Media365
NEW DELHI: Two sides with a lot of batting strength, Australia and South Africa, will try to outmuscle one another in Rawalpindi on Tuesday in order to advance to the Champions Trophy semifinals.
Few were giving a diminished Australia a chance in the competition, but they once again demonstrated their ability to step up in ICC competitions with their historic chase against England in Lahore.
The dew helped the pursuing team the other night in Lahore and might help them again in Rawalpindi.
Australia will undoubtedly miss the pace trio of Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, and Pat Cummins during the tournament, but their bold batting performance made up for it at least in the first game.
After playing the innings of his life, with runs also coming from Matthew Short, Marnus Labuschagne, Alex Carey, and Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis must be feeling extremely confident.
Only captain Steve Smith and opener Travis Head remain in the batting lineup, and they have a chance to score a significant knock against the Proteas.
Maxwell was again on the costly side against England, and left-arm pacer Spencer Johnson should have put up a stronger bowling display. Labuschagne and Short are set to share the job as sixth bowler.
After a century against Afghanistan, Ryan Rickleton would be smiling with confidence in the South African dressing room, just like Inglis. Striking half-centuries at numbers three, four, and five bode well for the team captained by Temba Bavuma.
Due to an injury, Heinrich Klaasen was unable to play in the last game, and it is uncertain if he will play on Tuesday.
With Kagiso Rabada at the forefront, South Africa’s pace attack is unquestionably more potent than their rivals’.
South Africa did not have the ideal build-ups for the Champions Trophy because their first-choice players were unavailable, but they are still supporting themselves to win.
“I think as a group we might not have had the best results coming into this tournament, but quietly I think everyone’s quite confident. We do have incredibly good players in this team, not just in the team but obviously the whole squad as well,” said Rickleton.
“There’s guys that are maybe a bit young in the side as well that are also looking to make an impact. But I don’t think we’re too burdened by the hunt to win the whole thing.
“Obviously, we’re here to do that. But we don’t let that restrict us. We have to play our best game, have fun, enjoy each other’s company,” he added.
Squads:
Australia: Matthew Short, Travis Head, Steven Smith (captain), Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis (wk), Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Spencer Johnson, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Sean Abbott, Tanveer Sangha
South Africa: Ryan Rickelton (wicketkeeper), Tony de Zorzi, Temba Bavuma (captain), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Heinrich Klaasen, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Corbin Bosch
