Overview

After a glorious summer of Tests, South Africa and Australia change gear and head into the shortest format of the game.

The teams have a chance to gain some momentum ahead of the ODI series as well as using the Johannesburg and Centurion clashes as a platform to assess their talents ahead of the Twenty20 World Cup, which takes place in England later this year.

The Aussies have recruited the services of fast bowlers Nathan Bracken and pace bowler Shane Harwood alongside T20 specialist batsman David Warner.

While South Africa tend to use the shorter form of the game to assess how their youngsters handle international pressure, recognised names such as Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and JP Duminy are sure to get the Proteas fans' collective pulse racing.

The key for South Africa's batting will be to get a good start instead of relying on their middle-order to make the total look acceptable or chase down the runs needed. Who better to do that than the likes of Amla and Herschelle Gibbs? While Gibbs struggled in Australia, Amla got his T20 career off to a promising start and the 25-year old will be keen to build on this foundation.

Australia's bowling line-up is one that will leave any team trembling as Mitchell Johnson and Bracken can bring the chin music on cue. Bracken has a T20 International best of three for 11 and claimed two for 18 in the first T20 in Australia, while Johnson's recent form in the Test series speaks for itself.

With two sides lathered with such talent it's difficult to say who currently holds the upper hand, and while Australia might have been the stronger of the two in recent years, South Africa have proved that they have the potential to churn out some big hits to produce, and chase, massive totals.

The only thing these two teams have been really consistent in producing is entertainment, so fans can lick their lips in anticipation of some swashbuckling action.

Expected Match-Winners

South Africa: Due to his failure in the home Test series, JP Duminy will be eager to prove his worth in the shorter format of the game with some big hits, while emerging star Albie Morkel, with a strike rate of 133.90 in Twenty20 cricket, is sure to have something up his sleeve.

Australia: Brad Haddin will be looking to continue the fine form he has displayed throughout the summer. While his Twenty20 average is a mere 15.50, he has the power and the technique to produce to send th ball flying over the ropes time and time again. Bowling is his job and batting is a hobby but Mitchell Johnson has become pretty good at it and Australia have a genuine all-rounder at their disposal, who is sure to give the South Africans grey hairs.

Probable Bench-Warmers

South Africa: Mike Proctor revealed that selectors are keen to give every player in the squad a chance in the short format to see what they've got ahead of the Twenty20 World Cup so expect plenty of unfamiliar faces and a bit of a shock when somebody like Dale Steyn carries the drinks.

Australia: Thanks to Johnson's fine all-round form, James Hopes might have to wait around a bit before he gets to play on South African soil in the one-dayers.

Australia Last Five Twenty20 Results

2008: Second T20: Beat South Africa by six wickets in Brisbane
2008: First T20: Beat South Africa by 52 runs in Melbourne
2008: Only T20: Lost to West Indies by seven wickets in Bridgetown
2008: Only T20: Beat India by nine wickets in Melbourne
2007: Only T20: Beat New Zealand by 54 runs in Perth

South Africa's Last Five Twenty20 Results

2008: Second T20: Lost to Australia by six wickets in Brisbane
2008: First T20: Lost to Australia by 52 runs in Melbourne
2008: Only T20: Beat Bangladesh by 12 runs (Duckworth/Lewis method)
2008: Second T20: Beat West Indies by four wickets
2007: First T20: Lost to West Indies by five wickets

Last Four Head-To-Head Results

2008: Second T20: Australia won by six wickets in Brisbane
2008: First T20: Australia won by 52 runs in Melbourne
2006: Only T20: South Africa won by two runs in Johannesburg
2006: Only T20: Australia won by 95 runs

The Skippers' Say

"It's a reasonably large squad that we've got. Whether that means giving everyone a game in the next two games or not, that's probably unrealistic, I couldn't imagine that many changes from game to game.

"It's about time we started looking ahead to the Twenty20 World Cup as well and started to try to pencil in what we think is going to be our best time for that," Ricky Ponting told FoxSports.

"We expect a backlash from Australia, and it's important we start well tomorrow. We have to come out hard, because we can't afford to let Australia get away from us by winning the Pro20s and then maybe the ODIs. So it's important to start better than we did in Australia

"Most of the guys have had a taste of playing Australia, and the new guys coming in have been made to feel at home (with the team). We're looking forward to playing in front of a massive crowd - that's why we play the game. We've just got to do the basics right and the results will take care of themselves," Johan Botha told reporters after a training session on Thursday.

Prediction

As we have witnessed over the past few months, these teams like to engage in a tug-of-war and it's likely that, even though the series will be a cracker of a contest, we'll end up with things all square.

Squads

South Africa: Johan Botha (capt), Yusuf Abdulla, Hashim Amla, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Johann Louw, Albie Morkel, Justin Ontong, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Roelof van der Merwe, Vaughn van Jaarsveld.

Australia: Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Nathan Bracken, Callum Ferguson, Brett Geeves, Brad Haddin, Nathan Hauritz, James Hopes, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Ben Laughlin, Marcus North, Cameron White, David Warner, Shane Harwood

Fixtures

First T20 - Johannesburg, March 26
Second T20 - Centurion, March 29

Antoinette Muller