Prime Minister Narendra Modi might have made waves with his Tweet about making his presence felt at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground soon, but it will be Australia and South Africa that will do the talking at the MCG on Friday when the two teams clash again in the 2nd T20 international.
South Africa eased to a comfortable win in Adelaide on Wednesday, with their bowlers coming up trumps by restricting the inexperienced Australia batting lineup to just 144 in the 20 overs.
Rilee Rossouw was the star in the chase for South Africa, striking a wonderful 50-ball 78 to guide his team to an emphatic seven-wicket victory.
Australia had named a squad with several new faces and a few ones returning from injury owing to the fact that many of the players had just finished their series against Pakistan in the UAE. However, knowing the importance of some fear and experience in the batting order, the Aussies have decided to call-up the destructive Glenn Maxwell into the side, despite the fact that the all-rounder only got back to Australia from the Middle East less than two days ago.
"We've seen how good he is in the shortest format of the game and he also gives us another option with the ball," said Australia T20I skipper Aaron Finch. "With so many left-handers in their side, he was probably the type of player we could have done with [in the first T20] -- an off-spin all-rounder, who can pinch an over here and there.
"I think we had the right side to win the game but we just weren't good enough. They out-batted us, and I thought their skills with the ball were excellent and they were unbelievable in the field. Just the way they moved around was pretty special to watch from the sidelines."
A victory for South Africa and that will be the series, making this second T20 international all the more important from Australia's point of view.
The pressure will be on the top order to ensure that the home side put up a big total on the board, if batting first, or set up the chase perfectly, and Finch concurred.
"I think the onus goes on top of the order, myself and Cam [Cameron White], and I got out, which was disappointing," Finch added. "That didn't allow our middle order to play how we know they can.
"They had to hold back a little bit and their spinners bowled well. When you've got two guys coming in at No. 4 and 5 on debut, in a pressure situation, I think they summed up the conditions pretty well. I thought the way Jimmy Faulkner finished off the innings as well was pretty terrific."
The Proteas would have been pretty pleased to pick up such a comfortable win despite missing the likes of Faf Du Plessis, AB De Villiers, Hashim Amla, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander.
More of the same will be the phrase of the day for South Africa heading into this second T20I, and if they do just that then this series might just be over before we even get to the third and final T20 international.
Where to Watch Live
The match is scheduled for a 7.35 pm local time (2.05 pm IST, 8.35 am GMT) start with live coverage in India on Star Sports 2 and Star Sports HD2. The match can also be watched via live streaming online in India on Starsports.com.
Catch the action in Australia on Channel 9 or via a live stream on Cricket Australia Live. Viewers in the UK can catch the 2nd T20 international match on Sky Sports 2. The match can also be watched via live streaming on Watch Sky Sports or Sky Go.
Viewers in the USA can live stream the action on Willow TV, while audience in the Middle East and North Africa can watch the game on OSN or live online on OSN Play. South Africa viewers can catch all the T20 action on SuperSport 2 or via a live stream on SuperSport Live Online.
Expected lineups: Australia: Aaron Finch (capt), Cameron White, Shane Watson, Glenn Maxwell, Ben Dunk, James Faulkner, Sean Abbott, Pat Cummins, Cameron Boyce, Kane Richardson, Doug Bollinger.
South Africa: Quinton De Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Rilee Rossouw, JP Duminy (capt), David Miller, Farhaan Behardien, Ryan McLaren, Imran Tahir, Wayne Parnell, Kyle Abbott, Marchant De Lange.
