Johannesburg — As African teams tumble at the World Cup, the Black Stars of Ghana hold out the only hopeful prospects for the continent at the tournament but face a veritable test of their credentials on Saturday.

They go up against Australia at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace near Rustenburg in Group D, seeking to add to the 1-0 win they scored over Serbia last week.

Australia got their competition off to a poor start, with a 0-4 defeat to Germany, but as the topsy-turvy nature of results over the last days in South Africa has shown, this World Cup is increasingly unpredictable.

So Ghana will approach their task with a sense of caution, unsure whether to keep intact their winning line-up or find a place for the skills of Sulley Muntari.

The Inter Milan midfielder, a recent winner of the UEFA Champions League, missed Ghana’s opener because he was recovering from a thigh injury. Muntari has now been declared fit but coach Milovan Rajevac is undecided about whether to slot the skilful player in from the start or use him as an impact player off the bench.

Ghana benefitted in their opening game from Serbia’s generosity in defence but are likely to find the Socceroos nowhere near as accommodating.

The Australians, even if a little mechanical at times, are a much better team than their four-goal defeat by Germany suggests. The game will be a good contrast of African flair up against Antipodean doggedness.

Australia miss Tim Cahill through suspension but are likely to field the injury-prone Harry Kewell. His attacking play will test the defensive pairing of John Mensah and Isaac Vorsah, who looked porous at times in the win against Serbia in Pretoria.

Ghana will be hoping for a warming of the weather after being caught by the freeze in the northern parts of South Africa during their build-up to Saturday’s match - their training pitch was too frozen to be played on.