Temba Bavuma is quite bullish about South Africa’s chances in the Champions Trophy, despite the team sweating over Heinrich Klaasen’s fitness ahead of Tuesday’s marquee fixture against Australia.
Having missed out on the tournament opener last week with an elbow injury, Klaasen’s fitness is being assessed by the medical team. While he has slowly resumed batting in the nets, it is unlikely that he will be available for the game against the World Champion side at the Rawalpindi Stadium.
Both teams enter the game on the back of convincing wins. Australia would expect Jos Inglis, the centurion of the last game against England, to come good, and South Africa would again put its money on Ryan Rickelton.
The young Rickelton smashed a century and took the gloves against Afghanistan in the opening game, and in a must-win game, the side will rely on its star-studded batting line-up, featuring Aiden Markram, captain Bavuma and David Miller.
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However, with the competition intensifying, it will be a challenge for the South African batters to ensure they don’t lose their way in the middle overs and keep the momentum going against a high-flying Australian side.
After chasing down a tall total against England a couple of days ago, on a flat deck in Lahore, Australia will be hoping to go with the flow, and with the Rawalpindi surface promising to aid the batters, the onus will be on the top-order to be more consistent.
In the last game, Australia left out Sean Abbott and brought out Ben Dwarshuis, who made inroads with the new ball, and against a steady South African batting line-up, it will be a challenging outing for Australia’s bowling unit.
With temperature expected to dip in the evening, dew would play a role, and as Bavuma said, “It will be another game where there should be a lot of runs.”
