South Africa were bolstered by the return of their captain Graeme Smith who missed out on the final Test as well as the Twenty20 matches against Australia due to a broken hand. However, it was not enough as Australia ran riot right through the day, to send South Africa crashing to defeat.
Michael Hussey had declared that he did not intend to play in the IPL and may only change his mind if Chennai do get into the semi finals. It was speculated that form and not rest was dictating terms. However, in a remarkable comeback, Michael Hussey proved to be the match winner for Australia who took a 1-0 lead in the series.
It was Mike Hussey’s eighty-three after Brad Haddin’s opening contribution of a half century that put Australia on the trail map to victory. Useful chip ins from captain Ricky Ponting, James Hopes and Callum Ferguson helped extend the score at a time when the third power play was in full force. Hussey though remains pivotal to the Australian cause and made the difference between setting a competitive total and a daunting one as was the case when Australia finished their fifty overs with 286 runs to their tally.
If the South African bowling drifted at times, their batting was a classic case of flattering to deceive. Australia overcame the early loss of Michael Clarke and middle order hiccups and it was primarily due to Hussey’s determination to first garner strength in singles and then deftly steer the innings like his batting that proved to be the difference between the two teams.
South Africa started disastrously with Hashim Amla walking to a needless stroke who obliging catch was picked up by Haddin. Herschelle Gibbs and Graeme Smith scored some brilliant shots, the latter showing a little rustiness but overcoming it through bold choice of strokes as they set the ball rolling.
The South African crowd sensed that while the duo stuck around, there may be heroics of the 434 kind. But just when they had roused the crowds, the challenge was doused by a disciplined Australian attack. AB de Villiers disappeared to an umpiring mishap but there was no doubting that ambition had got the better of Gibbs and later for Smith as he tried to push on post a half century. Boucher went early and it was only the Morkel brothers to keep the crowds believing in the impossible.
But the fancy of an implausible victory wore thin at seven down for 132, and after a brief interlude, Albie Morkel bid adieu and with it signaled the virtual end of the South African innings for 145 and match, this after posting ninety-one runs in sixteen overs only to lose Gibbs and then, lose the plot. Thirty-three overs and four for Nathan Hauritz capped off the Australian efforts and Ponting would have likened it to the reversal of fortunes when South Africa lost the two Twenty20 matches in Australia only to come back to win the one day series. It is too early but Ponting would like to believe that this is the beginning and there’s nothing like a resounding victory by 141 runs to testify to it. Time for Mickey Arthur’s claim of his team’s bounce back ability to rise as Sunday is too close for comfort.
