Australia hoping for solutions to one-day woes against Proteas

If the International Cricket Council (ICC) had not turned itself into a glorified events company and not focused so much on just three countries, Thursday’s matchup between Australia and SA might have got the attention a fixture with so much historic lustre deserves.       

The teams have served up two of the greatest one-day internationals (ODIs) and engaged in a decade-long Test rivalry that saw matches of violent fluctuations, broken bones and reputations enhanced.

However, with the ICC having inserted a global competition into the calendar for every year until 2031 — England, India and Australia hoovering up most of the schedule for matches among themselves — and other countries desperate to ensure their financial wellbeing by establishing T20 leagues, the rivalry between the Proteas and Aussies has been pushed to the margins.

It has meant that, as with so much of this World Cup, the build-up has felt rather flat.

Pat Cummins, who made his international debut against SA as that rivalry ignited in the early 2010s, described it as a clash of kindred spirits.

“I find with SA we always match up quite similarly,” the Australian captain said.

“They’ve always got some fast bowlers and some batters that take the game on, maybe a leg spinner. So it always feels like it’s a clash of two very similar teams.”

It’s a rivalry that, in the ODI format, the Proteas have dominated recently. In the past seven years the teams have met 17 times with SA winning 14 of those matches. Australia have had the upper hand in tournament play, winning three of the six World Cup encounters. 

However, it is notable that since winning the World Cup on home soil in 2015, Australia’s focus on ODIs has lessened. They have come into this year’s tournament looking a bit jaded, which is understandable given the ridiculous schedule they’ve had to maintain this year, with most of those matches, unsurprisingly, against England and India. 

Having lost their opening game of the tournament to the host nation, the Australians are under pressure to get themselves on the scoreboard against the Proteas in Lucknow. No Australian captain will ever acknowledge a lack of confidence, but Cummins sounded like he is searching for answers for his team which has won just one of its past seven ODIs. 

For his bowlers, his concern was how they could take wickets between the 11th and 40th overs, while he had a similar refrain about his team’s batting. “How do we create partnerships?” Cummins wondered.

By contrast, the Proteas enter Thursday’s match in fine fettle. Not only can they draw confidence from their recent record against the Australians, but they also won their opening match against Sri Lanka, scoring a World Cup record 428 batting first. It wasn’t a flawless performance but that will only help to focus their minds, particularly around the area that let them down in Delhi — their bowling. 

Cummins had only taken a cursory glance at the Ekana Cricket Stadium pitch, describing it as “really good, really even”.

“So maybe a bit of pace and bounce,” he said.