T20 World Cup 2021, Australia vs South Africa: 3 player battles to watch out for

Australia and South Africa open the Super 12s of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 on Saturday (October 23). The clash of the heavyweights marks what will be the start of a scintillating edition of the tournament.

Despite the fact that both teams will start as favorites to clinch the title, it is to be noted that neither side has fared well in the T20 World Cups. SA, however, have won nine of their last 10 games coming into the edition and looked elite in their warm-ups against Afghanistan and Pakistan. Australia, on the other hand, have lost eight of their last 10 T20Is.

Both sides comprise of quality players and while some of them may not be on their best run right now, writing them off would be premature. Ahead of the start of the first T20 World Cup Super 12 match, we take a look at some of the interesting player battles to watch out for.

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#3 David Warner vs Kagiso Rabada

Explosive batting meets express pace as an under-fire David Warner takes on a tough customer in Kagiso Rabada. David Warner's T20 World Cup 2021's warm-up didn't go exactly as planned. With scores of 0 and 1, the southpaw will look to make amends.

Rabada comes into the game in prime form with a 3/28 performance against Pakistan and will be keen to keep his momentum going.

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#2 Tabraiz Shamsi vs Steven Smith

Tabraiz Shamsi is just four wickets shy of bagging the most T20I wickets in a calendar year as has 28 scalps so far in 2021. Up against him will be Steven Smith, who was at his fluent best against India in the warm-up.

Smith vs. Shamsi in the middle overs will make for an exciting watch as the tweaker comes with his set of variations against an unorthodox batter in Smith.

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#1 Quinton de Kock vs Mitchell Starc

Mitchell Starc will be the go-to-quick for Australia while South Africa will look at Quinton de Kock for the impetus at the start of the game. He didn't have a great warm-up game against Afghanistan and he faltered with the bat equally against Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Starc comes with rich experience into the T20 World Cup and the pace to decimate any batting attack on his day. Only time will tell who will win the battle between the duo when they lock horns in Abu Dhabi.