Australia spring selection shock for Proteas clash

Australia have made a bombshell selection call for their crucial World Cup clash with in-form South Africa with wicketkeeper Alex Carey dropped just one game into the tournament.

Josh Inglis will make his World Cup debut with Marcus Stoinis also returning from a hamstring injury in place of fellow West Australian allrounder Cameron Green as captain Pat Cummins won the toss and asked the Proteas to bat in Lucknow.

Aside from a fighting 99 in a losing cause against South Africa in the fourth ODI last month, Carey has failed to reach 20 in seven of his past eight innings.

Australia XI: David Warner, Mitch Marsh, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Alex Carey (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa

 

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

Inglis' numbers are similar to Carey's in the six one-day internationals he's played this year – Carey averages 20.56 from nine innings, while Inglis averages 21.33 from his six, with one half-century each.

The WA gloveman however has scored at a slightly quicker rate of 100.80 compared to Carey's 91.60 and comes into the tournament on the back of a quickfire 30-ball 48 in Australia's warm-up match against Pakistan to go with his 37-ball 50 in the second ODI in South Africa.

Head coach Andrew McDonald said Carey had been "ultra impressive" over a period of time prior to Australia's opening game of the World Cup (he has played 43 of 45 ODIs since the 2019 tournament), but after a second-ball duck against India, selectors couldn't resist bringing Inglis into the side.

"Not too sure what to make of this wicket so we'll have first crack on it. It seems like it's got a bit of moisture in it, so maybe a bit of seam in it," Cummins said at the toss.

"That (loss to India) was hopefully a good little jolt for our group and hopefully we're much better for it."

The Proteas have also made a change to their side with left-arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi coming into a side that put up a record World Cup total of 5-428 in their first up win against Sri Lanka.

Gerald Coetzee is the unlucky bowler to miss out have claimed 3-38 in that match but South Africa will be hoping their spin duo of Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj can replicate the effectiveness of India's spinners who ripped through Australia's middle-order four days ago.

South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma said they had brought in the extra spinner for both the conditions and to try and exploit Australia.

"If there's an opportunity to exploit within the Australian team it's with the slower bowlers, and Shamsi's had some decent success against them so obviously we'd like to unleash him. Looking at the wicket with some bare bits, that could offer some spin and bounce," he said.

Stoinis returns from a hamstring injury that has kept him out of the past five matches and is listed to bat at No.7 after Green made eight and returned 0-11 from two overs in Australia's opening World Cup loss to India last Sunday.

Stoinis has the advantage of calling Ekana Stadium home for his Indian Premier League team Lucknow Super Giants and Australia will need to lean on that experience to help get their World Cup campaign on track after going down to India by six wickets.

The Proteas have won eight of their past 10 one-day internationals against Australia, including three in a row to overturn a 0-2 deficit and claim the five-match series 3-2 in South Africa last month, which included a second total in excess of 400 in the fourth ODI.

Australia will be out to avoid a fourth straight defeat in men's 50-over World Cups after losing their last two matches in 2019 (final group match against South Africa then the semi-final to England), which would be a record for their longest losing run in the history of the tournament.

Australia's 2023 ODI World Cup fixtures

October 8: Lost to India by six wickets

October 12: v South Africa, Lucknow (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT

October 16: v Sri Lanka, Lucknow (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT

October 20: v Pakistan, Bengaluru (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT

October 25: v Netherlands, Delhi (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT

October 28: v New Zealand, Dharamsala, 4pm AEDT

November 4: v England, Ahmedabad (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT

November 7: v Afghanistan, Mumbai (D/N), 7.30pm AEDT

November 11: v Bangladesh, Pune, 4pm AEDT

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