South Africa is wary of Australia in major tournaments, despite the latter’s diminished pace attack. Australia has a successful tournament history, winning eight ICC white-ball trophies since South Africa’s only victory in 1998. South Africa’s ODI captain, Temba Bavuma, acknowledges Australia’s capabilities, highlighting their effective batting and experienced spin options despite inexperience in bowling. Both teams face absentees, but South Africa retained a strong core, boosting their confidence. Bavuma expresses optimism about their chances, while Australia remains confident in their depth and ability to score big. The rivalry promises an exciting contest between two competitive teams.
South Africa understands the importance of not underestimating an Australian team during a major tournament, even one missing their entire World Cup-winning pace attack. After all, they are a squad that has claimed eight ICC white-ball titles since South Africa’s last (and only) in 1998, demonstrating a mastery of the winning formula for tournaments, regardless of the players available to them.
“Any Australian team that assembles for an ICC event is not to be taken lightly,” remarked Temba Bavuma, South Africa’s ODI captain. “Although they may not have their primary bowling lineup, I believe they still possess enough talent to achieve success as a collective unit.”
Based on their opening victory against England, it’s hard to disagree with Bavuma. Even after conceding an enormous 351 runs, Australia expertly managed their chase and secured victory with 15 balls to spare.
Australia believes that while they may lack the prestige of a traditional pace attack, they compensate with their spinners and powerful batting lineup. “It’s true that we have an inexperienced bowling attack, there’s no denying that, but we also have experience with our leg spinner Adam Zampa, Glenn Maxwell who bowls intelligently, and Steve Smith, who is an outstanding captain,” Alex Carey explained. “Steve’s strategic use of the bowlers is a real strength for us. He is tactically astute and reads the game exceptionally well, so I remain confident in our ability to bowl 50 overs, no matter how it comes together.”
Despite their bowling lineup of Nathan Ellis, Ben Dwarshuis, and Spencer Johnson having only 17 caps among them, Carey expressed his belief in their ability to defend a score if needed. “If we bat first during the tournament, I trust our boys to defend a solid score, ideally over 300. If not, Nathan Ellis has a variety of effective slower deliveries, Spencer Johnson can be quite damaging at the top, as can Ben Dwarshuis, and Sean Abbott is ready to step in as well,” he added. “We’re heading into this tournament with confidence in our bowling attack, even without the big three [Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood], and we hope our batting unit can score enough runs to ease the pressure on our bowlers.”
Nevertheless, Australia knows better than to boast about their accomplishments in the face of a driven South African side, which feels closer than ever to clinching a trophy. Just nine months ago, South Africa reached their first World Cup final, and having also competed in the World Test Championship final, they are starting to believe a title is within reach, particularly with their best players available. “South Africa is currently playing excellent one-day cricket and appears to have a great balance within their XI,” Carey said. “We recognize they are a formidable team and will pose a significant challenge throughout the tournament.”
“South Africa is currently playing excellent one-day cricket and appears to have a great balance within their XI. We recognize they are a formidable team and will pose a significant challenge throughout the tournament.”
Alex Carey
While both South Africa and Australia faced absences, South Africa encountered fewer (only Anrich Nortje was included and then had to withdraw, although Gerak Coetzee was being considered before succumbing to a minor issue and Heinrich Klaasen missed the last game due to an elbow concern) and have retained a seasoned core. This may explain why they are no longer hesitant when discussing their chances of winning. When prompted directly about his team’s prospects, Bavuma was forthright. “We’re quite confident about our chances,” he stated. “Our morale is strong, so we are optimistic about how far we can progress in this competition.”
Whether it is wise to be so open before facing the two former champions in their group is up for debate, but at least Bavuma is embracing the expectations rather than shying away from them—a tendency that often characterizes South Africans. One could argue that South Africa’s performances over the past two years in all formats of cricket (having advanced to the knockout stages in every tournament across men’s, women’s, and under-19 categories since the Women’s T20 World Cup in 2023) have given them a legitimate reason to aspire for success, a privilege that Australia has long enjoyed.
It comes as no surprise that even in the absence of their usual captain Pat Cummins, along with Mitch Marsh, Josh Hazlewood, Marcus Stoinis, and Mitchell Starc, they still consider their confidence level to be “really high,” as Carey put it, facing each challenge with poise. In what is expected to be a high-scoring encounter in Rawalpindi, Carey optimistically mentioned that since defending could be tricky, he hopes Australia will aim for “400 if we bat first” because “high-scoring games make one-day cricket more enjoyable.”
If you need a reminder of how both Australia and South Africa excel in batter-friendly conditions, rewind 19 years to a match that, despite only having a bilateral series win at stake, showcased the best in two teams that thrive on competition against one another. While it may not be the Ashes or India-Pakistan, the rivalry between Australia and South Africa is a clash of two evenly matched teams promising to deliver something extraordinary.
