Australia and South Africa are set to take the field against each other on Thursday at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. Both teams have had mixed fortunes in this edition of the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup 2023.
While Australia began their campaign with a loss at the hands of India, South Africa broke several records on the way to a win over Sri Lanka in their opening match. This was the first time since 1996 that five-time champions Australia began their World Cup campaign with a defeat. On the other hand, the Proteas recorded the most number of centuries (3) in a single ODI match as Quinton de Kock, Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen hitting individual tons.
Head To Head:
Australia and South Africa have played 108 One Day International (ODI) matches with the Proteas having the bragging rights with 54 wins, against Australia’s 50, while three matches ended in a tie. On one occasion, the match between the two teams saw no outcome. South Africa won the match by 122 runs the last time they faced each other on September 17 at the DP World Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg.
In World Cups, six matches have been played by the two teams with the Aussies winning on three occasions. The two teams were part of a historic World Cup semi-final match in the 1999 edition which ended in a tie. Allan Donald was run out with one run to win as Lance Klusene helplessly watched on.
Pitch Report:
With only three ODI matches played so far in the stadium, the pitch appears to favour the team batting second. Although the pitch is well-balanced, the team batting first should aim for a first-innings score higher than the average of 230 to have a comfortable edge.
Weather Report:
The weather conditions in Lucknow are set to be hot and humid with little chance of rainfall. Weather.com reported that there is a two per cent chance of rain while the temperature is likely to soar as high as 35 degrees.
Match Prediction:
Google’s win probability highlighted a 58 per cent chance of Australia winning the match with South Africa given a 42 per cent chance of taking the win.