ISLAMABAD: South African bowlers outclassed the Australian batting order and defeat the opponent by a huge margin of 134 runs Australia in the ICC World Cup contest being played at Lucknow India on Thursday. Thanks to the sparkling hundred of Quinton de Kock and a fifty by Markram to put a decent total against Australia, taking the later under pressure during their batting.
Chasing a fighting target of 312, the Australian openers took a steady start to save wicket in the powerplay. However, their plan went unsuccessful when Jansen removed Mitchel March on just 7 runs when the score was 27 in the 6th over. On 27 Australia lost their second wicket in the 7th over when Ngidi dismissed the inform David Warner on 13 who faced 27 balls.
The story didn’t end there as the Aussies suffered their third blow when Steven Smith got out on 9 by Rabada. At the stage the score reached 50 in the 10 over. Losing three wickets in the powerplay Australian were unable to recover. In the 12th over when the score reached 56, Rabada removed Josh Inglis on 5 runs. Australian lost their 5th wicket on 65 in the 17th over when Maxwell mishit a ball against Maharaj. Maxi added just three runs to the total. On 70 the Aussies lost their 6th wicket as Rabada took his third wicket to dismiss Stoinis on 5.
Losing 6 wickets on 70 runs, the Aussies became worried about not only losing the game but also suffered from a low run rate. In the previous game against India Australia were all out on 199 and in the current contest they were facing the same issue. Meanwhile, number four batter Labuschagne and number 8th Mitchel Stark showed some resistance. Both built a partnership of 69 runs. However, Stark was dismissed by Jansen on 27. In over number 35 Australia lost their 8th wicket when Labuschagne was removed by Maharaj on 46. He faced 74 balls. At the stage Australia were 143, still far behind the huge target. Later the skipper Cummins and Zampa resisted for some time, however Cummins was demised on 22 by Shamsi when the total score reached 175 in the 41st over. Cummins was followed by the dismissal of Hazlewood in the same over. Australia were all out on 177 runs in 40.5 overs
From South Africa Rabada was the most successful bowler while grabbing 3 crucial wickets. Jansen, Shamsi and Maharaj took two wicket each while Ngidi managed to take one wicket.
South Africa Batting
Earlier winning the toss Australia invited South Africa to bat first. Proteas openers took a caution start in the first five overs and then accelerated the run rate to above five runs per over. De Kock completed his half century and took his side over 100 runs in the first 18 overs. In over number 20 Maxwell managed to get red of the skipper Bavuma on 35 who played 55 balls. On the other side de Kock accelerated the innings further.
Meanwhile Adam Zampa dismissed the number third batter Dussan on 26 when South Africa were 158 in the 29th over. When the number four batter Aiden Markram joined de Kock both the batters consolidated the innings with a better run rate. De Kock completed his blistering hundred including 5 sixes and 8 boundaries. In over number 35 Maxwell grabbed another wicket for Australia when de Kock was dismissed on 109 while facing 106 balls. Later the inform Markram also reached his half century, however soon he was removed by Pat Cummins on 56 when the score reached 263 in the 44th over. The Aussies despite having wickets assisted by sparkling innings of Markram and de Kock, managed to take wickets with interval and restricted the protest below the average of 6 till the 43rd over. In the 45th over Hazlewood removed Klaasen on 29. David Miller and Marco Jansen added some valuable runs at the end. Jansen was removed by Stark in the final over on 26 while facing 22 balls. Stark removed Miller also in the same over. Stark conceded just 1 run in the final over. South Africia managed to score 311 runs in 50 overs for the loss of 7 wickets
From Australia Maxwell was the leading wicket taker with 2 for just 34 runs in his ten over spill. Mitchell Starc took two wickets while Josh Hazlewood, Pat Commins and Adam Zampa took one wicket each.
Australia Team: David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis †,
Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa and Josh Hazlewood
South Africa Squad: Quinton de Kock †, Temba Bavuma (c), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, and Tabraiz Shamsi
