Teams:

South Africa (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Temba Bavuma(c), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi

Temba Bavuma: I wasn't too sure.

Australia (Playing XI): David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis(w), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

Temba Bavuma: I wasn't too sure, whatever we do first, we'll have to do well. Shamsi comes in for Coetzee. Bit of both (conditions and for the opposition). Shamsi has had decent success against them, we'd like to unleash them. There could be some spin and bounce. We always speak about assessing, trying to adapt, today will be no different. Quinny and myself should have a look in the first five overs and then see what could be a good score for us to post.

Pat Cummins: We are going to have a bowl. Not too sure what's to make of this wicket. It seems like it's got a bit of moisture. Two changes. Stoinis is back in place of Green and Josh Inglis comes in for Alex Carey.

Australia have won the toss and have opted to field

"Hello from Lucknow," pings Telford Vice from the stadium. "Hot and dry, as you would expect. Pitch looks green, but so did the Kotla's. Outfield looks firm and fast," he adds.

Pitch Report: Dimensions - square boundaries - 63 m and 70m. Straight - 76 m. Lots of questions marks. It's a relaid surface. Patchy grass on the surface. The new ball will hit and kiss the surface. Red soil from Mumbai, it's got that sort of DNA, little bit more bounce and carry with the new ball. There's some moisture on the track as well early up. It won't be huge-scoring. It's going to be in favour of the bowlers. This surface is going to be a little tricky.

South Africa have won four ODIs in a row, including three against Australia when they came back from 0-2 down to win the 5-match series. Their batsmen are in serious form having crossed 300 in their last four outings including two 400+ scores. Three of their top-four batters notched up centuries against Sri Lanka with Aiden Markram smashing the fastest WC hundred. Kusal Mendis put their bowlers under the pump by smashing eight sixes in the first powerplay. They conceded 326 but still ended up registering a 102-run win. Their batting is undoubtedly the strong suit, it'll be interesting to see if they will make any changes to their bowling line-up. The last time Lucknow hosted an international match, its curator was sacked for preparing a 'shocker of a wicket' in the words of Hardik Pandya. What's in store today? Will the Proteas bring in Tabraiz Shamsi considering Australia's struggles against spin? Let's find out.

Australia have lost six of their last seven ODIs and their only win came in a dead rubber. While they didn't field their full-strength side in most of the bilateral ODIs, they were beaten quite comprehensively in Chennai against the hosts on Sunday. The experienced duo of Warner and Smith got starts but once they were separated, the Aussies crumbled as India choked them with spin. They got off an excellent start with the ball as they nipped out three of India's top four batters for ducks, however a century stand between Virat Kohli and KL Rahul killed the game. Adam Zampa, their frontline spinner, not only went wicketless but was also expensive. Australia would expect him to come back and also hope at least one of the top-order batters bat big. Marcus Stoinis, having recovered from his hamstring injury, is expected to come into the XI. He knows a thing or two about this ground having played for Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League. Can Cummins and Co. open their account tonight? Well, they are up against an in-form team.

13:00 Local Time, 07:30 GMT, 13:00 IST:

*****

Preview by Telford Vice

Australia played below themselves and lost convincingly. South Africa rose above expectations and won handsomely. The teams who will clash in Lucknow on Thursday couldn't have had more contrasting starts to their men's World Cup campaigns.

India deployed Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja in Chennai on Sunday, dismissed Australia for 199 and won by six wickets with 8.4 overs to spare. In Delhi on Friday, Quinton de Kock, Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram scored centuries for South Africa, who beat Sri Lanka by 102 runs.

Thus more hangs on this particular fixture than on most games between these sides, which are never anything other than heavy with context and consequence. Win and the belief that better days are ahead will grow. Lose and watch concern leap - in the Aussies' case that they could go at least a dozen years without winning another World Cup, in the South Africans' that the dream of their first title might be deferred for the ninth time.

Logic says it's too early to draw conclusions as big as those after two of the nine matches the teams' will play before the knockout rounds. Maybe that's true for other sides, but not these two. Australia, for all their wider republican ambitions, are as close to World Cup royalty as cricket gets having won the trophy five times in its 12 editions. South Africa are the game's perennial flatterers only to deceive; contenders who are exposed as pretenders sooner or later. This really is princes versus paupers.

That South Africa have won 15 of their last 20 completed ODIs against Australia - a streak of success that runs from November 2014 - doesn't matter much. The Aussies didn't have their strongest combination in several of those games. In their series in South Africa last month, for instance, they were without Pat Cummins, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell. And, as no-one will need reminding, this is a World Cup.

The closer contest on Thursday could be between South Africa's batters and Australia's bowlers, albeit that opinion is based on the events of each team's one match so far. That said, the same could apply conversely. Who doesn't want to see a fractious batting line-up take on an attack and fielding side that didn't exactly cover themselves in glory last time out?

It's difficult to look past the notion that this is a contest between a team who are losing their footing on the global stage and a side who have found theirs just in time to stand tall at the same level. Thursday's game might well reduce that idea to folly, but right now it's as good an idea as any about the outcome of the latest episode in one of cricket's most enduring rivalries.

When: October 12, 2023 at 14:00 IST

Where: Ekana Stadium, Lucknow

What to expect: It's a brand new pitch, so who knows? Only four ODIs have been played here and the pitches were relaid after this year's IPL. That followed the curator being fired for producing what Hardik Pandya called a "shocker" of a slow, turning surface on which India needed 19.5 overs to overhaul New Zealand's 99/8 in a T20I in January.

Teams:

Australia

Marcus Stoinis is over the hamstring problems that stopped him from bowling in Australia's last three ODIs and both their World Cup warm-up games. He should crack the nod ahead of Cameron Green, who has passed 30 once in his last six completed innings and taken more than one wicket once in nine ODIs.

Tactics & strategy

Given Australia's batting in Chennai, and the theory that Lucknow's conditions could be similar, the pressure will be on to avoid the kind of collapse that claimed eight wickets for 89 against India. Marcus Stoinis' likely addition should help shore up the middle order and help make that happen.

A downright un-Australian lack of direction afflicted Australia's performance against India. South Africans have seen it before - during the ODI series between the teams in South Africa last month, when the home side stood up at last to win the last three matches, and with that the rubber, after losing three T20Is and two ODIs to the visitors.

The Aussies need to rediscover their compass fast if this tournament isn't to recede in their rearview mirror.

Probable XI: David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey, Marcus Stoinis, Pat Cummins (capt), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

South Africa

What to get for the XI who scored three centuries and posted a World Cup record total of 428/5 in their last game, against Sri Lanka in Delhi on Saturday? Perhaps a second spinner, what with India's three slow poisoners taking six wickets in Chennai and Lucknow expected to suit spin. Gerald Coetzee might have to make way for Tabraiz Shamsi.

Tactics & strategy

South Africa's shimmering batting in Delhi overshadowed a less convincing performance with the ball and in the field. They conceded runs too easily and dropped three catches and botched another - which didn't matter much considering the target they had put up. But they will want to nip those issues in the bud.

Lucknow's mystery pitch means that, in an important sense, the jury has to be out on whether they will be able to do so, but the bigger outfield compared to the Kotla should give them more room to take remedial action.

Probable XI: Temba Bavuma (capt), Quinton de Kock, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi

Did you know?

- Australia have won three of their six World Cup games against South Africa, one which - at Edgbaston in 1999 - was, famously or infamously, depending on whether you're Australian or South African, tied.

- One of South Africa's victories over the Aussies was in their World Cup debut, at the SCG in 1992, when they won by nine wickets. The other was at Old Trafford in 2019, when they won what amounted to a dead rubber by 10 runs: by then South Africa were long out of the running for the semifinals.

- Andy Flower is coming home. Until recently Lucknow Super Giants' head coach, he is now serving as Australia's bowling consultant.

What they said

"The intention is to try and play every game. We won't be rotating goals unless we really have to; if someone's really fatigued or managing a niggle that needs a bit of a rest. It's a World Cup. You can't take any game lightly." - don't expect Pat Cummins to take a rest anytime soon.

"Australia and us have a great history and a good competitive background. Both teams have got big egos and they want to win; they want to beat each other. Whoever makes the right choices under pressure will be the strongest." - Quinton de Kock distills the essence of South Africa's clashes with Australia.

Squads:

South Africa Squad: Quinton de Kock(w), Temba Bavuma(c), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada, Lizaad Williams, Reeza Hendricks, Andile Phehlukwayo, Tabraiz Shamsi

Australia Squad: David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey(w), Cameron Green, Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood, Sean Abbott, Travis Head, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis