South Africa vs Australia 2020, 2nd ODI: 3 outstanding players of the match
South Africa continued their domination over the visitors Australia as the hosts won the 2nd ODI by 6 wickets at Bloemfontein. With this victory, South Africa sealed the 3-match series to their name with one more match to go. This was also their 50th win against Australia in ODIs.
Earlier, Australia won the toss and elected to bat first. Although their openers David Warner (35 runs off 23 balls) and Aaron Finch (69 runs off 87 balls) provided them a solid start, the disciplined bowing of the South African bowlers slowed down their scoring rate and restricted them to 271-10 in 50 overs.
Chasing 272, South Africa lost Quinton de Kock (0 runs off 2 balls) early. But the unbeaten hundred of Janneman Malan (129* off 139 balls) and the solid batting of the South African middle-order helped the hosts to score 274-4 in 48.3 overs to win the match as well as the series.
And now, let's have a look at those three players who stole the show with their brilliant performances in the match at Mangaung Oval.
#1 Janneman Malan (129*, 139 balls, 7x4, 4x6)
Janneman Malan had a forgettable ODI debut in the first ODI as he got out for a golden duck. But it did not take him too long to prove his worth as he played a sublime unbeaten knock of 129 runs to carry his team over the finish line without any trouble.
After losing the wicket of Quinton de Kock (0 runs off 2 balls) in the very first over, Malan held one end of South Africa's batting strong and anchored South Africa's chase. His sensible batting to stitch three crucial partnerships - 91 runs (121 balls) for the second wicket with JJ Smuts (41 runs off 64 balls), 81 runs (88 balls) for the fourth wicket with Henrich Klaasen (51 runs off 52 balls) and an unbeaten 90 runs (60 balls) for the fifth wicket with David Miller (37* off 29 balls)) didn't let the required run-rate to go out of control.
Malan's unbeaten 139-ball maiden ODI hundred included 7 fours and four sixes and won him the joint 'player of the match' award. Although he was a bit slow in the first half of his innings, he successfully shifted his gears in time to win the match for his team with 1.3 overs to spare.
#2 Lungi Ngidi | 10 overs, 6/58
Lungi Ngidi had a fantastic outing with the ball in the 2nd ODI against Australia. After sending the dangerous-looking David Warner back to the pavilion, Ngidi once again proved his mettle by scalping the wickets of Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne in consecutive deliveries in the 13th over, reducing Australia to 81-3 and changed the momentum of the match towards the Proteas.
The right-arm fast bowler continued his destruction with the ball in the death overs too. He gave away just 12 runs from his last two overs and took the wickets of Ashton Agar (9 runs off 8 balls), Alex Carey (21 runs off 21 balls) and Pat Cummins (6 runs off 7 balls) to complete his six-fer. This restricted Australia from scoring some quick runs towards the end which could have given them an edge over South Africa.
Ngidi's figure of 6/58 in the match was his best performance with the ball in the ODI format which not only won him the joint 'player of the match' award but also played a vital role in South Africa's victory in the match by restricting the Aussies to a total which was well below par on that wicket.
#3 D'Arcy Short (69 runs, 83 balls, 5x4, 0x6)
Australia, after having a flying start suddenly lost the plot as they lost the wickets of David Warner (35 runs off 23 balls), Steven Smith (13 runs off 17 balls) and Marnus Labuschagne (0 runs off 1 ball) for just 81 runs. At one end, there was Aaron Finch batting at 32 and Australia needed someone who could join hands with him to rescue the Australian innings. And much to Australia's relief, D'Arcy Short came out to the middle to complete the task.
Short, along with Finch slowly propelled the Australian innings forward. The 77-run (93 balls) partnership between the two once again brought Australia back into the track. After the departure of Finch, Short had a 66-run (80 balls) partnership with Mitchell Marsh (36 runs off 45 balls) to take the kangaroos to a respectable position.
Short was fortunate to get dropped by Andile Phehlukwayo twice while batting at 14 and 19 respectively and made the most of these reprieves to score his maiden ODI fifty. However, the pressure of playing too many dot balls got the better of him and lost his wicket to Tabraiz Shamsi (1/54) in the 42nd over.
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