Dewald and dew a potential Aussie headache in ODIs

Perth Now

14 hours ago

The dew and a bloke dubbed 'Baby AB' loom as Australia's two biggest obstacles when their three-match ODI series against South Africa gets underway in Cairns on Tuesday.
Glenn Maxwell's unbeaten 62 off 36 balls in the deciding game three of the T20 series helped Australia wrap up a 2-1 victory in that format on Saturday night.
Maxwell hit the game-winning four with the penultimate delivery to secure the thrilling two-wicket victory in Cairns.
But it wasn't the only talking point to come out of the match, with the dew and the explosive hitting from South African rising star Dewald Brevis also notable.
Brevis followed up his unbeaten 125 off 56 balls in game two with a thumping 53 off 26 balls in game three, with the 22-year-old striking Aaron Hardie for four consecutive sixes.
The man dubbed 'Baby AB' in reference to South African great AB de Villiers looks set to be handed his ODI debut for Tuesday's series opener to give him a chance to inflict more pain on the Aussies.
The dewy outfield in Cairns also wreaked havoc - mostly for the South Africans given they had to bowl second.
At the beginning of the crucial 18th over and with Australia still requiring 27 runs for victory, South African paceman Kagiso Rabada unleashed a beamer that flew more than a metre above Maxwell's head and through to the wicketkeeper without bouncing.
Rabada looked at his hand in disbelief immediately after the mishap, and his subsequent free hit was struck for six by Maxwell as Australia set sail for victory.
Dew was also an issue in Darwin at the start of the T20 series and it could be a factor yet again for the ODI opener at Cazalys Stadium in Cairns on Tuesday.
Australia captain Mitch Marsh, who has elected to bowl first in all 20 of his coin toss wins across ODIs and T20 internationals, is aware of the dew factor.
"We saw the ball get really soft in Darwin," Marsh said on Monday.
"Playing with dew is not something we're used to in Australia, so that's been a challenge for us.
"Hopefully there's not too much dew and it's an even ball game."
Games two and three of the ODI series will be played at the recently refurbished Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay.
Australia's most recent ODI match was their semi-final loss to India at the Champions Trophy in March.
Maxwell and Steve Smith have since retired from the format, Spencer Johnson and Matt Short are currently injured, while Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sean Abbott and Tanveer Sangha haven't been selected for the upcoming ODI series.
With the T20s out of the way, South Africa have welcomed in captain Temba Bavuma, veteran spinner Keshav Maharaj and recent Test triple-centurion Wiaan Mulder, as well as top-order batters Matthew Breetzke and Tony de Zorzi.
Marsh is captaining the Australian side in the ODIs due to the absence of Pat Cummins, who is busy preparing for this summer's Ashes series.
Despite the euphoria of the T20 series win, Australia's players have quickly reset their focus for the ODIs.
"We start the series fresh, we start the series 0-0," Marsh said.
"We know these shorter series it's really important to get off to a (fast) start, so hopefully that's the case tomorrow."