Battle for No. 1 takes another twist

April 5, 2009
Start time 10am (08.00GMT)

Big Picture

Australia are back on top of the world in both Tests and ODIs during their trip to South Africa, but the teams are so tightly matched that the one-day honour will return to the hosts if they win the five-match series. The visitors, who lost the two Twenty20s, switched on in the opening contest for a 141-run victory in Durban and they will walk out at Centurion seeking more success.

South Africa were out-played throughout game one and have some serious work to do on their batting to manage a swift turnaround. They lasted only 33.1 overs in making 145 as Nathan Hauritz, the occasionally-employed offspinner, did most of the damage. Australia were relieved at the strong showing from Michael Hussey, who was unbeaten on 83, and will chase a repeat performance from their bowlers.

Form guide (last five ODIs, most recent first)

South Africa LWWWL
Australia WNWWL

Watch out for

South Africa are desperate - and hopeful - Jacques Kallis will be back after a groin problem ruled him out of the opening encounter. The home side was caught short on Friday, with Mark Boucher at No. 6, and will benefit if Kallis' all-round skills are on show. "He does help a lot with your balance," Graeme Smith told AAP. "In Australia we played an extra batter and he allows you to do that. You can look for 20 overs between him and Albie Morkel and JP Duminy. To have him back obviously would be nice.''

It's not often Nathan Hauritz is on the warning list, but after his 4 for 29 on Friday he will come in for extra attention. The Durban ODI was his first match of the tour, but he hadn't spent the time topping up his suntan or chasing big game sightings. "All the early-morning training sessions that he has done and all the work that he has done with the bowling coaches on his bowling has paid dividends," Ricky Ponting said.

Team news

Expect some reshuffling if Kallis makes it back, with Boucher dropping a place and one of the bowlers missing out. Morne Morkel looks vulnerable unless Dale Steyn or Makhaya Ntini are due for a rest.

South Africa squad Graeme Smith (capt), Herschelle Gibbs, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, JP Duminy, Vaughn van Jaarsveld, Mark Boucher (wk), Roelof van der Merwe, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Johan Botha, Dale Steyn, Wayne Parnell, Makhaya Ntini.

Australia will give thought to keeping an unchanged line-up after such a convincing display on Friday. However, they may consider bringing in Brett Geeves for Ben Laughlin, who gave up 28 runs in five overs on his ODI debut.

Australia squad Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin (wk), Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Hussey, David Hussey, Callum Ferguson, Marcus North, James Hopes, Cameron White, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Brett Geeves, Nathan Bracken, Ben Laughlin.

Stats and Trivia

• Australia will keep the No. 1 ranking with a 3-2 victory while South Africa can take it back if they secure the series
• If Australia win 4-1 the hosts will slip to third on the table behind India

Quotes

"It was nice just to get a good start and hopefully on Sunday I can make it count more."
Graeme Smith after returning from a broken hand with a half-century

"We've played well but we have to turn things around and make sure we do everything probably even better on Sunday, because you'd expect South Africa to bounce back. There's some room for improvement in our set-up as well."
Ricky Ponting