Melbourne – In Canberra, AB de Villiers described Steve Smith as a “nightmare” to captain against. The South African skipper probably didn’t get much sleep last night, then.
Smith produced one of the finest one-day international centuries this venerable venue has witnessed, making 104 (112b, 7x4) to see Australia claim an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.
He arrived at the crease in the 11th over when Aaron Finch was dismissed, kept his composure even as Australia continued to lose wickets – at one point finding themselves 98/5 halfway through the innings – and was there virtually at the end as they achieved their first win over South Africa in an ODI at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) at their seventh attempt.
The MCG’s vast playing area is a difficult one on which to defend, and with South Africa about 20 runs short of a good score, all Smith needed was someone who could keep their cool alongside him. Matthew Wade (52, 59b, 4x4, 1x6) proved to be that player.
Together they added 169 runs for the fifth wicket, accelerating at just the right moment – when the batting Power Play was taken in the 35th over.
Whereas Australia’s “death” bowling was of the highest quality, South Africa’s lacked the necessary precision.
While Australia conceded just 23 runs in the last five overs, with Robin Peterson’s straight six off James Faulkner the only time the visitors hit a ball over the boundary rope, South Africa unravelled as Australia became more aggressive.
The Australians smashed 46 runs between the 40th and 45th overs and then Wayne Parnell, Kyle Abbott, who started impressively, and Dale Steyn conceded 35 runs in three overs between them, the hosts getting home with an over to spare.
“We’ve lost a couple of games towards the back end of the innings in this series,” said South Africa coach Russell Domingo. “We didn’t finish well with the bat in the last 10 (overs). When two good sides play against each other, those kinds of mistakes will be exposed.”
For a change, there was no holding De Villiers back late in the innings yesterday, with the South Africa captain entering the fray in the 16th over and then needing to consolidate after losing Faf du Plessis in the next over.
In David Miller, he found the perfect assistant. For the KwaZulu-Natalian, yesterday’s was an important innings. Rarely, particularly in the last year, has he had the chance to build an innings. He had one like it in the first match in Perth and utilised it to an extent, before throwing his wicket away with South Africa in sight of victory. Yesterday it was similar scenario as, having partnered De Villiers in a stand of 122 for the fourth wicket and having scored 45, he was out-foxed by Faulkner while trying to increase the scoring during the batting Power Play.
Australia’s “death” bowling was of the highest class, mixing up their pace and delivering enough accurate bouncers to mess with the South African batsmen’s rhythm.
Nevertheless, Domingo thought the tourists should have done better. “With the bat, we didn’t play smart enough. We probably looked for a few too many boundaries and not enough ones and twos on these big fields.”
Faulkner delivered a master class in back-of-the-hand slower balls, producing that extraordinary skill with unerring consistency.
Whereas South Africa, having given themselves a solid foundation, managed to score only 51 runs in the last 10 overs, Australia, following on from Wade and Smith’s partnership, smashed 86 runs in nine overs.
Faulkner showed he was equally adept at finishing with the bat, hitting an unbeaten 34 off 19 balls.
South Africa had pulled a surprise with their team selection – especially for a match in which the series was still alive – picking Parnell and Abbott over Morné Morkel and Vernon Philander, that pair having conceded more than 150 runs combined in Canberra and bowling four no-balls.
Abbott, until his last spell, was South Africa’s outstanding bowler, picking up David Warner and applying pressure by getting the ball to move late off the seam. That and De Villiers’s 91 were among the few positives for the tourists last night in a series that is dead, with the final match to be played in Sydney tomorrow.
South Africa 267/8 (50 overs)
Australia 268/7 (49 overs)
Australia won by 3 wickets- Saturday Star