Australia will get their preparations for the World Cup with a white-ball tour of South Africa starting Wednesday, August 30. The world Test champions are one of the favourites for the World Cup given their all-round strength but they haven't played white-ball cricket with their first-choice team for the longest time. Even though they beat India in an away series in March earlier this year, they have a few injury concerns to take care of themselves with their best batter Steve Smith and probably the best seamer Mitchell Starc ruled out of the whole tour.
If that wasn't enough, Glenn Maxwell, who wasn't part of the ODI squad as he was supposed to return home for the birth of his first child, suffered an injury during training and was ruled out of the T20Is as well. Skipper Pat Cummins is already doubtful but will hope that all of them are available for the India series next month before the World Cup.
On the other hand, South Africa, who have a genuine chance this time to topple some of the biggest teams in the World Cup have no such injury concerns. The Proteas players have had no cricket for the last couple of months, apart from their players being involved in leagues around the world. They will be hoping to get the best out of three T20Is and then five ODIs as they aim to get rid of the chokers tag.
Here's all you need to know about South Africa-Australia series:
Full Schedule
1st T20I - August 30 (Kingsmead, Durban) at 9:30 PM IST
2nd T20I - September 1 (Kingsmead, Durban) at 9:30 PM IST
3rd T20I - September 3 (Kingsmead, Durban) at 5:30 PM IST
1st ODI - September 7 (Mangaung Oval, Bloemfontein) at 4:30 PM IST
2nd ODI - September 9 (Mangaung Oval, Bloemfontein) at 4:30 PM IST
3rd ODI - September 12 (Senwes Park, Potchefstroom) at 4:30 PM IST
4th ODI - September 15 (SuperSport Park, Centurion) at 4:30 PM IST
5th ODI - September 17 (Wanderers, Johannesburg) at 1:30 PM IST
Squads
South Africa (T20I) - Aiden Markram (c), Temba Bavuma, Matthew Breetzke, Dewald Brevis, Gerald Coetzee, Donovan Ferreira, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Sisanda Magala, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs, Lizaad Williams, Rassie van der Dussen
South Africa (ODI) - Temba Bavuma (c), Dewald Brevis, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton De kock, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Henrich Klaasen, Sisanda Magala, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi, Wayne Parnell, Kagiso Rabada
Australia (T20I) - Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Matt Short, Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Turner, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa.
Australia (ODI) - Pat Cummins (C), David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Marnus Labuschagne, Ashton Agar, Travis Head, Alex Carey (Wk), Sean Abbott, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Glenn Maxwell, Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis (Wk), Tanveer Sangha, Spencer Johnson, Adam Zampa, Marcus Stoinis.
Live streaming and telecast details
The eight-match Australia tour of South Africa will have a live telecast on TV through the Star Sports network. The live streaming of Australia's white-ball tour of South Africa will be available on the Disney+ Hotstar app and website.
