- Messages
- 151,049
Preview - 5th ODI - South Africa v Australiaby: Andrew WeissSportal
Australia will travel to the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg brimming with confidence as they get set to take on South Africa in the fifth and deciding one-dayer of the Travelex series.
Having gone down 2-0 after the first two matches of the series, the Aussies will be looking to complete a fairytale comeback, which now sees the series leveled at 2-2 going into the fifth match.
The Aussies leveled the series with a nail-biting one wicket victory in Durban on Saturday morning (AEDT) and will be carrying all the momentum into the decider.
The return of Andrew Symonds to the team highlighted just how important he is to the line-up after he smashed 76 from 71 balls to push Australia towards victory.
Along with Symonds, Adam Gilchrist and Michael Hussey are likely to be important factors in influencing the outcome of the fifth match.
While Gilchrist hasn’t exactly been on fire over the past year or so with the bat, his last two knocks of 25 and 45 were reminders of just what a dangerous player he can be.
Hussey has hit 56, 22, 22 and 19 in the first four matches of the series, and the wicket of ‘Mr Cricket’ will determine whether or not the Australians can post the extra 20 or 30 runs needed to put the game out of the Protea’s grasp.
In the bowling department, the Australians seem to be struggling, and this is perhaps the area the South Africans should be looking to exploit if they are to win the match.
Brett Lee has had an expensive series that has yielded just six wickets (four of them coming in the one match at Port Elizabeth) for a massive 212 runs, at over five runs per over.
With Nathan Bracken as the other pace bowler, and Stuart Clark, Shane Watson and Michael Lewis being used as the next line of attack, the Australians will need to be on guard in the field and make the most of their fielding opportunities.
While the bowling of Australia is clearly the weakness that the South African’s can exploit, their batting line-up hardly seems to be up for the task.
Ricky Ponting had a thought before the tour along the lines of ‘you bring the captain down, you bring the team down.’
While Graeme Smith did hit an unbeaten 116 in the first game, it must be remembered that he was put down by what was a fairly regulation catch when he was in the 40’s.
That knock aside, Smith’s record through the Australian tour and indeed the South African tour has been nothing short of abysmal.
The same can be said for South African starlet Herschelle Gibbs whose four innings in this series have yielded 0, 66, 16, 1 – hardly startling figures.
And while the Proteas will be buoyed by the return of Jacques Kallis, and the form of Boeta Dippenaar and AB De Villiers, one of Smith or Gibbs will need to step up and take hold of the responsibility they have been given at the top of the order.
What the South African’s have lacked in the batting department, they have more than made up for it with the heart shown from their bowlers.
Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini have led from the front this series, putting their all into keeping the Proteas competitive throughout.
With Kallis’ return to the line-up last match, as well as the raw enthusiasm brimming from Roger Telemachus the weapons are there to rip through the Australian top order.
Whether or not Telemachus and Andrew Hall can provide enough resistance through the middle of Australia’s innings could prove crucial in keeping the Australian total to an achievable target.
But the question has been raised as to whether or not South Africa has choked, having gone 2-0 up in the series and taking seeming control of the fourth match throughout the second innings.
With Australia having comeback to level the series to 2-2, the momentum, experience and attitude should be enough to get the world champions over the line.
http://www.sportal.com.au/cricket.asp?i=news&id=79128
Having gone down 2-0 after the first two matches of the series, the Aussies will be looking to complete a fairytale comeback, which now sees the series leveled at 2-2 going into the fifth match.
The Aussies leveled the series with a nail-biting one wicket victory in Durban on Saturday morning (AEDT) and will be carrying all the momentum into the decider.
The return of Andrew Symonds to the team highlighted just how important he is to the line-up after he smashed 76 from 71 balls to push Australia towards victory.
Along with Symonds, Adam Gilchrist and Michael Hussey are likely to be important factors in influencing the outcome of the fifth match.
While Gilchrist hasn’t exactly been on fire over the past year or so with the bat, his last two knocks of 25 and 45 were reminders of just what a dangerous player he can be.
Hussey has hit 56, 22, 22 and 19 in the first four matches of the series, and the wicket of ‘Mr Cricket’ will determine whether or not the Australians can post the extra 20 or 30 runs needed to put the game out of the Protea’s grasp.
In the bowling department, the Australians seem to be struggling, and this is perhaps the area the South Africans should be looking to exploit if they are to win the match.
Brett Lee has had an expensive series that has yielded just six wickets (four of them coming in the one match at Port Elizabeth) for a massive 212 runs, at over five runs per over.
With Nathan Bracken as the other pace bowler, and Stuart Clark, Shane Watson and Michael Lewis being used as the next line of attack, the Australians will need to be on guard in the field and make the most of their fielding opportunities.
While the bowling of Australia is clearly the weakness that the South African’s can exploit, their batting line-up hardly seems to be up for the task.
Ricky Ponting had a thought before the tour along the lines of ‘you bring the captain down, you bring the team down.’
While Graeme Smith did hit an unbeaten 116 in the first game, it must be remembered that he was put down by what was a fairly regulation catch when he was in the 40’s.
That knock aside, Smith’s record through the Australian tour and indeed the South African tour has been nothing short of abysmal.
The same can be said for South African starlet Herschelle Gibbs whose four innings in this series have yielded 0, 66, 16, 1 – hardly startling figures.
And while the Proteas will be buoyed by the return of Jacques Kallis, and the form of Boeta Dippenaar and AB De Villiers, one of Smith or Gibbs will need to step up and take hold of the responsibility they have been given at the top of the order.
What the South African’s have lacked in the batting department, they have more than made up for it with the heart shown from their bowlers.
Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini have led from the front this series, putting their all into keeping the Proteas competitive throughout.
With Kallis’ return to the line-up last match, as well as the raw enthusiasm brimming from Roger Telemachus the weapons are there to rip through the Australian top order.
Whether or not Telemachus and Andrew Hall can provide enough resistance through the middle of Australia’s innings could prove crucial in keeping the Australian total to an achievable target.
But the question has been raised as to whether or not South Africa has choked, having gone 2-0 up in the series and taking seeming control of the fourth match throughout the second innings.
With Australia having comeback to level the series to 2-2, the momentum, experience and attitude should be enough to get the world champions over the line.
http://www.sportal.com.au/cricket.asp?i=news&id=79128
