What: Australia v South Africa
When: Friday, November 7 – 7:35pm (AEDT)
Where: MCG
I can view it on: Channel Nine
What did they do last time?
A very much cobbled-together Australian side copped a South African spanking on Wednesday night. Aside from Shane Watson (47) and James Faulkner (41), Australia’s batsmen were bamboozled by the Proteas’ disciplined bowling performance as they posted a score of just 144. And, just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, Nathan Reardon produced a horrendous drop to give Rilee Rossouw a life when the batsman was on five. In response, he said, ‘thank you very much’, and proceeded to dominate the majority of Australia’s bowlers, hitting 78 off 50 deliveries to lead South Africa to an impressive seven-wicket win at the Adelaide Oval.
Things you need to know:
South Africa may have rested heaps of stars but the Proteas had the benefit of being on tour in New Zealand, working with each other and gelling as a team. The Australians, meanwhile, didn’t resemble a team at all as most of them had been hastily brought together after the domestic One-Day Cup and didn’t have time to click.
Further complicating this unit working as a team was the fact Shane Watson and Pat Cummins have basically were just added in to build their fitness as they return from injury. Fortunately they were two of Australia’s best performers against the Proteas while several other big-names like David Warner, Glenn Maxwell and possibly Mitch Marsh could be available as soon as Friday night having returned from the disastrous Pakistan Tests in the UAE.
Reason to watch:
He’ll never be the most popular bloke in the world but when Shane Watson’s on with the bat, he’s glorious to watch. The big man looked a class above most of the other Aussie batsmen and looked set to almost take the game away from South Africa during the middle overs.
For the Proteas, keep an eye on their bowling performances. While most T20 teams treat bowling as an after-thought, the South Africans produced a disciplined length – sending down one Yorker after another – to seriously restrict the Aussies. Kyle Abbott’s 3-21 off four overs was a superb return.
Reason to turn away:
The Aussies appeared a little timid and gave South Africa’s pacemen too much respect. While they certainly bowled a good length, they were allowed to keep doing so because the Aussie batsmen failed to take them on. When you have an Adelaide crowd applauding twos instead of fours and sixes in a T20 game, you know something’s wrong.
Say what?:
Aaron Finch almost got his head fried as a flame machine went off while he attempted to field the ball.
“I stood off waiting for them to go off and when they didn’t I thought they must have pulled the pin on them for that time. And then bang, it was a shock I can tell you,” he said. “It gave me a bit of a fright. I’m sure it could be quite dangerous. Dave Hussey nearly got his head blown off by them as well didn’t he? So probably a bit more care needs to be taken towards the players and anyone who is nearby.”
Final instructions:
Things can change pretty quickly in Twenty20 cricket. A team that’s hopeless one day can be world beaters the next. But if South Africa produce another performance in the field as disciplined as the one from Wednesday night, they’ll be difficult to beat. That being said, players like Nathan Reardon and Ben Dunk, if they stay in the team, will be better off and shouldn’t have as many nerves second time around. They will also have had more time to gel and Aaron Finch will have had time to work on getting his bowling combinations right. This should be a closer encounter but the Proteas still appear to have the edge.