Australia VS South Africa 2nd T20 Venue: Marrara Oval, Darwin
Australia VS South Africa 2nd T20 Date: Sunday, August 10
BetXchange Australia VS South Africa 2nd T20 Odds:
History
South Africa’s latest cricket tour of Australia continues tomorrow. The Proteas and the Aussies will clash in the second of three T20Is at the Marrara Oval in Darwin. This is the site of the first two 20-over matches, with the third on August 16 in Cairns.
The game’s shortest format is followed by three ODIs, one in Cairns and one in Mackay, coastal Queensland. This is a white-ball-only tour, with no Test matches to be played.
For South Africa, this series represents a chance to quickly bounce back after they lost to New Zealand in the final of their T20 tri-series in Zimbabwe last month, while Australia looks to carry on their T20I momentum after a whitewash of the West Indies. These matches are important, with the T20 World Cup coming up in six months.
The first T20 in this series was a strange one. South Africa won the toss and put Australia in to bat. The Aussies then created their own carnage, playing at everything and giving the South Africans wickets. Kwena Maphaka got the crucial wickets of Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head for a combined score of 15 runs. Josh Inglis went for a duck, leaving Tim David to steady the ship with a superb 83. All told, Australia was done for 178 after 20 overs.
This gave the Proteas a very attainable target. The issue was with the speed of the chase. Ryen Rickelton was good with his 71, while Tristan Stubbs added 37. There were, however, only two sixes in the entire innings, which left the Proteas falling behind in run rate. By the time they started chasing the game, there was no life left in the wicket, and the Aussie bowlers could slow down the scoring to leave South Africa at 161/9 at the end of its 20 overs.
Australia
Nathan Ellis continues to struggle. He gave up 11 runs per over, 44 runs total in his spell, for with no wickets. The bowling outside of Haleswood and Ben Dwarshuis was just average, and they will expect to be better tomorrow.
South Africa
Losing captain Aiden Markram in the first over after he had flown to a 12-run start from five balls was a disaster. The Proteas never recovered, though Lhuan-dre Pretorius did show something once again. He was the third leading scorer with 14 runs. Much more is expected of this lineup on Tuesday.
Best Bets
Given how the pitch played on Sunday, it will be interesting to see if the strategy changes here. Maphaka, as top bowler, is a steal at 19/2 given his four-wicket haul in the first T20. Aussie’s best on show was, as expected, Josh Hazlewood. He is short at 71/20 but is the best pacer in the Australian squad and is well worth a punt.
South Africa, at 49/20, is long enough that I would back them in this two-horse race. They showed more than enough to win the first match, and I think they will play to the conditions better this time around.
