The second One Day International (ODI) between Australia and South Africa at Perth, turned out be a real low-scoring thriller. Australia batted first and managed to put only 154 runs on the board. Although, South Africa won the match with 134 balls remaining, they lost 7 wickets and made the match very interesting.
Let’s take a look at some of the key performances and rate them according to their contribution in the game.
GRADE A
South Africa’s fast bowler Morne Morkel was the star performer of the day. Morkel picked 5 wickets for just 21 runs in 8 overs. Morkel bowled very fast upfront and dismissed David Warner in the first over of the match. Morne Morkel also got the man of the match award for his match-winning performance.
Australia’s young fast bowler Josh Hazlewood also bowled brilliantly and took 5 wickets for 43 runs in 9.4 overs. Hazlewood bowled with aggression and gave a real tough time to South Africa’s batsmen, especially the top order batsmen. This performance has surely boost Hazlewood’s chances as far as a spot in Australia’s World Cup 2015 squad is concerned.
On a wicket where batsmen found it difficult to score runs, South Africa’s captain AB de Villiers batted very patiently and guided South Africa to a much needed win. de Villiers scored 48 runs off just 41 balls.
GRADE B
Australia’s young all-rounder Mitchell Marsh showed great resilience and scored 67 runs off 88 balls. Marsh scored almost 40% of Australia’s runs. Marsh smashed 3 fours and 2 sixes in his innings.
South Africa’s Rilee Rossouw gets a Grade B for his 30 runs off 25 balls. Rossouw played some brilliant shots in his small innings and smashed 6 fours.
GRADE C
Three batsmen score ZERO in this match and they all in the Grade C category.
– ZERO: Australia’s opener David Warner, who was dismissed in the first over of the match by Morne Morkel
– ZERO: Glenn Maxwell who was also dismissed by Morne Morkel
– ZERO: South Africa’s Farhaan Behardien also scored a duck.In fact, Behardien scored a golden duck, as he was dismissed on the first ball by Josh Hazlewood.
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By The Cricket Lounge
