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With the first game of the series washed out without a ball bowled, all eyes will be on the the second T20I between South Africa and Australia at Kingsmead in Durban on Wednesday.
First the bad news. The game in Durban could well go down the path of the first match, with rain forecast throughout the day.
Whether there would be enough time for both teams to face five overs apiece remains to be seen but the players – and the fans as well – would hope for a longer game than that.
At best of times, T20I cricket is considered a lottery, a five-over-a-side game or something similar may not be too different from drawing a chit from a pot.
And both teams would want to play.
The upcoming World T20 may not be played on pitches similar to the ones in South Africa and the change in mindset from playing in the longer format to T20I cricket may not be as difficult as the other way around, but nothing like match practice going into a huge tournament like that.
Australia will have to make do without Brad Hogg, who misses out because of a hamstring injury, which also means that the selectors will need to closely look at the weather before deciding on their bowling attack.
Hogg would have made it to the starting 11 on any track but if it’s going to be James Muirhead playing as a sole frontline spinner, it will be interesting to see whether the management will want to risk him on a surface that could have a bit of spice in it.
Australia have Glenn Maxwell if they do need a slow bowling option, which is why it will be interesting to see whether Muirhead also features in the game ahead of a seam bowling option.
The advantage South Africa had from the abandoned first game was that they could allow the pair of Wayne Parnell and Beuran Hendricks an extra couple of days of rest. Both had niggles before the first match which would have recovered by now and should make for a bit of a headache for the selectors.
But it will be a headache of the good kind.
With Morne Morkel expected to lead the attack and Lonwabo Tsotsobe also a part of the squad, there’s every chance that Parnell and Hendricks will be fighting for that one spot. Parnell’s experience and all-round skills could trump the Ram Slam T20s top wicket-taker, Hendricks.
South Africa also have a couple of spinners in Imran Tahir and Aaron Phangiso, to choose from and this selection could depend on the weather again. A shortened match in wet conditions may not inspire too much faith in Tahir and Phangiso may get the nod ahead of him.
Join me for this second T20I out of three on Wednesday and you can follow the live score of this game from 3am AEDT (Thursday) and post your comments below.
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