Australia registered a thumping victory over South Africa in Group 2 match of Super Eights in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup. South Africa started the tournament ranked number one team in the world, their performance in the league matches was brilliant, but suddenly the tides have changed and they are almost on the verge of bowing out of the tournament.
Australia on the other hand is looking like a team to beat in this tournament. They are the only team which has not lost a single match and are just inches away from that semifinals spot. In this match, Australia after winning the toss bowled first and their bowlers were right on the mark with the first ball. They dominated the Proteas on the field and chased down the target easily.
There were some good and some pretty ordinary performances in the match from both sides, let’s have a look at some of them.
South Africa:
Hits:
Robin Peterson: Batting at number seven, Peterson was the highest run-scorer for South Africa in this match. He came in to bat when his team was struggling at 86-4 in the 15th over, he played some unorthodox shots and was the reason of South Africa reaching a respectable score. He was quite good with the ball as well, Watson was dropped once on his bowling and eventually got out to his bowling.
Dale Steyn: He started his spell brilliantly and it was a pity that de Villiers only gave him two overs with the new ball. Steyn troubled Watson with his out swingers and looked like getting him out. He ended up bowling only three overs.
Flops:
Jacques Kallis: Kallis has struggled in this tournament with the bat and yesterday’s match was no different. He came into bat after the fall of Levi’s wicket and South Africa needed a big score from their most experienced guy, but he could only score six runs.
Richard Levi: Levi is lucky that South Africa keeps playing him despite his recent failures. Levi failed once again and this time couldn’t even open his score. He missed a straight ball which rattled his stumps.
AB de Villiers: He is one of the best batsmen going around but he had a poor game. He struggled when he was batting and played far too defensively. He ended up scoring 21 from 24 deliveries. As a captain, he failed to take the initiative.
Australia:
Hits:
Shane Watson: Australia has won all their four matches and Watson has been the man of the match in all four victories and that says it all. Watson first two of the most important wickets in the form of Amla and de Villiers and made a match winning 70. Watson is now the leading run-scorer and the leading wicket taker of this tournament.
Xavier Doherty: Doherty was brought in the team in place of Dale Christian and he bowled beautifully in the match. He opened with the new ball and got the wicket of Levi in the first over, he then got Kallis out with a beautiful delivery. He also got Duminy out when he was starting to look dangerous.
Michael Hussey: He came in to bat after the fall of Warner’s wicket on ten; Hussey played very intelligently giving maximum strike to Watson in the early part of his innings. After the fall of Watson, Hussey attacked the South Africans and ensured that Australia win with a big margin.
By Indian Sports News Network
