Australia v South Africa: ICC Champions Trophy Preview

Having opened their ICC Champions Trophy campaign with a record-breaking victory over England, Australia will hope to make it two out of two when they take on South Africa in Rawalpindi on Tuesday.

Josh Inglis' superb unbeaten 120 guided the Baggy Greens to 356-5 with 15 balls to spare, but the Proteas also made a winning start in Pakistan as they defeated Afghanistan by 107 runs in their tournament opener.

That sets up a massive showdown at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium and one which whichever team wins would be close to securing a semi-final spot.

Australia v South Africa betting preview

Batters deliver after struggles with the ball

Australia came into the tournament without star pace trio Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc and their bowling performance against England certainly left plenty to improve upon.

Left-arm seamer Ben Dwarshuis claimed three wickets, while the importance of spin was shown by Marnus Labuschagne taking two wickets with his part-time leg-spin.

Lead leggie Adam Zampa also took two wickets, but seamers Spencer Johnson and Nathan Ellis both found the conditions not to their liking.

If the bowling needs to tighten up, then the batting was outstanding, as matchwinner Inglis was given plenty of support by Matt Short (63), Labuschagne (47) and Alex Carey (69), before Glenn Maxwell helped finish the job with 32 not out from just 15 balls.

That Australia chased down a record target against England in an ODI was even more impressive as Travis Head and Steven Smith contributed just 11 runs between them.

However, the Baggy Green will be only too aware that the overall ODI record between themselves and the Proteas is almost dead level, while Australia's only win in their last five one-dayers against South Africa came in the semi-finals of the 2023 World Cup.

Of course, the Aussies went on to win that competition and they will want to move a step closer to claiming a third Champions Trophy success by coming out on top in Rawalpindi on Tuesday.

Proteas pass spin test in opening win

While Australia began in style, so too did South Africa as they overpowered Afghanistan by 107 runs, with wicketkeeper-batter Ryan Rickelton leading the way with 103, while skipper Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram all passed 50.

Left-hander Rickelton has put his name forward as a perfect like-for-like replacement for Quinton de Kock and now has 291 runs at 41.57 from his first seven ODI innings.

With the ball the Proteas did most of the damage with pace, as Wiaan Mulder Lungi Ngidi took two wickets, while Kagiso Rabada led the way with 3-36.

Rabada claimed five wickets in two one-dayers at home to Pakistan just before Christmas, while he has taken 30 wickets at 25.50 in 16 ODI appearances against Australia to date.

South Africa have certainly known how to get the job done against Australia in recent times in 50-over cricket, winning nine of the last 12 meetings between the two sides.

However, all three previous ODI meetings in Pakistan have been won by Australia, although all three of those came way back in 1994.

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Australia v South Africa odds

Australia - 1.72
South Africa - 2.10

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.