Quinton de Kock hogged the limelight with a wonderful exhibition of batting, scoring 178 runs to help South Africa win the first ODI against Australia by six wickets. Now, the action shifts to the second ODI, which is set to be played at New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Sunday.
After a brilliant performance from South Africa in the first ODI, Australia will be hell bent to outdo the hosts, and script a win, level the five-match ODI series at 1-1. South Africa, on the other hand, will go into this match as a confident unit, and hope to build on the win, and take a 2-0 lead, which will put them in the driver's seat for the remainder of the series.
Australia did not look bad in the first ODI, but they need to play some good cricket in the second ODI. More importantly, their batsmen have to convert their starts into meaningful scores. Players like David Warner, Aaron Finch, Mitchell Marsh got their eye in, but could not score big. They need to look at how Kock consolidated his start, and took the game away.
"We got a lot of starts and nobody was able to go on and get a big score like Quinton de Kock did. So going forward it's the responsibility of one of our top four to post a big total, and if we do that then the team total is going to be big as well," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Australia skipper Steve Smith as saying.
The Australian bowlers also need to provide early breakthroughs against the strong top order of South Africa, which may be strengthened with the possibility of Hashim Amla featuring in the starting XI for the second ODI.
South Africa, playing at home, knows the conditions better, will be keen to outplay Australia in all departments of the game in the second ODI. The Proteas, who are known to play solid cricket, irrespective of the result, will not give an inch to Australia.
South Africa might have ticked all the boxes in the first match, but they are sure Australia will come back with a bang, as the Aussies, like other teams, hate losing. Australia will take their game a notch higher in the second ODI, which will make for an interesting clash.
The home side will look for Kock to continue his amazing form , and score big in the second ODI. With South Africa also possessing a potent bowling attack including Dale Steyn, Kagiso Rabada and Imran Tahir, if these bowlers come with their A game in the second ODI, South Africa could prosper once again.
Where to watch live
South Africa vs Australia 2nd ODI is schedule for 10 am local (8 am GMT, 1:30 pm IST, 6 pm AEST) start.
India: TV - Ten 2, Ten 1 HD. Live streaming - Ten Sports Live.
UK: TV - Sky Sports 3. 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.
