Australia vs South Africa, Tri-Nation Series 2016, Match 4 at Basseterre, Predictions and Preview: Aussies will look to return to winning ways

South Africa beat Australia by 47 runs in the previous match of the Tri-Nations Series.

Australia and South Africa lock horns in the fourth One-Day International (ODI) of the West Indies Tri-Nation Series 2016 at Basseterre on Saturday. The previous match of the series was also between these two sides and it was South Africa who finished on the top, which was also their first win of the series. It was a shameful performance from the Australians in the batting department as eight of their batsmen were dismissed for a single-digit score, while Aaron Finch was their lone warrior who scored 72 off 103 balls. A total of five South African players were given the ball in the second innings and each one of them made a breakthrough during Australia’s chase of 190. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Australia vs South Africa, Tri-Nations Series, Match 4 at Basseterre

Steven Smith and Co. fell short of 47 runs and that result happened to be a reality check for them. Australia have been depended on their openers David Warner and Aaron Finch for a very long time as their batmen in the middle like, Smith and Glenn Maxwell, have been struggling to find some form with the bat. So when the top-order which also includes Usman Khawaja failed, the end result went against the Australians. 

In Australia’s opening game of the Tri-Nations series, Warner remained unbeaten on 55 while wickets fell around him. The explosive opener who has been in a tremendous form ensured Australia crossed the line successfully. The match also saw Australia finally finding some answers for their spinning woes. The trio of Maxwell, Nathan Lyon and Adam Zampa were excellent with the ball as they shared 7 wickets between each other. While they continued their good form, picked a couple of wickets even against South Africa, it was the batting that let them down. READ:Steven Smith shows faith in Glenn Maxwell

Meanwhile, even the Proteas did not have a great outing with the bat. While the star-studded line-up once again collapsed, against all the expectations it was Farhaan Behardien who top-scored. Behardien, the eventual Player of the Match, played a fabulous innings as he scored an 82-ball 62 that included a six and four boundaries. The other batsman who had the next best score was their opener Hashim Amla with 35 off 46 balls.

While it was a one-off failure from the Australian batsmen, for the South Africans it has been a repeated affair. Even in their first match which was against hosts West Indies, the Proteas faced a batting collapse. Sunil Narine alone ran over their line-up with a superb 6-wicket haul. In that match the one-down batsman Rilee Rossouw top-scored with a score of 61 off 81. However the Proteas have faced a huge blow with Rossouw being ruled out of the series with a shoulder injury. READ: Tri-nation series 2016: South Africa’s Rilee Rossouw ruled out

All-rounder Dean Elgar has been named his replacement ahead of out-of-form David Miller, who was anyway dropped ahead of the Tri-Nation series. On the other hand, Australia had rested their star bowler, Mitchell Starc in their second game. Starc, who made his international comeback after a long break due to an injury, had an excellent game as he had picked a wicket in his very first over before finishing the innings with 2 wickets in 9 overs.

Ahead of the fourth match of the Tri-Nation series, Australia and South Africa have two matches each and both the sides have managed only 50 per cent results so far. It will be interesting to watch which side comes on the top when they meet on Saturday.

Squads:

South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers (c), JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Rilee Rossouw (ruled out), Chris Morris, Wayne Parnell, Farhaan Behardien, Aaron Phangiso, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir, Kyle Abbott, Dean Elgar (Rilee Rossouw’s replacement).

Australia: Steven Smith (c), David Warner, George Bailey, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell,Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade (wk), Adam Zampa.

(Sakshi Gupta, a reporter with CricketCountry, is a sports fanatic whose mantra in life is “do only what you enjoy.” Her Twitter handle is @sakshi2929)