South Africa need to get ahead

If South Africa are to win the one-day series, so the feeling goes, then they need to get ahead and stay ahead, so that means they need to win the first match against Australia, which is to be played in Durban on Friday.

They do, of course, have the ability to come back if they need to, but Australia have the momentum from the Test series, even if they did lose the last match, so their confidence will be high.

This is a battle of probably the two best one-day sides of the past 10 years, and certainly of the present day, so it's no surprise that bet365 have had trouble splitting them up. However, after initially making them each the same price, they have gone for South Africa as favourites at 4/5, with the Aussies evens.

The match is to be played in Durban, where interestingly Australia have won four of the six matches they have played against each other. The pitch is traditionally full of pace and bounce - the only thing is it is hard to know which side that favours.

South Africa captain Graeme Smith, back from injury, is the 3/1 favourite to set the tone for the series by top-scoring for the hosts. Jacques Kallis, Herschelle Gibbs and Hashim Amla are all 4/1, while AB De Villiers is 5/1 and JP Duminy is 11/2.

For the Aussies, captain Ricky Ponting is 3/1 favourite, while Michael Clarke is 4/1 and Brad Haddin, who will open, is 9/2. David Hussey is 5/1, Michael Hussey is 6/1 and new-boy Marcus North is 7/1.

I think South Africa will be going all out for victory in this match and feel that maybe it will mean more to them than Australia, so I would take the 4/5 on offer.