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ODI World Cup 2023: Maxwell and Australia await South Africa on a fresh Lucknow pitch

Australia is preparing itself to venture into the unknown when they take on South Africa on a fresh pitch at the Ekana Stadium.

By Soumya | Oct 10, 2023 | 2 Min Read

Australia is preparing itself to venture into the unknown when they take on South Africa on a fresh pitch at the Ekana International Cricket Stadium. Glenn Maxwell is confident they have the adaptability for whatever conditions they come up against. However, the Aussies struggled in their first match against the Indian spinners in a sharp turning pitch of Chennai.

The pitches of Ekana International Cricket Stadium were dug up after IPL 2023. This came in the wake of a low-scoring T20I between India and New Zealand in January. Subsequently, the pitch curator was sacked and the pitch was dug up. Therefore, assumptions about the ground may not be reflected in the World Cup. However, one thing is for sure spin will play a key role.

“We are prepared for whatever conditions come our way”: Glenn Maxwell

“It’s a bit of an unknown here, think they’ve ripped up the whole ground and started again after the IPL,” Maxwell said. “India also had a T20 here where they struggled to chase down, I think, 99 against the Kiwis earlier in the year. With that in mind, I think it will be a fresh start for the whole ground, turn up on the day and see how it looks.” Subsequently, Maxwell said, “We are prepared for whatever conditions come our way over the next few games. Suppose we are lucky to be in Lucknow for two games in a row, [so we] can have a look at these conditions.”

In the match against India, Glenn Maxwell was used ahead of regular spinner Adam Zampa. As a result, Maxi was the more economical one of the two. Both Kohli and Rahul played Maxwell carefully and with respect. In the match against South Africa, Cummins might deploy the same play again. This comes at the back of the batting prowess that the Proteas had shown against Sri Lanka. Maxwell might be a bit more expensive towards the end of the innings.

However, the main concern for Australia is the poor form of Cameroon Green. Green laboured to 8 off 20 balls in Chennai and is averaging 16.16 in ODIs during 2023. Naturally, Cummins will definitely like to slot in Marcus Stoinis who has been a Lucknow Super Giants player in the IPL and could come into contention to face South Africa. However, Stoinis has also struggled with the bat in the format since the start of the 2019 World Cup. The Australian all-rounder has averaged 16.80 from 27 innings. But Stoinis has shown a lot of promise on occasions as a new-ball bowler this year.