Key events
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Match report
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South Africa win by 32 runs, and win the series with a 2-0 lead
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WICKET! Hazlewood c Markram b Williams 2, Australia 333 all out
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WICKET! Bartlett lbw b Williams 50, Australia 322-9
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WICKET! Zampa c Maharaj b M Jansen 0, Australia 312-8
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WICKET! Edwards c Breetzke b M Jansen 25, Australia 312-7
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WICKET! Green c M Jansen b Fortuin 17, Australia 251-6
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WICKET! Renshaw lbw Maharaj 32, Australia 241-5
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WICKET! Carey lbw Maharaj 17, Australia 203-4
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WICKET! Head lbw Markram 84, Australia 191-3
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WICKET! Connolly c Markram b Williams 10, Australia 157-2
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Half century! Head 50 from 55 balls
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WICKET! Marsh b Fortuin 84, Australia 130-1
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Half century! Marsh 50 from 35 balls
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South Africa post 365-9
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WICKET! Maharaj lbw Bartlett 4 (South Africa 360-9)
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WICKET! Fortuin c Carey b Hazlewood 5 (South Africa 353-8)
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WICKET! Miller c Green b Edwards 142 (South Africa 331-7) | 5 wickets for Edwards
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WICKET! M Jansen c Carey b Edwards 19 (South Africa 307-6)
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Miller tons up!
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WICKET! Stubbs c Carey b Edwards 6 (South Africa 261-5)
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WICKET! Bavuma c Bartlett b Edwards 103 (South Africa 249-4)
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Hundred up for Bavuma!
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WICKET! Breetzke c Carey b Edwards 34 (South Africa 93-2)
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WICKET! De Kock c Carey b Hazlewood 15 (South Africa 36-2)
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WICKET! Markram c Connolly b Hazlewood 0 (South Africa 0-1
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South Africa team
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Australia team
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Australia win the toss, bowl first
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Preamble
Match report
Geoff Lemon
That’s that. One more match to go at Potchefstroom on Wednesday, where Pat Cummins will likely get a run before the Test series. He’ll probably have to, actually, with Ellis injured today. And then we’re into Sandpaper II: Electric Boogaloo. A huge month of Test cricket coming up, and there’ll be a lot of coverage of it from me and friends, so stick with us on the Big G. Laters.
Short and sweet from Bavuma, who is pretty similar in tone whether he’s won or lost.
Mitch Marsh in his interview is less despondent than he was in Durban, but says that he’s disappointed given how much emphasis he’d put on making sure they levelled the series here. The middle overs have been tough, he says. “It’s a big learning curve for some of our younger guys.” They have exactly one younger guy, Connolly.
Pink Day fundraising cheques to support breast cancer care are handed over before the presentation, with a doctor from one of the South African hospitals receiving the novelty props. Marco Jansen gets a cheque for hitting a big six. Miller is unsurprisingly player of the match, an extra special moment given that he’s wearing his mother’s name on the back of his shirt to acknowledge her as a cancer survivor.
“A thoroughly enjoyable ODI with a spirited attempt by Australia to match the Proteas’ score but hats off to Bavuma for a great century (Milller’s wasn’t bad either!) and good captaincy, culminating in the successful review to get rid of the dangerous Bartlett,” writes Colum Fordham to our inbox. There was a lot of consternation with the reviews today! Quinton de Kock couldn’t believe it when one got sent upstairs that he was adamant was not out. (He was right, too.)
South Africa win by 32 runs, and win the series with a 2-0 lead
Don’t let the modest margin fool you, that was another hammering. As in Durban, Marsh and Head gave Australia a golden chance at controlling that chase, but when they fell in the way their aggressive batting means they are likely to do, the middle order wasted all that good work, and left too much for even Bartlett’s late whirlwind to gather up. South Africa’s spinners were too good again, with three of them in operation today.
But the reason that even Marsh and Head’s scoring rate wasn’t enough to boss the chase was because South Africa’s batting was that much better. Tons to Bavuma and to Miller, an especially explosive one from the latter, plus a bit more hitting from the Jansens, who sadly didn’t bat together but did bat consecutively. A deserved series win, and a warning to other teams a year out from their home World Cup.
WICKET! Hazlewood c Markram b Williams 2, Australia 333 all out
All out in the last over. Hazlewood tries the uppercut, as he favours doing, then clobbers a fuller ball to midwicket and gets a run. Ellis takes one for himself, then Hazlewood backs away and hits Williams to mid off.
49th over: Australia 331-9 (Ellis 6, Hazlewood 1) A bit of comedy cricket with the last pair – runs abandoned part way through, byes, leg byes, and eventually Ellis hits Marco through cover for four.
48th over: Australia 323-9 (Ellis 1, Hazlewood 1) Party’s over. A hobbled Ellis and Josh Hazlewood are not going to score 43 from 12 balls. That’s like expecting two hobbits to destroy the One Ring.
WICKET! Bartlett lbw b Williams 50, Australia 322-9
Eighteen balls to go, and Bartlett hits the first of them for six! Huge pull shot, destroys Williams. Seventeen balls to go, tries to go again but only gets a quarter of it, and is able to rush back for a second run. He raises a half century and doesn’t even notice. Scything cut shot third ball of the over, hits it nicely, but refuses the single with a boundary rider back. Then loses his boot, just about, to a Williams yorker! Great comeback piece of bowling. Smashes into the instep of the back foot, in front of middle and leg. The umpire thinks there’s bat on it, South Africa have no idea and argue among themselves, then keep arguing after Bavuma goes for the review. But the review is vindicated, whoever voted for that. Brilliant bit of bowling, and Bartlett’s outstanding effort, raising the distant possibility of a true heist, has come to an end. That’s worth a bow on the way off. His second 50 in only a few chances at ODI cricket. Big future.
47th over: Australia 314-8 (Bartlett 42, Ellis 1) No chapeau for Marco, as Nathan Ellis glides a single, jumping to get over the top of the ball. Ellis retired from the bowling crease with a side strain earlier today, so he won’t be swinging for the hills. Bartlett has to do the whole job. Can’t see him scoring 52 from three overs on his own.
WICKET! Zampa c Maharaj b M Jansen 0, Australia 312-8
Zampa has absolutely middled that! And it’s got him out. Drills a square drive first ball, might be the cleanest shot he’s hit in is life, but there’s a catcher on the cover boundary to take the ball. Big Marco is on a hat-trick.
WICKET! Edwards c Breetzke b M Jansen 25, Australia 312-7
It was always going to happen. At some stage. Edwards has to keep going, trying to double down on Bartlett’s momentum, but his attempted long hit down the ground doesn’t have the carry. Caught at long on.
46th over: Australia 310-6 (Edwards 23, Bartlett 41) What witchcraft is this? One can, in fact, hit boundaries off spin. Xavier Bartlett may want to share this news with his specialist batting teammates. Fortuin the bowler, and Bartlett batters him over midwicket for six, baseballs him straight for four, then pulls him straight for six more!
This is a seriously impressive cameo. He’s got cramp, too, wincing as he swings that first six away. Tries to line up the last ball of the over, misses it, and is hit on the body. Annoyed with himself, feels he missed another six runs there.
Takes 19 from the over. Needs another two overs like that. They need 56 from 24 balls.
45th over: Australia 291-6 (Edwards 22, Bartlett 23) Edwards with a peculiar six! Tries to whip Duan Jansen over midwicket, but the leading edge hangs in the air, maybe catches some breeze, and just carries Markram on the rope at a straight hit position. Misses out on the bouncer though, that ball was there to hit, but the left-armer’s angle made it harder to line up, across the right-hander. Clobbers the next ball, pulled, but along the ground for one, well stopped at deep mid.
75 from 30 needed.
44th over: Australia 282-6 (Edwards 13, Bartlett 23) “Don’t write them off yet,” plead the TV commentators. Stop that. We have written them off. It’s done. There is no point hype-manning this contest. Especially when Fortuin comes on and the Australians immediately revert to being unable to hit a cricket ball, staggering around to gather a couple of singles and a wide, as fruitlessly as foragers picking mushrooms while a mushroom cloud rises on the horizon.
43rd over: Australia 278-6 (Edwards 11, Bartlett 22) See ya later! Back to pace, and Bartlett immediately smokes a six! Duan Jansen the bowler, short ball, pulled. This will all be too little too late, the specialists have left too much to Bartlett, but he’s been an exciting prospect with the bat for a long time now, considering he’s a specialist quick. Gets a couple more runs to deep third, then a single, and Edwards flat-bats to deep cover but just for one. Ten from the over, even with the six to start, which isn’t enough.
Australia need 88 from 42. Fremantle could lose this from here, but South Africa can’t.
42nd over: Australia 268-6 (Edwards 10, Bartlett 13) Xavier Bartlett can belt the ball, and he does so here, pulling Fortuin through midwicket for four, then backing that up by lifting a fuller ball over midwicket for six! Australia need all of that, 12 an over required. Was that a Mankad warning from Fortuin to Edwards? Pulls out of his delivery, and the camera cuts to his captain, Bavuma, and nobody on the commentary says a word. They just wait for the moment to pass. Odd one. I don’t think it was Edwards drfiting out though, looks like he was behind the line as I scan back.
41st over: Australia 256-6 (Edwards 9, Bartlett 2) Maharaj mustn’t be able to believe his luck. Gets through his final over for only three runs conceded, with the Aussies not even attempting to do anything against him. This is a mystifying performance from them. He’s bagged 2 for 54 from his day’s work.
40th over: Australia 253-6 (Edwards 7, Bartlett 1) It’s hit and hope time for Australia. They need 113 from the last 10. South Africa have been all over them.
WICKET! Green c M Jansen b Fortuin 17, Australia 251-6
That is an all-time dog of an innings from Cameron Green. Came in, looked useless from the get go, didn’t attempt to do… anything, really, went at a strike rate of 50 in a chase that needed 10 an over, and finally decides to run down the track and try to hit Fortuin for a straight six. Bat twisting in his hands, head all over the place. Caught at long off.
39th over: Australia 250-5 (Green 17, Edwards 5) The asphyxiation continues, three singles in this over from Maharaj. Australia need 116 from 66. They’ve gone from needing 6.9 an over to needing more than 10.
38th over: Australia 247-5 (Green 16, Edwards 3) More spin from Fortuin, more dots and ones from Green. Jack Edwards didn’t last long the other day, on debut. Has a couple of domestic hundreds in this format, so he can do it. Four singles from the over. What’s the plan? Australia need 119 from 72 balls.
37th over: Australia 243-5 (Green 13, Edwards) Two from the over, Green is 14 from 28 balls. Markram is bowled out, took 1 for 55. Fortuin has five overs to go, Maharaj has two more after this wicket-taking one. The remaining Australians are going to attempt to score against spin, they can’t get 123 runs from six overs of pace.
WICKET! Renshaw lbw Maharaj 32, Australia 241-5
That’s the game, surely. First of all Renshaw decides that he doesn’t even want to face spin, as he pulls out of his batting stance at the last second, and Maharaj bowls him. Hits the stumps, anyway, but the umpire rules dead ball. Somebody moved behind the bowler’s arm. But two balls later, it’s a live and legal ball that hits Renshaw in front of middle as he moves across to the off side, looking to hit Maharaj to leg. No contact, no love from the speculative review, and a triple red sees the end of Renshaw.
36th over: Australia 241-4 (Renshaw 32, Green 13) Fortuin to Green, who is doing his best impression of the Ever Given in the Suez Canal. Big step forward, push back to the bowler. It beats drop-punting one to the catcher at deep midwicket. Finally gets a single from ball five.
35th over: Australia 239-4 (Renshaw 31, Green 12) An error from Markram, tiring in his final over most likely, and Renshaw sweeps the full toss through fine leg. A couple more runs into the leg side.
Australia need 127 from 90.
34th over: Australia 232-4 (Renshaw 25, Green 11) I wasn’t expecting a live blog from the Highveld to be like doing one from Nagpur. Spin from both ends, the odd single. Fortuin concedes one run from the over! Australia letting this drift again, as they did through that bizarre becalmed section in Durban. Much better chance to up the scoring rate later here, of course, with wickets in hand. Still, they’re letting SA dictate terms for the time being.
33rd over: Australia 231-4 (Renshaw 25, Green 10) Markram is shutting down the scoring. He has 1 for 48 from nine overs now, this one costs three.
32nd over: Australia 228-4 (Renshaw 24, Green 8) The all-spin apprach continues with Fortuin replacing Maharaj. Green prods and pokes, they collect five from the over.
31st over: Australia 223-4 (Renshaw 23, Green 4) And again! Three times in a row, Renshaw has found the rope off the sixth ball to salvage the over. This time it’s a short ball from Markram that gives him the chance.
30th over: Australia 218-4 (Renshaw 19, Green 3) Renshaw crucially finds the rope again from the final ball of the over! Maharaj slips and bowls a full toss, Renshaw takes it through midwicket and beats the fielder thanks to a fumble. Bright start from the lefty.
29th over: Australia 211-4 (Renshaw 13, Green 2) Now there’s a missed stumping! Again, de Kock is apologising. Markram was born under a bad sign. Lovely bit of bowling, it dips and turns and drags Renshaw’s back foot out while beating his edge. The keeper fumbles the take though, the ball was too good. Not far off bowling Renshaw either. Renshaw cuts a boundary to follow.
The required rate is back above the current rate, they need 7.38 an over now. That’s 155 from 126.
28th over: Australia 205-4 (Renshaw 8, Green 1) Repeat of Durban loading? The openers give them a golden chance and the middle order botch it? One more wicket and that will be the tale. Green, a rare right-hander, has the job of averting that with Renshaw. Green played a colossally stupid shot in the previous game, so perhaps he’s got that out of his system.
WICKET! Carey lbw Maharaj 17, Australia 203-4
Spin again, this time the main man. Maharaj to Carey, who is playing back on his stumps even though the ball pitches full. He’s misread that and he knows it, he’s walked straight off instead of reviewing. Tried to turn it to the leg side and missed.
27th over: Australia 202-3 (Carey 17, Renshaw 6) Markram keeps the scoring down with four singles.
26th over: Australia 198-3 (Carey 15, Renshaw 4) In-form man in Renshaw arrives next. He’ll need to find 175 runs from 150 balls with Carey and company. Paradisical batting conditions in Johannesburg, though the golden sunshine is starting to fade out as the afternoon deepens. Another left-hander, Marsh has been the only conventional batter for Australia so far today.
Maharaj the next bowler. Carey rotates. Renshaw off the mark first ball with a lovely midwicket clip, saved in the deep for two.
WICKET! Head lbw Markram 84, Australia 191-3
25th over: Australia 191-3 (Carey 12) Finally, Markram gets his man! Last ball of the over, around the wicket to the left-hander, lots of loop, and Head tries the sweep. Plays over the top of that ball. Is is straightening enough? Absolutely, says the DRS! Head reviewed instantly but there was no under edge on the sweep.
24th over: Australia 186-2 (Head 82, Carey 9) Two reprieves, and that’s enough for Head to drop the hammer. Marco Jansen comes back, Head immediately scorches him through cover, then again through backward point. A couple of singles to follow, then he ends the over with a soaring flick for six! Wow, what a shot that is. Just a nice length ball angling in at the off stump, and Head looks so at ease dropping that into the midwicket crowd.
The over costs 16. The required rate is under 7. Australia need 180 from 156.
23rd over: Australia 170-2 (Head 67, Carey 8) Oh dear, Head is dropped again! And there’s no fatalism about stick-or-don’t here, this catch is as simple as they come. Markram the unlucky bowler once more, width, square drive, top edge. It loops gently to backward point, Fortuin doesn’t have to move. There’s some sun in his eyes perhaps, but he has his hands up at eye height, creating shadow. The ball arcs straight into those hands… and somehow ends up on the grass. The other fielders were already celebrating.
22nd over: Australia 166-2 (Head 66, Carey 5) The required rate in flux each over, this time going South Africa’s way as Williams concedes just five.
21st over: Australia 161-2 (Head 64, Carey 2) Another left-hander in, Alex Carey replacing the injured Josh Inglis as wicketkeeper. Fractured finger for Inglis, does that take him out of the Test squad as well? He gets to the far end from his first ball. Head is dropped! Quinton de Kock behind the stumps puts him down, your classic in-out chance while keeping up to the spinner. The keeper raises a hand to Markram, the bowler, in apology. Big edge, hit the heel of his hand and bounced straight out. Only four from the over.
Australia still ahead of the run rate. They need 205 from 174 balls.
20th over: Australia 157-2 (Head 62) So Head head creaked up a gear just before that Connolly wicket, by baseballing a slower ball through midwicket, then gliding four more behind point. Wicket last ball of the over, what does he do next?
WICKET! Connolly c Markram b Williams 10, Australia 157-2
One brings two! Connolly looked good from the get-go, but just mistimes a simple shot looking for a couple of runs. Ball on his hip from Williams, Connolly tries to glance but is early into the stroke, and pops it up to midwicket off a leading edge.
Half century! Head 50 from 55 balls
19th over: Australia 146-1 (Head 50, Connolly 10) Out of the blocks with a breeze at his back, Cooper Connolly! Gets width from the left-arm spinner, and first two ball of the over he smacks through the off side to the fence. Head gets his milestone with a single.
18th over: Australia 136-1 (Head 49, Connolly 1) Thus. Australia need another 236 from 198 balls. They’re actually ahead of the required rate right now, at 7.64 when they need 7.15, but that can change in the blink of an eye. So, work is required to keep things moving.
I know it must sound strange to say that a guy who’s 49 from 53 balls is not playing well, but there are vibes with Travis Head, when he’s hitting the ball the way he wants, versus whatever has been happening in this series, and in fact in quite a lot of his white ball cricket for Australia for a while now. After too many dots facing Williams, Head finds his most convincing smite of the day, lofting over extra cover for four.
WICKET! Marsh b Fortuin 84, Australia 130-1
17th over: Australia 130-1 (Head 45) Relief for South Africa! Just 53 balls for Marsh’s barnstormer, but it ends at the hands of Bjorn Fortuin, the second left-arm spinner in the SA arsenal. He had an impact in Durban, but took a long time to be introduced today. Gets belted for a couple of fours in his first over, but ends it with a slider into Marsh’s pad that ricochets into the off stump. Drinks.
16th over: Australia 120-0 (Marsh 79, Head 40) Triple decker! Not a sandwich, that’s another six into the top tier of the tall grandstand over the straight hit. Marsh doesn’t have to get to the pitch of that ball from Markram, because Markram brings the pitch to him. Burrito taxi for dingers. All Marsh has to do is swing his long arms through the line of that ball, strikes it as sweetly as he ever will a ball in his life, and sets it sailing.
15th over: Australia 112-0 (Marsh 72, Head 39) Marsh is taking it up to Maharaj a little. They were too respectful of him in Durban, honestly. He’s a good bowler but he’s not Buster Nupen on a matting track. After a few singles, Marsh drives two runs through cover, then gets back and pulls six out of the ground, another lost ball as he skims this off a roof and into another stand of eucalypts.
14th over: Australia 99-0 (Marsh 61, Head 37) Markram to bowl, South Africa didn’t have that option in Game 1, and he bowls a very tight over of off-spin until the last ball, which Marsh slog-sweeps to fine leg for four. At least, it looks like four, but the third umpire has a long look and calls it six. There’s a deep shadow cast by the boundary sponge, so it’s hard to see, but that ball runs up the face of the sponge and bounces high into the air after landing, so surely that means it must have hit the ground first and then the sponge? Mystifyingly, the third umpire says it’s a six. Physically impossible for that to have hit the sponge first, given what happened afterwards. Get a physicist into the TV truck.
13th over: Australia 90-0 (Marsh 54, Head 35) Ignore what I just said about Head. He plays out a whole over against Maharaj and can only find a single from the sixth ball. This is horrible. Can’t find a way through. He even tries a reverse sweep! Highly out of character.
12th over: Australia 89-0 (Marsh 54, Head 34) This time, the Aussies get onto Duan Jansen again. Two pulls to the boundary, one from each batter. Head is warming into his work somewhat. Marsh’s shot is pure adrenaline.
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