CWC 2023: Dale Steyn shares his perspective on South Africa’s batters and their battle against Australian bowlers

Cricket legend Dale Steyn recently shared his insights on South Africa‘s upcoming match against the formidable Australian bowlers in the ODI World Cup 2023. The Proteas are set to face the five-time World Cup champions at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on Thursday, October 12. As the two cricket giants prepare to clash, Steyn provided his perspective on how South African batters would handle Australia‘s potent bowling lineup in Lucknow.

A history of encounters

Australia and South Africa have a history of facing each other in ICC ODI World Cup tournaments, with six encounters to their name. Out of these games, Australia emerged victorious in three, while South Africa claimed victory twice. The anticipation for the thrilling contest is high.

Dale Steyn analyzes South Africa’s batting challenge against Australia’s bowlers

During an ASKSTAR show on Star Sports, Steyn was asked to weigh in on the unique challenge of playing at Lucknow. He described the pitch as unpredictable, citing examples of T20 matches where either plenty of runs were scored or the pitch proved challenging for batting. Steyn emphasized that South Africa’s recent success against Australia in a five-game ODI series, which they won 3-2, provided the Proteas with the confidence to tackle Australian seamers.

“It is an interesting question as they are going to play at Lucknow. It’s quite an interesting pitch as you never got to know what you will gonna get. India played against New Zealand in the t20 format at the same venue where lots of runs doesn’t score while during the IPL[2023], lots of runs get scored. So it will be interesting to see what comes at Lucknow,” Steyn said. 

“The nice thing for South Africa is that they recently played against Australia in a five- match odi series which they not only won 3-2 but also dominated the Australian bowlers through out the series. South Africa will go into the match with lots of confidence having faced these Australian seamers,” the 40-year-old added.

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Handling the spin threat of Adam Zampa

Although Steyn acknowledged the spin threat posed by Adam Zampa, he expressed faith in Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller‘s ability to handle spin bowling. This, in turn, led him to consider South Africa as the favoruite for the upcoming fixture.

“Spin of Adam Zampa could prove South Africa’s undoing  but the way Heinrich Klassen is batting against the spin and with David Miller in the middle order, i think South Africa, for me right now, is going as favourite for that game,” the Phalaborwa-born cricketer concluded.

Journey of both teams so far in the tournament

In terms of the journey of both sides in the tournament, Australia experienced a defeat in their opening match to hosts India by six wickets. In contrast, South Africa secured a convincing victory over Sri Lanka, winning by 102 runs. The upcoming clash between these cricket powerhouses promises to be a heavyweight contest, eagerly awaited by fans and cricket enthusiasts.

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