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With a commanding all-around performance against a
team that had been outplaying them for the previous two weeks, South Africa
stormed back into the series and won the first of three matches that had to be
won. Australia was finally tested by their hosts, who scored their
fourth-highest total against them in 35 overs, helped by Aiden Markram’s second
ODI century.
In the field, the spin team of Tabraiz Shamsi and
Keshav Maharaj took over. When Mitchell Marsh was dismissed by Shamsi in the
15th over, Australia was well on its way to victory with 140 for 1. This action
caused a collapse of 9 for 87. Maharaj concluded with 2 for 37, which ranks
third among his ODI career’s most frugal returns.
De Kock and Bavuma scored 64 runs off of South
Africa’s first 10 overs; David Warner, Travis Head, and Marsh scored 104 runs
off of South Africa’s powerplay, which was their fourth-highest total in the
format. In contrast to Australia, South Africa had batsmen who switched up
their approach and formed partnerships during the middle innings. De Kock, for
instance, managed just three runs off the first 18 balls he faced before
scoring 79 off the following 74. In contrast, Australia had no partnerships longer
than 27 from the third wicket on down while South Africa had a century stand
and two partnerships of fifty runs or more, including one at the sixth wicket.
That is not to imply that South Africa was never in
difficulties. Following their excellent starts, de Kock and Bavuma were bowled
by the Australian spinners in back-to-back overs, creating a precarious middle
order. Reeza Hendricks came on as Rassie van der Dussen’s replacement in the
XI, joined Markram for 76 runs before being run out by Marnus Labuschagne.
When Heinrich Klassen attempted to sweep Head and was
penalised a lbw, South Africa faltered once more, allowing Australia to apply
pressure. They held South Africa without a boundary for six overs before David
Miller succumbed to the pressure. He approached a Marcus Stoinis delivery from
down the pitch and attempted to blast it over the leg side, but he could only
manage a leading edge.
In a 63-run partnership with Markram, Marco Jansen
performed admirably with the bat and enthralled his home fans with a 16-ball
32. Markram received as much assistance as he could from Sisanda Magala, who
was back in the lineup after missing the previous two games due to a knee
injury. Together, the two added 31 runs in 20 balls.
In the end, Markram’s participation is crucial. His
second fifty came in 25 balls, and he was instrumental in South Africa getting
93 runs off its final eight overs, despite the fact that initially it appeared
as though it might. He also made sure the innings had a powerful momentum that
could not be matched.
South Africa provided plenty of breadth, which Warner
and Head tucked inside. Markram was given two opportunities by Warner. First,
he struck him in the air over cover, but Miller missed the difficult
opportunity on 6, and then he launched him again towards long-off, but Miller
was unable to close the distance in time. Warner needed just 27 balls to reach
fifty. When he skied Magala to Gerald Coetzee at mid-on to break a 79-run
stand, Head became the first victim.
When Warner was let go, Marsh had already made a
beeline for Shamsi, who was feeling competitive. During the second ODI, Shamsi
spoke to Labuschagne for extended stretches about whether or not he would enjoy
visiting Potchefstroom, his former home ground, though their conversations
actually seemed a little more niggling. However, when Labuschagne hit him over
long-on for six and then reverse-swept him for four, Shamsi was compelled to
keep his mouth shut and the talk proceeded.
Two balls later, Labuschagne skipped down the pitch,
missed a googly and was stumped for fifteen, giving the victory to Shamsi.
Similar to Imran Tahir, Shami started a celebration around the pitch.
Coetzee cleaned up the tail when he bowled Alex Carey
then beat Sangha for pace and finished the innings when Nathan Ellis slapped
him to backward point.