On Friday cricket South Africa confirmed that they will host a 5 match ODI and 3 match T20I Series against Australia which will begin in August and will end around late September, just before a month or so the World Cup takes place.
This series will come after a long time, as both rivals faced each other in pre pandemic game seasons. Since then, a lot has changed. Most important of changes will be new figures in role of captaincy.
Just after Australia was knocked out from the T20 World Cup in the home turf, Aaron Finch decided to step down from the captaincy and the management is yet to make a call on the leadership.
Pat Cummins is expected to lead the team in 5 match ODI series, but he, too, can step down from ODI captaincy just before the world cup, given the amount of workload the team will bear in three months time.
South African side has definitely improved its game under the captaincy of Temba Bavuma, as they defeated world champions England a few months back then drew the series against West Indies.
Australia Tour Of South Africa Schedule
August 30: First T20I, Durban
September 1: Second T20I, Durban
September 3: Third T20I, Durban
September 7: First ODI, Bloemfontein
September 9: Second ODI, Bloemfontein
September 12: Third ODI, Potchefstroom
September 15: Fourth ODI, Centurion
September 17: Fifth ODI, Johannesburg
After the unexpected exit from the world cup under the leadership of Temba Bavuma, SA management decided to handover the captaincy to Aiden Markram whose first series experience was a bitter one as South Africa lost the T20I series against visiting West Indies side.
Australia toured South Africa for a white ball series back in 2020. They won the T20I series under the captaincy of Finch but failed to win a single game of three match ODI series.
The Australia tour of South Africa will start on 30 August with first match being played at Durban, and so to say Durban will host the other two T20 games.
The final T20 match will be concluded on September 3, then both teams will meet at Bloemfontein at 7th September for the first ODI game, in two days time, they will play another ODI at same venue.
The rest three ODIs will be played at Potchefstroom, Centurian and Johannesburg on September 12, September 15, September 17 respectively.
It will be a good opportunity for both teams to test their strengths and limitations before setting their foot in the Men’s ODI World Cup 2023.