Can South Africa gain revenge?

I have always wondered why teams persist in playing one-day series after the conclusion of Test matches, for they always have something of "after the Lord Mayor's show" about them. But when South Africa take on Australia in the first of five games on Friday, both teams have something to prove, and the No 1 ranking to shoot for, which makes for a potentially interesting series.

Call me old fashioned, but I like it when the one-dayers are before the Tests. Players push themselves more to get in the Test side, but I guess money rules these days, which explains why we have five matches at the end of a long tour.

Anyway, enough about that. Australia will be keen to maintain their momentum from the Test series victory, while South Africa will hope to build on their win in the last Test and show that they are a fine side, as they suggested when they won the Test series in Australia before Christmas.

On paper, it's a tricky call. Australia's one-day side shows several changes from the Test side, and frankly, it's not as good. The Aussies have had two separate squads for the best part of a generation now, but with Andrew Symonds not there for personal reasons, their balance is not what it was.

Their batting is hugely reliant on captain Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke, and while the likes of Marcus North have shown themselves to have a lot of talent, they are not what they were.

South Africa should welcome Graeme Smith back from injury to lead the side and also offer more balance and leadership at the top of the order. Their batting line-up looks much better with him in it, and they should fancy their chances of making a hatful if they get it right.

They have always fielded well - as have Australia - so the series could be won by the bowlers and the all-rounders. South Africa probably have the edge with the ball, despite Nathan Bracken's outstanding form for the Aussies, while Brad Haddin and Mark Boucher are equally dangerous with the bat.

It's going to be close, that seems certain, but as to who wins it, well, home advantage and the motivation of bouncing back from Test defeat could just give South Africa the edge. Bet365 make them 4/6 to win it, while the Aussies are 11/10.

It all depends on the first couple of matches. If South Africa win them, or even one of them, I would take them to win it, but if the Aussies get ahead, they will be awfully difficult to stop.

Given the closeness of the outright betting, it's no surprise to see the favourite correct score outcome being South Africa to take it 3-2 at 7/4. A 3-2 series outcome is pretty unusual, though, so I would probably go for them to win it 4-1, which is on offer at 7/2.

A whitewash for the home side is 11/1, while it's 18/1 that the Aussies win the lot.

As for top runscorers, always look first at the top three in the batting for that is invariably where the winners will come from. Graeme Smith is 11/4 favourite for South Africa, with Herschelle Gibbs 7/2 and Jacues Kallis 9/2, with Hashim Amla worth mentioning at 5/1.

Ponting tops the Aussies market at 5/2 and he is the outstanding one-day batsman in their side, of that there is little doubt. Michael Clarke is next at 4/1, alongside Haddin, with David Hussey just behind at 5s.

There are an awful lot of options, but to be safe, I would side with South Africa to win the series and stick with it.