LUCKNOW – South Africa beat Australia by 134 runs in the 10 match of the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023 in Lucknow on Thursday.
Australia won the toss and elected to bowl first against South Africa as the two sides met for their second match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.
Batting first, South Africa set 312-run target for Australia. Chasing the target, the entire Australian squad was bowled out for 177 runs in 40.5 overs.
The fixture between old rivals Australia and South Africa was a decisive battle with the race for a semi-final berth at the leading cricket event already looking set to go right down to the wire.
Earlier in the tournament, Kangaroos faced a blow in opener against India but Cummins-led squad will be keen to atone against Proteas which remained on a high note after maiden win against Sri Lanka in their first appearance at CWC 23.
Australia and S. Africa recently played a five-match ODI series, the series was taken by hosts Proteas 3-2.
In today’s game, it will be a battle Australia pacers and top-order of South Africa as both squads will push harder to advance their stay in a flagship cricket tournament.
Australia gets a boost from Marcus Stoinis who was earlier unavailable due to injury but is now declared fit and available for selection. The squad is unlikely to make any other changes.
Australia know the abilities of South African batting after the Proteas won 3-2 in their recent series at home after losing the first two matches.
Both sides have played 108 ODI matches against each other, with South Africa hold a slight edge with 54 wins, Australia bagged 50 games including three in the World Cup.
Meanwhile, pitch at Lucknow’s Ekana International Cricket Stadium helped both pacers and spinners equally.
India beat Australia by 6 wickets to make winning start at World Cup 2023
Australia vs South Africa Squads
Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Steve Smith, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis, Sean Abbott, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitch Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa, Mitchell Starc.
South Africa: Temba Bavuma (c), Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Lizaad Williams.
