Australia vs South Africa, 13th Match, Group 1, Abu Dhabi, Oct 23 2021
Match Result : Australia won by 5 wickets (with 2 balls remaining)
Player of the Match : Josh Hazzlewood
Match Report : A wicket on the third ball of spin. Their best player playing on in bizzare fashion. A batter losing his footing and being run-out. This really wasn’t South Africa’s day but they still they gave their best. They had a job to do. Defending 118. Temba Bavuma’s men made the first match of the Super 12s in the 2021 T20 World Cup one to remember for ages. It is a shame that they lost the match.
Australia persevered and persevered. This was their game. With the big benefit of a few players coming off a good IPL, they knew exactly what to do on a slow Abu Dhabi pitch. Josh Hazlewood (4-1-19-2) and Glenn Maxwell (4-0-24-1) were particularly difficult to deal with, their tight bowling and into-the-wicket style completely tying the opposition down.
It still came down to their batting, which has not been their strength recently. But Marcus Stoinis and Matthew Wade held their nerves when it mattered most, their 40-run stand in only 26 balls sealing a profoundly valuable victory. Especially given they are in the group of tough competition.
Aaron Finch | Winning skipper: “The dugout was relaxed than I was. Quite stressful, and I was nervous. Stoinis and Wade showed a cool head to get us over the line, and that is what a bit of experience can do. Maxwell did a really good job with the ball. We knew he had good matchups in the powerplay.
Our whole bowling unit was outstanding. Ideally I would have loved to push Hazlewood for a third over in the powerplay. He is a world class bowler. He has accuracy and on a wicket providing variation, it can be tough. We understand that at different points guys need to rest and it gives others opportunities.
We have some world class players back in our side now and experienced players count in a World Cup. SA are as good a fielding team as anyone in the world. They are quick, bowl with discipline. We needed a bit of luck to go our way and it did.”
Temba Bavuma | Losing skipper: “We always talk about us being resilient and there was opportunity. Big effort from the guys to get us to the last over. We just didn’t get enough with the bat and it was always going to be tough for the bowlers, and it was a good effort from them to get it to this stage.
Australia bowled well. They assessed the length well and hit that back of a length. Their spinners too bowled tight. Aiden held the innings and got us to a decent total.
As much as it was a day that didn’t go to plan, we can take positives. We showed fight. We spoke during the half time that we won’t give up.”
Josh Hazlewood | Player of the Match: “I think length was the key, anything full was easy to score. Hence, the length was crucial on this wicket. He (de Kock) is pretty good with that (ramp) shot, but unfortunately that short ball hit his glove and it popped up onto the stumps, was good to see the back of Quinny (de Kock).
The wicket here is a bit slower in the day time, and the ball skids on nicely at night. The bowlers did a great job, Maxwell bowled well.
It got closer towards the end, but we had the confidence in those guys (Wade and Stoinis), we knew they would get us over the finishing line.
Video of Match Highlights : Australia vs South Africa : T20 WC 2021@t20worldcup https://t.co/mH0za8pw5s
— avishkar govardhane (@avishkargovardh) October 23, 2021
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