Australia and South Africa are set to resume rivalry in the one-day internationals when the two sides lock horns in Perth. The hosts have momentum on their side, after winning back-to-back matches in the three-match T20 series.
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The first one-day international between Australia and South Africa is schedule for a 03:20 GMT (11:20 local and 08:50 IST) start. For Australia vs South Africa 1st ODI live streaming click HERE, HERE and HERE. The Australia vs South Africa 1st ODI live score updates are available HERE, HERE and HERE. In India the 1st ODI will be available live on Star Sports network at Star Sports 2 and Star Sports HD 2.
One-dayers, however, are altogether a different ball-game and the inclusion of Faf du Plessis, Dale Steyn, skipper AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla, to name a few, will definitely provide the Africans a much-needed stability.
“It’s important to know it’s not the be all and end all,” de Villiers said. “It’s certainly not the end of the world if we lose. Without me jinxing ourselves, it’s not a bad thing to lose a couple of cricket games over here, so we at least know, ‘Ok, this is an area we should improve, maybe this will work against Australia, maybe not.”
The contest is expected to be a spicy affair on a lively WACA pitch that is the fastest deck in Australia and arguably in the world. Mitchell Johnson and company will be hoping to exploit the pace and bounce when the two sides cross paths.
“I think it’ll have similarities,” Clarke said. “Practice wickets are generally a little bit tougher than the centre wicket here in Perth. But the wicket looks like it has a fair bit of grass on it as well so I don’t know if that will change from today to tomorrow but the fact we’ve got to play two games here there might be a bit slower tomorrow and come Sunday it will quicken up.”
“Ground is in fantastic condition,” he added. “Boys always love playing here, especially our fast bowlers. So we know it’s going to be tough to start as a batsman but once you get in Perth is a really good place to bat.”
South Africa won’t mind a bouncy track for the series opener either, seeing the pace attack they have, as it is more than capable of troubling the opposition. Steyn will certainly cause troubles to the hosts, while Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander can create hostility.
Squad: Australia (probable): Aaron Finch, David Warner, Shane Watson, Michael Clarke (c), George Bailey, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Wade (wk), Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Josh Hazlewood.
South Africa (probable): Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock (wk), Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers (c), Rilee Rossouw, David Miller, Ryan McLaren, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Imran Tahir.
