In the must-win encounter, South Africa delivered a complete performance to outclass Australia to win by 111 runs and keep the series alive. After Aiden Markram's unbeaten 102 led South Africa to 338/6, Australia suffered a massive batting collapse and were bowled out for 227 as the hosts won the game by 111 runs at Senwes Park, Potchefstroom on September 12. This is South Africa’s third-largest ODI win in terms of margin of runs.
Australia's stand-in skipper Mitchell Marsh won the toss and opted to bowl first. Quinton de Kock and Temba Bavuma shared a 146-run opening partnership. De Kock scored 82 runs from 77 balls whereas Bavuma contributed with a 57-ball 62. Reeza Hendricks was unlucky to get run out after a good start. Marco Jansen played a crucial 16-ball 32 cameo. Markram completed his century off the last ball of the innings. His 74-ball 102 was laced with nine fours and four sixes. South Africa posted a challenging total of 338/6.
Australia gave a befitting reply as David Warner and Travis Head shared a 79-run opening partnership from just 47 balls. Warner was going after the bowlers but Keshav Maharaj's masterclass caught him short of the crease. Warner departed after scoring 78 runs from 56 balls including 10 fours and three sixes. Australian batters struggled against spinners. Tabraiz Shamsi and Maharaj capitalised with two wickets each as the visitors succumbed to scoreboard pressure. Geraland Coetzee took a four-fer to make matters worse. From 140/1, Australia were bowled out for 227 in the 35th over, losing the match by 111 runs.
Marsh was disappointed with the Australian batters’ approach against spinners as he said in the post-match presentation, “Disappointing day for us, areas we can improve with both bat and ball. Credit to South Africa today. Thought the total was above par, 290-300 would’ve been par. Probably misread it a bit, spin did really well today. Hopefully, we learn a lot from it, no doubt we’ll be exposed to such conditions a lot in the World Cup. Generally, we’ve played spin really well in the recent past but was a bit of a slip-up today. It turned and didn’t see that at the start of the day.”
Markram was pleased with his performance despite struggling at the initial stage. This was his second ODI century.
“Challenging, quite stoppy and the odd one was turning quite a bit. Once you get a bit of momentum, we tried applying pressure. Our bowlers did well after we got a nice total. I wasn’t feeling too great in the first 10 balls but was nice to battle through that and be there for the team at the end. I was just trying to think of getting sixes in the last over. Grateful that it was meant to be and I got the hundred,’” the ‘Player of the match’ said.
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