A first for Australia
Australia’s last 4 World Cup matches:
— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) October 12, 2023
❌ Lost v South Africa 2019
❌ Lost v England 2019
❌ Lost v India 2023
❌ Lost v South Africa 2023
First time in the WC history Australia have lost FOUR consecutive matches.
At one point they were unbeaten for 34 consecutive matches…
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A recent downturn
Australia while chasing 300+ totals in ODIs in last one month:
— Peeyush Sharma (@peeyushsharmaa) October 12, 2023
Lost to SA by 134 runs (today)
Lost to India by 99 runs
Lost to SA by 122 runs
Lost to SA by 164 runs
Lost to SA by 111 runs
Their last successful 300+ chase came way back in Sep, 2020#AUSvSA
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Join Steyn & Kumble in our post-match show
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Shamsi finishes it off with two in an over
Shamsi gets onto the scorebook as Cummins falls looking to take on the wrong'un. Looked to hit it straight, ended up skewing it to long-off. Two balls later, Hazlewood top-edges a slog that's taken by Rabada running to his right from short midwicket. South Africa are two wins in two. Australia, meanwhile, have slumped to their second straight loss.
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Lower order batting time
With Marnus and Starc gone, the batting mantle is with Cummins and Zampa. This feels like a snoozefest at the moment. Rabada comes in and lets it rip, but there's a sense that players are just letting the game take its course.
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Starc, Marnus frustrate South Africa
The half-century of the partnership is up, but the game is simply meandering to a conclusion. At 70 for 6, Australia were staring at their lowest World Cup total. But that's now surpassed as Starc nails a pull off Jansen to the deep backward square leg boundary. It's clear Australia are now looking to simply bat out the overs and minimise the margin of defeat. It's not a bad strategy really. It's a long tournament and there are still seven games to come.
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129 Australia's lowest score at a World Cup. Is it in danger tonight?
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Australia sink further
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Maharaj into the game as he gets Maxwell with flight and dip. It's a classical left-arm spinner's dismissal. Maxwell looking to turn it into the leg side but can only get a leading edge back.
If that was big, Stoinis' scalp is even bigger. And it takes an outstanding grab down the leg side by de Kock to make it possible. But was he really out?
Here's Andrew Miller on ball-by-ball describing the wicket:
"It's close to the hip, close to the bat handle... it's probably one or the other... it's glove, but I think his hand is off the bat... or is it! It's been given! I think, from his explanation, Richard Kettleborough reckons the bottom hand is touching the top hand... The second deeply odd dismissal of the innings... and it's not done yet, as they are checking whether de Kock took it cleanly now. The third umpire is happy with that part too, but Australia are not!"
70/6 and it's all unfolding very very quickly in Lucknow.
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Rabada on a roll
Josh Inglis may face better deliveries and not be dismissed. But the one from Rabada today has his name and number. It's basically the kind of delivery you can't do much about except doff your hat to the bowler and say, "well bowled." The look on his face after he heard the stumps knocked back was one of disbelief. Angle in, hits the perfect seam, holds its length, whizzes past his forward push and boom. Dream delivery for any fast bowler.
Australia in real tatters at 56/4 in the 12th.
Did someone say this was meant to be a turner? Maybe new curator didn't get the memo. This has been the kind of pitch that Rabada will happily roll and take back wherever he goes. He may have well been bowling at Centurion or Durban. Incredible stuff.
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Four, four and out
A wicket in his first over for Kagiso Rabada! And it's a massive one. Smith can't believe what he's just seen on the big screen. Given not out, South Africa appeared to review albeit hesitantly. A minute later, they're absolutely pumped as the big screen shows three reds.
Smith appeared to have been hit a tad high, and once it came back as no out on the field, you thought it'd be umpire's call. But hawkeye came back to show it would've hit top of leg. Smith, in all fairness, was beaten high and dry as he looked play all around that delivery. He was beaten by the inward movement but had seemed confident enough that it was missing. That isn't to be. Australia are three down and in big trouble.
Here's how the 10th over panned out:
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Trouble, trouble
Jansen first. Ngidi next. The openers are gone.
In an wayward over where he bowled a no-ball, a wide down leg that went for five and also got hit for a boundary off a leg-stump half-volley, Jansen finally had Mitch Marsh top-edging a heave to mid-off with an accurate length ball.
In the next over, Warner goes trying to uppishly drive to point. Seven overs in, Australia are 27 for 2 with Smith and Labuschagne with a massive task at hand.
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Swing, seam, bounce
We all thought this wicket would turn here in Lucknow. Instead, under lights, it's zipping around with Warner being troubled both on the inside and outside. Mitch Marsh too has struggled against the late inward movement of Marco Jansen, and only a thin inside edge saved him from a dead lbw call. The boundaries have been had to come by, and the South African pace duo of Jansen and Ngidi are hitting the hard lengths to get deliveries rearing up awkwardly. This is an excellent passage of play for South Africa. Four overs in, Australia 15/0.
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South Africa finish with 311
It's more than Australia would've hoped to concede at toss. Fewer than they looked like conceding with 15 overs left. All said, Australia will be reasonably pleased with how they've pulled things back. Maxwell, the pick of the bowlers, with 2 for 34 off 10 overs. Do South Africa have enough?
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Markram's full range of strokes
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Markram gets to his half-century off just 41 balls in the 43rd over, in an over where he takes Zampa to the cleaners. Brings out his entire range too. The first of those hits is a wallop against the turn to long-on. The second, which brought up his half-century, is drilled through extra cover, so fast that the boundary rider from long-off had no chance. And then the best of the lot is a step out to move leg side and loft inside-out. Incredible batting.
Markram's now got six scores of fifty or more in his last nine ODI innings.
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It's time for the death overs
South Africa 232 for 3. How many more can they add? Both Klaasen and Markram have got their eye in.
167.83 Heinrich Klaasen's strike rate in the death overs in ODIs
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de Kock's party is over
Maxwell with a massive strike. his second for the night. De Kock attempts a reverse sweep, but get a top-edge that deflects off his body and onto the stumps. With 15 overs left, Heinrich Klaasen joins Aiden Markram at the crease. South Africa should at least look at 330 from here on.
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Cummins having an off day
Aiden Markram was put down third ball when he skewed a high full toss back to Cummins on his followthrough in the 30th over. Three overs later, Markram announces himself in some style. Standing tall and fearlessly walloping Cummins on the up for two fours.
Cummins figures so far this World Cup: 12.2-0-79-0
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ODI hundred No. 19 for de Kock
Before South Africa's tournament opener, de Kock's last ODI hundred came 20 months and 18 innings ago. A week into the tournament and he's brought up his second straight World Cup century with an imperious pick-up hook over deep backward square leg off Pat Cummins. What a time to rev up. He must be pleasantly surprised at how this surface has played out. Six months earlier at the IPL, where he didn't get too many opportunities this year, teams struggled to force the pace even in an unforgiving format. This relaid wicket has played a lot, lot better.
0 Number of hundreds de Kock had in his bag in 17 innings across the past two editions of the 50-overs World Cup in England and Australia. Has two in two now in 2023 in India.
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Zampa strikes; Australia lift themselves
No sooner than the half-century stand with de Kock is raised, Rassie van der Dussen finds long-on as he tries to take the attack to Zampa. Looked to hit it a lot straighter; also ended up getting too close to the pitch of the delivery, as a result of which he didn't get the elevation. Ended up being a flat hit to Abbott.
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45 Number of innings in which Rassie van der Dussen has brought up 2000 ODI runs. It's the joint second-fastest in ODIs.
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Maxwell strikes but de Kock continues charge
Maxwell brought an end to Bavuma's scratchy knock in the 20th, but that hasn't dimmed South Africa's momentum. de Kock has in fact only cranked up his intensity a notch. While there's been a conscious decision to tread caution against Maxwell and Zampa, he's been happy to take on the faster bowlers.
The other night in Chennai, Hazlewood was unplayable early on, getting the ball to jag both ways. This pitch seems a lot flatter and he's come in for some tap. de Kock's just dispatched anything on a lengt, hitting him for back-to-back sixes in the 23rd to charge into the 80s.
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de Kock revs up with half-century
He's retiring after the World Cup. He finds the format tiring, and is set to join the T20 franchise cricket bandwagon. But the fire still burns as he's shown at the World Cup.
Four nights after opening with a blistering century in a record score against Sri Lanka, de Kock has notched up a near run-a-ball half-century (31st in ODIs) against Australia. Can he convert this?
Two balls earlier, Bavuma had a third reprieve when an ungainly hoick off Marcus Stoinis nearly found deep square. Sean Abbott was back pedalling and did wonderfully well to catch the ball, but momentum was taking him outside the ropes. However, he had the presence of mind to hurl the ball back in just as he tipped over the line. Was in no control to catch but certainly saved five runs for the side.
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Bavuma reprieved again!
Adam Zampa's opening over, the 12th, is an eventful one. Off his very first delivery, he beats a set de Kock with drift and skid. Off his fifth ball, he gets one to break away sharply, but the flight has made Bavuma (on 20)prod forward tentatively. The result is a big edge that Inglis can't quite hold on to.
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Bavuma breathes a sigh of relief
He was getting increasingly anxious to step on the gas. Just the one four until the end of the ninth over made him go after Pat Cummins. An attempted mow into the leg side flies to third man off the leading edge. Luckily for Bavuma, Zampa is inside the ring and not at the rope. On another day, it could've so easily gone to hand. So far, South Africa 59/0 in 11 overs.
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de Kock gets going quickly
His first boundary in the fourth over was off the glove and over the keeper, but since then, QDK has found his timing. He flicked Mitchell Starc off his pads for six, and then displayed good hands in bisecting a packed off-side ring with precision in the sixth over off Josh Hazlewood.
He began by steering a length ball over point. That shot forced Cummins to put point back and bring third man in. And when he presented a similar delivery four balls later, QDK brought out a deft touch to bisect slip and short third. Talk about cleverly playing the fields.
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Andrew McGlashan on Inglis v Carey
Australia have made a big call today, and that doesn’t just mean leaving out Cameron Green. The omission of Alex Carey feels significant. Other than his 99 at Centurion in a game Australia lost heavily last month, he’s had a difficult time of late – and a line can be drawn around the Jonny Bairstow stumping at Lord’s.
Speaking on SEN radio the other day, Tim Paine said he felt Carey hadn’t been the same player since the dismissal of Bairstow during the Ashes.
"I don't know if it's rattled him or if his confidence has dropped off since, but certainly his batting – he hasn't looked the same,” he said. "His body language and his intent, his intent to go out and take the game on from the start."
Team-mate Glenn Maxwell, perhaps unsurprisingly, played down those views when asked about Carey’s duck in the opening match against India. "I think there's been enough water under the bridge since [Lord’s]," Maxwell said ahead of the South Africa game.
"He seems to be batting really well in the nets from what I saw until probably I ran him out in that practice game. He seems in really good spirits and he's keeping really well... The other night he just got his bat caught behind on his pad which can happen sometimes.”
One factor that had, until now, worked in Carey's favour was that he is a left hander in a right-hand dominated batting order. But after defeat to India, Australia have felt the need to shake things up.
Josh Inglis is a 360-degree player with an excellent white-ball record. He wasn’t too far away from the Test gig when Carey replaced Paine a few years ago. Still, it felt like he would be a reserve player for much of this tournament. That’s now most certainly not the case.
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Can Inglis make the most of his opportunity?
Josh Inglis was previously part of two T20 World Cup campaigns. He went through the 2021 T20 World Cup in UAE without getting a game. He was then picked for the 2022 edition at home, but was ruled out with a hand injury caused while playing golf. Now in 2023, he gets picked for his maiden 50-overs World Cup game.
At 28, he's no spring chicken. He's racked in enough miles at the domestic level. He was also in line for an IPL gig earlier with year with RCB keen on signing him, before it fell through. With the bat, he's a power hitter who has had tremendous success with the Perth Scorchers in T20 cricket. His List A numbers are still a work in progress.
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Cummins wins toss; Australia bowl
"Not sure how this pitch will play," he says of the reasoning behind the decision. Then he adds, "seems like there's a bit of moisture."
Bavuma says, "I wasn't sure what to do."
Coming off a loss against India in Chennai, Australia have made two changes: Marcus Stoinis and Josh Inglis get a game. Out go Cam Green and Alex Carey. Still only the two spinners, or should I say one-and-a-half? Zampa and Maxwell.
South Africa have made one change with left-arm wristspinner Tabraiz Shamsi coming in for Gerald Coetzee.
Australia XI: David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
South Africa XI: Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi
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Join Kumble & Steyn on our pre-match show
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Firdose Moonda explores Lucknow's kebabs scene
She, and the rest of South Africa's press box, headed to Aminabad Bazaar to try out the different varieties of meat on offer. "True to form, we ordered all the kebabs on offer: chicken, mutton and buffalo and found them distinctly different and dare I say, more delicious, than the meat we get at a braai," she writes.
Meanwhile, this is your go-to place for tour diaries from the rest of our correspondents.
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Warm welcome to the battle of the OGs
In ESPNCricinfo's top 20 Greatest ODIs, two of the top three matches were played between South Africa and Australia. Admittedly, one was not in a World Cup, but the other was the OG of World Cup ties, the 1999 Edgbaston semi-final. Even that game had come after a thrilling encounter at Headingley four days earlier that gave us an all-time classic quote. Remember "you just dropped the World Cup mate"?
The two sides met most recently in a five-match rubber last month, where South Africa came back from 2-0 down to clinch the series 3-2. So in terms of data and match-ups, there's little both sides don't know about each other. This should be a cracking contest in Lucknow, and the one thing both sides wouldn't have much idea of is the surface.
It was relaid after the IPL, after much drama surrounding it's slowness that led to the chief curator being sacked. India huffed and puffed in a chase of 99 in a T20I against New Zealand earlier in a year, but the hope is the surface will be a lot truer, even if not a batting paradise.
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