Australia vs South Africa 2018: Australia clinch thrilling victory to level ODI series
Australia finally broke their 7-match losing streak in ODIs by beating South Africa by 7 runs in the second match played at the Adelaide Oval on Friday. The hosts just posted 231 runs after being asked to bat first and then defended the target with an impressive all-round effort.
South African captain Faf du Plessis won the toss and decided to field first. The Proteas got off to a perfect start as Lungi Ngidi dismissed Travis Head for 8 runs. Shaun Marsh and Aaron Finch steadied the ship with some good stroke play.
At the end of 10 overs, Australia scored 58 for 1. Kagiso Rabada struck to dismiss Shaun Marsh for 22. Chris Lynn, Alex Carey and skipper Aaron Finch got starts but could not convert them into big scores. They were reduced to 187 for 8 but then added 43 runs for last 2 wickets. The hosts were eventually bowled out for 231 in 48.3 overs. For South Africa, Rabada took 4 wickets while Dwaine Pretorius and Dale Steyn picked five scalps between them.
Chasing the target of 232 runs to win, Mitchell Starc got the important wicket of Quinton de Kock for 9 runs. Aiden Markram and Reeza Hendricks steadied the innings with solid stroke-play. It was a stunning display of fielding by Marcus Stoinis to run out Markram.
South Africa scored 48 for 2 at the end of 10 overs. The visitors lost wickets of Hendricks and Klaasen to collapse to 68 for 4. Captain Faf du Plessis and David Miller steadied the innings with an important 74-run partnership for the 5th wicket.
Pat Cummins got the big wicket of Faf du Plessis to lift Australia’s hopes of winning the match. Miller and Pretorius added 32 runs for the sixth wicket. Australia kept picking wickets even as the left-hander reached his half century off 68 balls.
Despite some big hits in the last over, South Africa could only end up at 224 for 9. For Australia, Starc and Hazlewood picked 2 wickets each while Stoinis took 3 wickets.
Brief Scores: Australia 231 in 48.3 overs (Alex Carey 47, Chris Lynn 44, Kagiso Rabada 4/54, Dale Steyn 2/31, Dwaine Pretorius 3/32) beat South Africa 224 for 9 in 50 overs (David Miller 51, Faf du Plessis 47, Marcus Stoinis 3/35, Josh Hazlewood 2/42) by 7 runs