Australia v South Africa: World Cup betting preview, team news, tip & TV details

TV: Sky Sports Mix, 1.30pm Saturday

Old Trafford, Manchester

Australia and South Africa were third and fourth in the ante-post World Cup betting but the teams have had starkly contrasting campaigns.

The Aussies will seal top spot if they win at Old Trafford while the Proteas’ chances of reaching the semi-finals disappeared long ago and their only victories have come against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.

Best bets

Australia’s fast bowlers have wreaked havoc throughout the tournament and they were responsible for some friendly fire in the nets this week, leaving Shaun Marsh with a broken wrist and sending Glenn Maxwell to hospital for a scan.

Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Jason Behrendorff should enjoy a crack at a South Africa batting line-up who have been exposed at this World Cup.

The Aussies are 2-5 for victory although the Proteas found some form last time out with a nine-wicket win over a limited Sri Lanka side.

Faf du Plessis (96 not out) and Hashim Amla (80 not out) guided them home at the Riverside but their batting unit may be overpowered by Australia at a venue where Eoin Morgan struck a record 17 sixes in England’s win over Afghanistan.

Australia’s openers have been superb and skipper Aaron Finch is worth backing to lead from the front once again.

Finch had a rare failure against New Zealand last time out but his previous four innings were 82 against Pakistan, 153 against Sri Lanka, 53 against Bangladesh and 100 against England.

His four ODIs against England at Old Trafford yielded scores of 45, 53, 70 not out and 22 and he can continue his prolific form at the top of the order.

Recommendation
A Finch top Australia runscorer
1pt 3-1 Coral, Ladbrokes

Back Aaron Finch to top score for Australia with bet365

Team news

Australia
Shaun Marsh (wrist) is out of the tournament and Glenn Maxwell will be assessed after suffering a blow in the nets. Peter Handscomb has joined the squad as batting cover.

South Africa
The Proteas may name the same 11 who thrashed Sri Lanka.

Venue

Old Trafford has produced some good batting pitches for this tournament – all four games have been won by the team batting first with totals of 336, 397, 291 and 268.

Weather

Sunny and dry, 19C.

Today's top sports betting stories

Follow us on Twitter @racingpostsport

Like us on Facebook RacingPostSport