What: Australia v South Africa
When: Sunday, November 16 – 11.20am (WST), 2.20pm (AEDT)
Where: WACA Ground
I can view it on: Channel Nine.
What did they do last time?
In a seesawing encounter at the WACA, Australia eventually prevailed by 32 runs off the back of superb performances from man-of-the-match Nathan Coulter-Nile and George Bailey. Bailey was a late inclusion but delivered the goods as he scored a team-high 70 off 75 deliveries. The Tasmanian came in just when South Africa were well on top and was fortunate to be dropped twice when on two. But he made the most of the let-offs as he and Matthew Wade took the momentum from South Africa, their partnership forming the backbone of a formidable first-innings total of 300.
The Proteas looked capable of pulling off the run chase, though, as skipper AB de Villiers (80 off 75) and Dale Miller (65 off 65) got busy with a 126-run stand. But when that was broken by Coulter-Nile (4-48), South Africa floundered as they were dismissed for 268.
Things you need to know:
Australia’s victory came at a cost as skipper Michael Clarke reinjured the left hamstring that’s caused him plenty of issues this year. Clarke’s place in Australia’s Test team for some of the four matches against India must now be in doubt. For now, in this ODI series, Steve Smith will be a more-than-handy replacement for Clarke. Smith was controversially left out of the team for the first ODI as Bailey took his place, despite the New South Welshman being the form batsman in the Aussie line-up. There were some suggestions the real reason for his exclusion was because he’d been hurt in the nets by Mitchell Johnson, although this was completely downplayed by coach Darren Lehmann. At any rate, Smith’s magnificent run-out of AB de Villiers on Friday night shows he’s fit as a fiddle and should take Clarke’s place. Watch out for Mitchell Johnson too. The big man was doing some pretty extensive stretching by the boundary and may be rested for this encounter in Perth.
Reason to watch:
The WACA pitch usually delivers when it comes to ODIs. The pace is certainly intense when blokes like Johnson, Coulter-Nile, Daley Steyn and Morne Morkel get going. But if a batsman gets their eye in then this pace can deliver some massive hits as shown when Bailey ultimately got going on Friday evening. With talk of Tests and one-dayers being moved from the iconic Swan River venue, we might as well make the most of it while we can.
Reason to turn away:
Australia’s batting still seems prone to losing wickets in clumps. Openers David Warner and Aaron Finch had helped the Aussies to 0-94 but as those two were dismissed, Australia lost five wickets for 50 runs to be 5-144 and right behind the eight ball. Fortunately for the hosts, Miller and Imran Tahir both dropped Bailey – the second being an absolutely caught-and-bowled dolly – allowing the Tasmanian and Matthew Wade to consolidate the innings. But this tendency to lose wickets quickly remains one of the key issues facing coach Lehmann across both Tests and ODIs.
Say what:
Channel 9 commentator Ian Healy spent a full 10 minutes gushing over the possibility that Dale Steyn almost dismissed himself with his shoe. The bowler had forgotten to tie his laces as he took off for a quick single and soon found himself with just one boot. If the shoe had flown backwards into the stumps Steyn would have been out ‘hit-wicket’. But in reality the shoe never went anywhere near it so Healy was pretty much just filling in time.
Not the cinderella story @DaleSteyn62 was after in the #AUSvSA ODI, but still a good night for NB with Miller strong! pic.twitter.com/zEt8TDdRJg
— New Balance Cricket (@NBCricket) November 14, 2014
Final instructions:
There really isn’t much of a gap between these two high-quality ODI sides. But Australia seem to have the ability to win key moments and the Aussie batting line-up runs seriously deep, given big hitters Johnson and Coulter-Nile bat at nine and ten respectively. That being said, it really wouldn’t have taken much to swing the first ODI in South Africa’s favour and if Faf du Plessis (31) had got going, the Proteas probably would have won. But with the Aussies having won seven of nine ODIs at the WACA since 2010, we’re going to back them in to get the job done again.