YOUNG Highveld Lions fast bowler Kagiso Rabada knows what it takes to succeed against Australia, even though his defining performance came in an age-group fixture.

Even then, it announced him to the world as a young bowler of considerable promise.

Rabada broke the back of the Australian under-19 team's resistance at last year's Under-19 World Cup, where his hostile 6/25 booked the Baby Proteas a place in the final of the tournament they went on to win.

With a franchise debut already sorted out last season, there were glimpses of quality with bat and ball during the Highveld Lions' massive win over the Titans in the Sunfoil Series at the Wanderers last week.

Convenor of selectors Andrew Hudson announced a makeweight T20 side that will face Australia in a three-match series that will precede the five-match ODI series.

The team will be captained by JP Duminy, while the big guns recharge their batteries for the stop-gap T20s take place after the three-match ODI series against New Zealand.

"I know that under-19 cricket and international cricket are two totally different ball games and I can't look at that game and think I will do the same at international level," Rabada said of his selection for the senior side. "The quality is just not the same but what I can take from that game is that Australia and South Africa are very good rivals.

"I will try my best to implement the emotion I had in that game but I know that it comes spontaneously. Whenever you play the Aussies, you always want to beat them."

Unlike their upcoming tour of Pakistan, where they will be shorn of the Hobart Hurricanes contingent as they have qualified for the Champions League T20 semifinals, Australia will be able to call on a full-strength team when South Africa come knocking in early November.