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Why Is Josh Hazlewood Not Playing In The 3rd ODI Between Australia Vs South Africa?

Arnav Chopra

Josh Hazlewood during AUS vs SA (Source: AFP Photos)Josh Hazlewood during AUS vs SA (Source: AFP Photos)

Australia's pace spearhead Josh Hazlewood has been dropped for the third ODI between South Africa and Australia, taking place at the Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay. The major reason that has pushed Australia to this limit is Hazlewood's poor run of form, especially in ODIs.

Australia Moves Past Hazlewood In ODIs

In what is coming as shocking news, Australia has finally decided to drop Josh Hazlewood from their playing 11 for the ongoing third ODI against South Africa, taking place at the Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay. So, pacer Sean Abbott comes into the side for the third ODI, reveals skipper Mitchell Marsh.

As a matter of fact, Hazelwood had a poor run of form in these two games, where he could only pick a single wicket across two games, giving runs at a disappointing average of 93, while his economy of 5.42 wasn't very encouraging at all across 17.1 overs bowled in those two matches, where his figures were 0 for 36 and 1 for 57 in those two games.

Australia Opts To Bat First In The Third ODI

After losing their first two games and handing the series to the visiting Proteas side, Australian skipper Mitchell Marsh opted to bat first in the third ODI in hope to salvage their pride in the series' finale. After winning the toss, Marsh, who had no hesitation to bat first, made two changes for Australia, where Sean Abbott and Cooper Connolly came in place of Hazlewood and Aaron Hardie.

Meanwhile, South African skipper Temba Bavuma, who is having a decent run of form, made three changes, but as a part of workload management, where they've dropped players, including Nandre Burger, Lungi Ngidi, and Matthew Breetzke, and have opted to bring in himself, Corbin Bosch, and Quinton de Kock.