New-look sides look to replicate epic World Cup semi-final clash

The T20 series was drawn 1-1

South Africa and New Zealand are all set to face off in an ODI for the first time against each other since the epic World Cup semi-final clash which saw the home side edge it by 4 wickets. It was a clash between two sides who have never made it to the finals of a World Cup and it was evident right from the beginning that one of them had to suffer a heartbreak.

In the end, it was South Africa who suffered yet again as the sight of AB and Morne crying after Elliot’s six of the penultimate delivery are still fresh in our memories. This time though, there are some changes in both the lineups for various reasons.

Daniel Vettori has retired, Brendon McCullum has been rested and Ross Taylor is out injured. They will also be missing the pace duo of Trent Boult and Tim Southee. For South Africa, Quinton de Kock has been dropped due to his poor recent form. JP Duminy and Morne Morkel are also missing since their respective partners are expected give birth for the first time.

We do have plenty of things to look forward to in this series despite their absence, as de Villiers will be playing his first ODI post that World Cup clash. Also, South Africa have sent out a strong message by picking 36-year-old Morne Van Wyk who will be keeping wickets and open the batting at the same time.

Left-arm pacer Kagiso Rabada has forced his way into the side after an impressive performance against Bangladesh in the ODI series recently and would look to carry forward the momentum. The Proteas will be closely monitoring Faf du Plessis’ fitness as the T20 captain is likely to miss at least the first ODI. In that case, Farhan Behardien will get another crack in the middle order.

Predicted lineups

South Africa – 1 Morne van Wyk (wk), 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Rilee Rossouw, 4 AB de Villiers (capt) 5 David Miller, 6 Farhaan Behardien, 7 David Wiese, 8 Kyle Abbott, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Dale Steyn 11 Imran Tahir

New Zealand – 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Tom Latham, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Colin Munro, 5 Grant Elliott, 6 James Neesham, 7 Luke Ronchi (wk), 8 Nathan McCullum, 9 Adam Milne, 10 Mitchell McClenaghan, 11 Matt Henry