationals between South Africa and Australia takes place at Mangaung Oval, Bloemfontein on Thursday and we take a look at the squads, recent form and the all important betting.
Australia carried off a 3-0 clean sweep of the T20 series last week and we now head into the 50 over format. Let's start with the squads.
South Africa: Temba Bavuma (c), Gerald Coetzee , Quinton de Kock , Bjorn Fortuin , Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen , Heinrich Klaasen, Sisanda Magala, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller , Lungi Ngidi , Anrich Nortje , Tabraiz Shamsi, Kagiso Rabada , Rassie van der Dussen .
Australia: Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Tanveer Sangha, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa
Recent Form
South Africa
The Proteas completed 2 routine wins over the Netherlands in March / April this year and just prior to that a 3 match series at home to West Indies was shared 1-1.
South Africa were 2-1 winners at home to England in Jan / Feb this year. They claimed the series with wins of 27 runs and then 5 wickets (both at Bloemfontein) before England came away with a consolation victory in the final match.
Australia:
Australia came from behind to win 2-1 in India in March this year and when they hosted England in November last year and completed a 3-0 clean sweep.
Australia have won 8 and lost 1 of their last 9 ODI's.
Head to Head
Overall the teams have met 103 times with 51 wins for South Africa and 48 for Australia plus 3 ties and 1 no result
The most recent meeting came in South Africa in early 2020 and South Africa pulled off a 3-0 clean sweep of the series
Mangaung Oval, Bloemfontein
Over the course of the last decade South Africa have won 4 and lost 1 of 5 ODI's staged in Bloem including a 6 wicket win over Australia in 2020
The most recent ODI's at this venue came in January this year against England. South Africa won the first of those matches by 27 runs, defending a bat first total of 298/7 (van der Dussen 111). The second contest saw the Proteas come out on top by 5 wickets as they chased down 342/7 with Bavuma top scoring with 109.
You can check the weather forecast here
The Betting - 1st ODI Risk Free First Bet Up to R2,000 back if you don't win
At the time of writing South Africa are 11/10 to win the match and Australia are 13/20
Quinton de Kock is 33/10 favourite to top score for South Africa and David Warner is the same price to do likewise for Australia
The total match sixes line is set at 11.5
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
The Verdict
With the World Cup squads announced this is an important series, the weather forecast at the time of writing was good and I've always thought of Bloem as a high scoring ground.
Rassie van der Dussen's recent ton at this venue earns him the vote to top score for the Proteas whilst Travis Head is the go to man for the Aussies.
Bets: Top SA Run Scorer van der Dussen at 7/2 with Sportingbet
Top Australia Run Scorer Travis Head at 33/10 with Sportingbet
Risk Free First Bet Up to R2,000 back if you don't win
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
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