South Africa VS New Zealand ODI Series starts today!

The ODI Series between South Africa and New Zealand starts today, on the back of a heavy test series mismatch. New Zealand were dominated and lost both matches by an innings. ODI cricket is a different ball game though, and you would have to think that New Zealand would be a little bit more competitive. The ODI rankings would suggest otherwise though with New Zealand at 9th, behind Bangladesh, while South Africa are currently 1st ahead of England.

New Zealand had a very difficult year nonetheless in ODI cricket last year, with only 4 victories from 15 matches. 3 of these were against Zimbabwe and 1 against the West Indies. Excluding Zimbabwe they lost all series played - South Africa 0-3, West Indies 1-4 and Sri Lanka 0-3. Pretty disappointing from a team who prides themselves by their competitive nature and also the fact that ODI cricket would be their preferred format. Meanwhile South Africa won 8 of 13 matches with series results of 3-2 against Sri Lanka, 3-0 against New Zealand and 2-2 against England.

Apart from South Africa's 3-0 defeat of New Zealand in early 2012, they last played in a bilateral series in 2007, in South Africa, where the home side won 2-1. New Zealand did however knock off the South Africans in a major upset in the 2011 ICC World Cup Quarter Finals.

The clear expectation of this series is 3-0 to the South Africans. Interest in apparently already dwindling in South Africa, with more focus being put on the upcoming Pakistan tour. New Zealand though need to fight to ensure that something positive comes out of this tour.

Fixtures
19th January: 1st ODI @ Boland Park, Paarl
22nd January: 2nd ODI @ De Beers Diamond Oval, Kimberley
25th January: 3rd ODI @ Senwes Park, Potchefstroom