PROTEAS HAVE AN AB-SIZED VACUUM TO FILL

SOUTH Africa begin a five match One-Day series against world champions Australia at SuperSport Park today. STUART HESS assesses five key areas which could decide the outcome of the series. TOP ORDER BATSMEN Both sets of openers are very aggressive – the Australians; Dave Warner and Aaron Finch (if the latter is fit) are a bruising hard hitting duo, while Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock rely more on timing and in Amla’s case touch. Importantly as Steve Smith mentioned yesterday, he wants his openers to play positively. In the case of the respective No 3s – also the captains – their jobs are to bat the majority of the innings. THE MIDDLE ORDER There is no AB de Villiers, and no AB de Villiers leaves an enormous hole in the South African middle order. Du Plessis spoke yesterday about how confident JP Duminy’s been looking recently, and it is to be hoped that confidence can be transformed into runs on the board. Dave Miller continues to irritate – he has an excellent record in knockout games in tournaments, but “run-of-the-mill” ODI series’ seem to bore him. Farhaan Behardien’s 20-ball half-century against Ireland will do his confidence the world of good too and it’s vital he replicates that form against sterner opposition. THE NEW ALL-ROUNDER Duminy, Behardien and Wayne Parnell seem a shoe-in for the starting side meaning one of Dwaine Pretorius and Andile Phehlukwayo will sit out the first game today. As Du Plessis explained yesterday, the Proteas have been desperate for more and better all-rounder options and he’s hopeful Pretorius and Phehlukwayo will put up their hands up in this series. South Africa’s one-day team in recent years has been unbalanced as a result - it was a key reason for their failure at last year’s World Cup. THE NEW BALL BOWLING Having highlighted the respect top orders, the ability to take wickets early is vital. South Africa with Steyn and Rabada appear to have the advantage over the Australians who have chosen to rest their quickest seamers. Steyn in particular has, as both captains pointed out yesterday, “a point to prove,” after he was left out of the squad for the triangular series. Given the aggressive natures of both Finch and Warner, there’ll be chances for Steyn and Rabada, but the Proteas will have to take them, or there’ll be trouble. THE IMPACT OF SPIN Smith was right yesterday by saying he didn’t expect spin bowlers on either side to be as successful as was the case in the Caribbean in June.That doesn’t mean the roles of Adam Zampa and Imran Tahir won’t be important. Both provide variety with control and are important wicket-taking options for their respective sides. They may have to contain more in this series especially in the two matches at the start of the series on the Highveld.