Summer has made its arrival in South Africa and although the weather forecast says that the temperature will be around 30 degree Celsius, expect a possible afternoon thunderstorm. Nevertheless, that takes away nothing from the mouthwatering cricket the two giants of the game can put on display.
The Proteas take on Australia in the first of the five ODI matches on Friday at the SuperSport Park, Centurion.
The elbow injury may have unfortunately ruled out one of the stars of the tournament, AB De Villiers, but expect South Africa to give their all with the likes of stand-in skipper Faf du Plessis, Hashim Amla, JP Duminy as well as David Miller and Farhaan Behardien expected to step up their performances.
Imran Tahir is already turning out to be one of the best limited overs spinners in cricket today, while pacer Dale Steyn's return also provides major boost for the Proteas.
Australia, led by Steve Smith, may be number one in ODI cricket at the moment, but expect them to face major challenge in this tour. John Hastings, Scott Boland and Mitchell Marsh remain the only experienced bowlers for the Aussies, with the likes of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Pattinson, Pat Cummins, James Faulkner and Peter Siddle not available for the match.
The onus will be on the likes of David Warner, Aaron Finch and Smith himself to pick up a good start for the Aussies in the match.
Expected XI
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis (c), JP Duminy, David Miller, Farhaan Behardien, Wayne Parnell, Dwaine Pretorius, Dale Steyn, Kagiso Rabada, Imran Tahir.
Australia: David Warner, Aaron Finch, Steven Smith (c), George Bailey, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Mathew Wade (wk), John Hastings, Adam Zampa, Chris Tremain, Scott Boland.
Schedule
South Africa vs Australia is scheduled to start at 1:30 pm local time (11:30 am GMT | 5 pm IST) on September 30.
Where to watch live
India: TV - Ten 2, Ten 1 HD. Live streaming - Ten Sports Live.
UK: TV - Sky Sports 5. Live streaming - Watch Sky Sports.
USA: TV - Willow TV. Live streaming - Willow TV YouTube.
Australia: TV - Fox Sports. Live streaming - Fox Sports Australia Live.
South Africa: TV - SuperSport. Live streaming - SuperSport Live.