Proteas’ sloppiness hands Aussies a series-tying victory
by Sbu Mjikeliso,
2016-03-07 05:00:00.0
IF THE Proteas are to mount a challenge for the Twenty20 World Cup in India this month, they need to learn to win when they put themselves in winning positions when batting first.
Sloppy fumbles, untidy wides, gratuitous extras and wobbly throws from the deep combined to hand Australia a series-tying five-wicket victory over SA at the Wanderers on Sunday with the Newlands game to go.
Captain Faf du Plessis’s 79 off 41 balls set matters up to be different but the bowlers, bar Kagiso Rabada and Dale Steyn, dropped the ball.
SA began tidily enough even after John Hastings stalked and succeeded in getting AB de Villiers out early.
In theory, the De Villiers experiment at the top of the order sounds good, but is it not perhaps having strawberry cheesecake for breakfast?
Opening is an art and Hashim Amla is the Andrew Lloyd Webber in a world of instant gratification and Justin Bieber.
Nonetheless, Quinton de Kock can always be relied upon to raise the tempo, which he did after De Villiers departed.
He then took on Josh Hazlewood, dispatching him for a couple of boundaries and a six, before making a mess of Glenn Maxwell’s off-breaks with a hat-trick of fours in the seventh over. But the fun stopped when James Faulkner fired a full toss into the left-hander’s stumps, dismissing De Kock six runs short of 50.
Du Plessis was unflustered at the other end. He was ruthless and cleared the long-off and long boundaries easier than his teammates. He looped, chipped, dinked, cut and did everything that will be necessary in chasing silverware in India.
Australia’s outstanding work in the outfield also put the skids on SA’s innings, but a barbaric late flurry from skipper Du Plessis helped the Proteas put on a competitive 204/7.
The defence started with the kind of Rabada brilliance we have become accustomed to. You will struggle to find deadlier yorkers than the Rabada ones that bowled Aaron Finch out in the opening over and Warner at the death.
But it was unclear which was the most awe-inspiring moment of brilliance between that Finch wicket and the one-handed catch on the third-man boundary to dismiss Steve Smith.
Hobbling, shaken and holding onto the ropes, Australia needed David Warner (77) and Maxwell (75) to salve the required run rate that had gone past 12 by the end of the powerplay.
The pair stepped up, each matching Du Plessis’s brutality, and produced a scintillating 161-run fourth wicket partnership that destroyed the souls of David Wiese, Chris Morris and Imran Tahir.
Wiese even had to fetch the ball from a Corlett Drive apartment block after Maxwell clobbered him over the scoreboard.
But Mitchell Marsh and James Faulkner saw Australia home with a few scurried singles in the end.
EYES WIDE SHUT: David Warner is bowled by Kagiso Rabada at the Wanderers on Sunday, but not before the Australian scored 77 to put his team in a winning position. Picture: SIPHIWE SIBEKO/REUTERS
IF THE Proteas are to mount a challenge for the Twenty20 World Cup in India this month, they need to learn to win when they put themselves in winning positions when batting first.
Sloppy fumbles, untidy wides, gratuitous extras and wobbly throws from the deep combined to hand Australia a series-tying five-wicket victory over SA at the Wanderers on Sunday with the Newlands game to go.
Captain Faf du Plessis’s 79 off 41 balls set matters up to be different but the bowlers, bar Kagiso Rabada and Dale Steyn, dropped the ball.
SA began tidily enough even after John Hastings stalked and succeeded in getting AB de Villiers out early.
In theory, the De Villiers experiment at the top of the order sounds good, but is it not perhaps having strawberry cheesecake for breakfast?
Opening is an art and Hashim Amla is the Andrew Lloyd Webber in a world of instant gratification and Justin Bieber.
Nonetheless, Quinton de Kock can always be relied upon to raise the tempo, which he did after De Villiers departed.
He then took on Josh Hazlewood, dispatching him for a couple of boundaries and a six, before making a mess of Glenn Maxwell’s off-breaks with a hat-trick of fours in the seventh over. But the fun stopped when James Faulkner fired a full toss into the left-hander’s stumps, dismissing De Kock six runs short of 50.
Du Plessis was unflustered at the other end. He was ruthless and cleared the long-off and long boundaries easier than his teammates. He looped, chipped, dinked, cut and did everything that will be necessary in chasing silverware in India.
Australia’s outstanding work in the outfield also put the skids on SA’s innings, but a barbaric late flurry from skipper Du Plessis helped the Proteas put on a competitive 204/7.
The defence started with the kind of Rabada brilliance we have become accustomed to. You will struggle to find deadlier yorkers than the Rabada ones that bowled Aaron Finch out in the opening over and Warner at the death.
But it was unclear which was the most awe-inspiring moment of brilliance between that Finch wicket and the one-handed catch on the third-man boundary to dismiss Steve Smith.
Hobbling, shaken and holding onto the ropes, Australia needed David Warner (77) and Maxwell (75) to salve the required run rate that had gone past 12 by the end of the powerplay.
The pair stepped up, each matching Du Plessis’s brutality, and produced a scintillating 161-run fourth wicket partnership that destroyed the souls of David Wiese, Chris Morris and Imran Tahir.
Wiese even had to fetch the ball from a Corlett Drive apartment block after Maxwell clobbered him over the scoreboard.
But Mitchell Marsh and James Faulkner saw Australia home with a few scurried singles in the end.
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