Last Updated on 10 years by Charbel Coorey
A match up which doesn’t involve the hosts yet promises the most. Two of the ODI heavyweights and contenders for next year’s World Cup take each other on in a match up that promises to be a beauty after both sides have been loving life against Zimbabwe.
Both sides possess strong bowling attacks, strong batting line-ups and simply awesome fielders such as Glenn Maxwell of Australia and AB De Villiers of South Africa. Australia’s tour of South Africa earlier this year consisted of no ODIs but the Test series was enthralling viewing. Also, South Africa have won three of the last four ODI series against Australia, adding to the rivarly between the two sides which makes for an exciting contest in Harare.
I recently picked up on a tweet about this match up which sums this contest up perfectly by @R_4rishabh
Johnson v Steyn, Maxwell v Miller, Bailey v AB, Starc v Morkel. There promises to be wonderful battles between the two side’s batsmen and bowlers:
Batsmen to watch:
Despite Phillip Hughes’ amazing form in List A cricket recently, Glenn Maxwell is a player who simply does not care who he is facing. Zimbabwe were helpless against him, as he smashed a 46 ball 93 on the way to helping Australia post 350-6. Pakistan, West Indies, India, England and Zimbabwe have been on the end of Maxwell’s onslaughts. Are South Africa next?
For South Africa, AB De Villiers has had a substandard tour so far, dating back to the Test match South Africa played in Harare against Zimbabwe. His disappointment was compounded by an embarrassing dismissal in the 2nd ODI against Zimbabwe and hasn’t really got going. However, I consider him to be the best all-round batsman in the world and expect him to come good soon. As an Australian, I hope it’s not in this game.
Bowlers to watch:
Simple. Dale Steyn v Mitchell Johnson. Two of the most feared bowlers in world cricket looking to make an impact on ODI cricket like they have in Test cricket ahead of the 2015 world cup. Makes for a wonderful contest.
Prediction: Should be a close game with two evenly matched sides coming together with so many great individual contests to look out for. However, I feel Australia has the better ODI side and back them to win a tight one to continue their push for silverware ahead of the World Cup.
