SOUTH AFRICA V AUSTRALIA, 2ND ODI, JOHANNESBURG - PREVIEW

After a dominant display in the first game, South Africa will go into the second One-Day International against Australia on Sunday (October 2) in Johannesburg with plenty of confidence.

Led by Quinton de Kock's pyrotechnics, the home side chased down the target of 295 with six wickets and 13.4 overs to spare.

Speaking of his 113-ball 178, de Kock said, "It was the most free (flowing) knock that I’ve played. I had to work hard for the runs, but it was just my day I guess.

"The wicket was quite nice to play on, it allowed me to play my natural game. Hopefully there will be a couple more wickets like that in the series, then we can have some more fun."

Apart from de Kock's belligerence, it was also Andile Phelukwayo's skill that came to the fore at Centurion. The 20-year old right-arm quick picked up 4 for 44 from 10 overs to keep Australia contained, even as the likes of Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada took some punishment.

Phelukwayo, playing only his second game, is confident about his abilities and hopes to carry on in the same way in the upcoming fixtures.

"I’m in a good space at the moment,” he said. “The guys have been positive and have backed me, it’s been welcoming, it’s been great being in the setup. Going into the next game, I have some confidence; I will need to back myself more going forward. I know that I can challenge people at this level and I can have positive performances and contribute to the team."

While Australia's relatively inexperienced bowling looked helpless against de Kock's onslaught comprising 11 sixes and 14 fours, even its batting appeared rusty in the opening ODI and it took a steely half century from John Hastings along with George Bailey's measured 74 to get it to a respectable total.

Aaron Finch, David Warner and Mitchell Marsh all got starts, but were unable to go on and make telling contributions, leaving Australia placed precariously at 192 for 6 at one stage before Hastings joined Bailey for a 79-run stand.

South Africa's response to the chase was authoritative from the onset with de Kock and Rilee Russouw hammering away. Russouw scored 63 from 45 balls and fell only in the 18th over after an opening stand of 145.

Yet, there are some positives for the visiting side. Scott Boland, who was getting hammered at over 12 an over initially, gave away just 18 runs in his final spell. He also had three wickets to show for his effort, including that of the rampaging de Kock. In the batting department, it will boil down to being able to convert starts.

However, South Africa can't afford to get complacent. The scoreboard shows the match was won handsomely, but on the back of three individual performances — de Kock, Phelukwayo and Russouw. The other batsmen will want to make an impact too.

If Australia is able to put the setback behind it and focus on its strengths, it could make for a cracking contest on Sunday evening.

Squads:South Africa: Faf du Plessis (capt), Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock (wk), JP Duminy, David Miller, Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Tabraiz Shamsi, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir.

Australia: Steve Smith (capt), George Bailey, Scott Boland, Aaron Finch, John Hastings, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Marsh, Joe Mennie, Chris Tremain, Matthew Wade (wk), David Warner, Daniel Worrall, Adam Zampa.