Australia planted a third and final knockout in the T20 series against the Proteas in Durban. The visitors won the match by five wickets after having to score 191 runs for victory.
In this way, Mitchell Marsh’s team concluded the series with 3-0.
The Proteas batted first today and their innings got off to a disastrous start when Temba Bavuma couldn’t master one of Marcus Stoinis’ short-of-a-length deliveries.
The 33-year-old batsman was taken out in the second delivery of the match; A short while later, Matthew Breetzke was also caught out after trying to hit the ball too hard.
Reeza Hendricks (42), Aiden Markram (41) and Tristan Stubbs (25) played some good shots, but the Proteas’ big willow hero was definitely Donovan Ferreira.
The 25-year-old former pupil of Pretoria Boys’ High made his international debut and he gave the Protea innings a welcome adrenaline boost with a couple of big sixes.
A target of 191 runs looked significantly better than the South Africans’ previous effort of just over 160 runs.
Markram also gave the home crowd further reason to believe when he caught Matthew Short leg before wicket with the first delivery of the Aussie innings.
However, Travis Head (91) and Josh Inglis (42) extinguished the bonfires: The Australian batsmen were once again just too good for the South African bowlers, while a few missed catching chances also caused Protea headaches.
“We played a little better today. We’re not quite where we need to be yet, but things were looking better. Donovan also deserves credit for the way he played in his first international match,” said captain Markram.
The one-day series between the two teams begins on Thursday in Bloemfontein.
- Scorecard Summary:
South Africa 190/8 in 20 overs: Donovan Ferreira 48, Reeza Hendricks 42 and Sean Abbott 4/31.
Australia 191/5 in 17.5 overs: Travis Head 91, Josh Inglis 42 and Bjorn Fortuin 2/36.
