South Africa have won only eight of the 25 T20 matches they have played against Australia.
Turning out against Australia in a T20 International series for the first time in nearly two years, South Africa’s perennial rivals will bring the best out of them, according to Proteas fast bowler Kagiso Rabada.
The SA team do not have the best T20 record against the Aussies.
In the 25 matches the two nations have played in the short format, South Africa have won only eight. And in the seven T20 games they have played in the last seven years, South Africa have lost six of them, going down 3-0 in their most recent series in Durban in 2023.
Rabada hoped they could turn the tables by defeating their hosts in the three-match T20 series starting in Darwin on Sunday.
“The rivalry between South Africa and Australia has always been something to behold. There’s always hard cricket being played and some good cricket is on display,” Rabada said yesterday.
“Whenever we play Australia it always feels like they get the best out of us because they’re sort of in our faces, and I guess we like that.
“Off the field I guess we’re normal and chilled, until we get on the field.”
New era under Conrad
While South Africa competed in a T20 International tri-series in Harare last month, where they lost to New Zealand in the final, Rabada was rested for that tour along with some other senior players who formed part of the squad that won the World Test Championship final against Australia in London in June.
Therefore, this will be the first white-ball tour with the national team for Rabada and other key players under head coach Shukri Conrad.
Though Conrad was already the national Test coach, he took the role as head coach over all three formats after former limited overs mentor Rob Walter stepped down earlier this year, and this was set to be his second white-ball series in charge.
Rabada said he looked forward to Conrad introducing some new aspects to the team’s approach moving forward.
“For me it’s been quite interesting to try and understand how he’s going to go about the two different formats, and his methodology as to what he feels outside of the Test space,” Rabada said.
“It’s been kind of similar, but there are a few things going a bit left field, which is quite refreshing and interesting to think about. It’s a new set of possibilities.”
After the first of three T20 Internationals between SA and Australia in Darwin on Sunday (11.15am start), the other two matches of the series will be contested in Darwin and Cairns next week.
