World number five South Africa host world number six Australia in a trio of T20 internationals to kick off a white-ball tour of the country from Wednesday, August 30 to Sunday, September 3.
Durban hosts the three-game series in the shortest international format before the tour moves to Bloemfontein for three One Day Internationals.
Australia are 8/15 favourites for the series with South Africa priced at 6/4. A 6/4 2-1 series win for Australia is a reasonable price for a bulk bet.
Australia haven’t played in the format since October and November’s World Cup Down Under. They failed to reach the knockout stages finishing behind England and New Zealand in the Super 12 group one.
South Africa, meanwhile, suffered a similar fate in group two, also finishing in third behind India and Pakistan. The Proteas have played a series since, losing 2-1 to the West Indies – a team that failed to qualify for next year’s T20 World Cup.
Australia have won seven of their last 10 T20 internationals against South Africa and lead the all-time series 14-8.
Batting-wise for South Africa, Rassie van der Dussen (7/2) seems a decent price to score the most runs in the first T20. He’s in a barren run of form, just 36 runs in five innings, but he bats in the top order and still averages 36.00 over 37 innings.
Tristan Stubbs is an option based more on potential than form. The 23-year-old averages 40+ plus in both First Class and ODI cricket but has yet to showcase his talents in the shorter format. He has just one score of 50 in nine innings and averages 21.26, but he is a handsome price at 5/1 - one success in the three games would bring profit.
Australia are blessed with power hitting with Mitch Marsh (7/2), Travis Head (10/3) and Matthew Short (10/3) the top three in the betting. Marsh enjoyed a sensational Ashes series and has been the regular number three for Australia over the past two years. He has two 50s in his last 10 innings.
A larger-priced option could be Ashton Turner (17/2). The Aussie middle-order batter enjoyed successful spells in the T20 Blast and The Hundred this summer but has struggled on the biggest stage averaging just 12 with a high score of 24. If he shifts up the order to four or five, he is worth a punt on talent, less so at six or seven in the batting line-up.
With the ball, Adam Zampa (10/3) is a white ball specialist with a knack for taking wickets. Zampa has eight wickets in his last six T20 internationals and can turn the ball both ways with ease. Seth Johnson (4/1) shone in The Hundred with a magic spell of 3-1 in one match and could be a threat early in the innings with the new ball.
Marco Jansen (10/3) is the pick for the Proteas. He has four wickets in two T20 internationals and has the characteristics required to excel in the white-ball format – left-arm seamer, ability to swing the ball and unrivalled height which adds the threat of bounce.
