Australia and South Africa are set to renew their 50-over rivalry this week, with the first BKT Tyres ODI to be played in Cairns on Tuesday.
Mitchell Marsh will once again captain Australia in place of Pat Cummins, who has been rested for the series. Marsh, who has become a familiar stand-in skipper over the past two years, says the team won’t be changing too much from the attacking mindset they carried in the recent T20 series.
“Getting ready to spend three and a half hours in the field will be a little bit different for a few of the boys,” Marsh said on Monday. “But as a group and as a whole, nothing changes. It’s a different format, but the same stuff rolls on.”
Australia’s batting approach in the T20S was aggressive, sometimes risky, as they regularly lost early wickets but still managed to take the series 2-1. Marsh backed his side to continue playing with freedom in the longer format.
One constant of his captaincy has been his preference to bowl first. Remarkably, Marsh has chosen to chase every time he has won the toss across both ODIs and T20S. With dew playing a role in Cairns during the weekend’s T20, that trend looks set to continue.
South Africa, meanwhile, welcome back skipper Temba Bavuma from injury, alongside experienced spinner Keshav Maharaj and allrounder Wiaan Mulder. The Proteas could also hand a debut to 21-year-old Dewald Brevis, who lit up the T20 series with a blistering century in Darwin and a half-century in Cairns.
“It’s always exciting when you see young faces,” Bavuma said. “The big talk has been around Brevis. He’s put up his hand and shown what he’s capable of. I’m excited to see what he can bring in one-day cricket.”
The three-match ODI series begins in Cairns before moving to Mackay for the final two fixtures.
BKT Tyres ODI Series – Australia v South Africa
August 19: First ODI, Cazalys Stadium, Cairns, 2:30 pm AEST
August 22: Second ODI, Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay, 2:30 pm AEST
August 24: Third ODI, Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay, 2:30 pm AEST