Australia v South Africa, 2nd Twenty20 international, Brisbane
South Africa ring in the changes for Brisbane
January 12, 2009
Match facts
Wayne Parnell has risen quickly and will make his senior debut for South Africa at the Gabba
Tuesday, January 13
Start time 6.35pm (08:35 GMT)
The Big Picture
South Africa were over-powered by the rookie opener David Warner during the first clash and have one game to find some more consistent form ahead of the five-match CB Series, which starts in Melbourne on Friday. The Warner experiment was an instant success for Australia, with him pounding 89 off 43 balls, while the local bowlers also contributed in the 52-run triumph. JP Duminy (78) was the only one to pass 12 for South Africa, who will start as under-dogs at the Gabba. A crowd of about 38,000 is expected, and if it is achieved it will mean approximately 100,000 people have watched the opening stages of Australia's limited-overs season.
Twenty20 form guide
Australia - WLWWL
South Africa - LWWLW
Team news
South Africa have called for three changes and there may be a fourth if AB de Villiers doesn't recover from a painful hip injury. de Villiers, who is undergoing physio on the servere bruising, under-edged while trying to pull a 155.6kph delivery from Shaun Tait and the pain of the blow caused him to double over, with the bat hitting the stumps. Wayne Parnell, the left-arm medium-fast bowler, replaces Lonwabo Tsostobe, Morne Morkel comes in for Makhaya Ntini and Hashim Amla allows Jacques Kallis to have a rest. Parnell, who is capable of swinging the ball, is an uncapped 19-year-old and was the leading wicket-taker in last year's Under-19 World Cup.
South Africa 1 Herschelle Gibbs, 2 Hashim Amla, 3 AB de Villiers, 4 JP Duminy, 5 Vaughn van Jaarsveld, 6 Mark Boucher (wk), 7 Albie Morkel, 8 Johan Botha (capt), 9 Dale Steyn, 10 Morne Morkel, 11 Wayne Parnell.
Australia are carrying a 13-man squad and the only two who weren't used in Melbourne were the allrounder Ryan Harris and Nathan Hauritz, the offspinner. It's unlikely Hauritz will be called, but Harris, who is an adopted Queenslander, may win a start ahead of Cameron White.
Australia (probable) 1 Shaun Marsh, 2 David Warner, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Hussey, 5 David Hussey, 6 James Hopes, 7 Luke Ronchi (wk), 8 Ryan Harris, 9 Nathan Bracken, 10 Ben Hilfenhaus, 11 Shaun Tait.
Watch out for ...
Shaun Tait was fierce in his first international engagement for a year, upsetting the South Africans with his speed, bounce and fire. Kallis was hit on the shoulder first ball before de Villiers' dismissal, and Tait came back at the end to finish the game by bowling Tsotsobe. The upshot was 2 for 36 off four overs from a brutal, unpredictable and injury-prone fast man.
Dale Steyn experienced some unusual pain in Melbourne, with Warner greeting him with consecutive sixes from the first balls he faced, but recovered to capture 3 for 38. Expect some more flames from South Africa's attack leader, especially on a traditionally bouncy surface at the Gabba. It's unlikely Australia's batsmen will be able to repeat Warner's early treatment this time.
Pitch & conditions
The Gabba wicket block is in excellent shape, offering true bounce and excellent carry. If there is cloud cover and humidity the bowlers, who will need to use all available help, should gain useful swing. A morning shower is expected, but the wet weather is not predicted to stay around for the evening.
Stats and trivia
South Africa have only batted out their 20 overs once against Australia in Twenty20s, and it was the only game they won
Ricky Ponting needs two runs to overtake Andrew Symonds (337) as Australia's leading run-maker in Twenty20
Australia won the previous match between these teams in Brisbane by 95 runs
Quotes
"I don't mind the Gabba, it's short straight, so it's in my zone. If anything is there I will play my natural game."
David Warner
"Since I have arrived you could see he's really focused. He is very confident from his three Test matches and he just seems so calm."
Johan Botha on JP Duminy
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