Some Proteas bowling numbers to wrap this up
They weren’t pretty reading in the end for the Proteas, whose bowling attack shapes as a near-crisis heading towards the World Cup.
Dale Steyn was good in patches, ending with 2-47 from his 9. Kyle Abbott started well but ended shambolically, though 1-43 from 10 isn’t a horror story. Ryan McLaren, with 1-62 from 10, was the weakest link, and Wayne Parnell (2-52 from 9) also copped some tap.
Compounding the problems for South Africa, skipper AB de Villiers appeared to injure his ribs diving in the field, though soldiered on through the pain.
It was a remarkable win for Australia, one that came after many of us (yes, I am covering myself there) thought they didn’t have a hope. Thanks for joining myself and Geoff Lemon for this live coverage and make sure you stop by for the final game on Sunday.
It’s hard not to be high on that game - viva le ODI cricket!
Moments after those winning runs were hit, the home broadcaster Nine flashed up an advert for an episode of Midsomer Murders in which an unfortunate local (is this the murder capital of the world? why does anyone still live there?) is bludgeoned to death with a cricket bat. I am dead serious. Not a word of a lie.
Spoiler alert: James Faulkner did it.
What a win
So says reader Rudi Edsall. “Michael Bevan would be at home shedding a tear of pride. That was a brilliant win, and cool as a cucumber by Smith!”
Agreed, and this should really end the debate over his place in the ODI pecking order. He needs to be a lock now and soon enough, he probably needs to be captain too. Surely no doubters remain now?
From 98-5, Smith dragged Australia back into the contest, making 104 from 112 deliveries and his innings included 7 boundaries. Wade’s 52 from 59 was a gem of an innings in the scenario and James Faulkner, with an unbeaten 34 from 19 to go with his 2-45 earlier, made it a certainty.
With that, Australia takes the series and South Africa has some soul-searching to do heading towards the World Cup in a few months’ time.
Smith and Faulkner get the Aussies home
It had seemed a lost cause for so long through those middle overs, but Steve Smith played an innings of composure, inventiveness and steel.
“We call him ‘Bevo’ in the sheds,” Smith says of his teammate James Faulkner, and the two of them combined brilliantly at the finish to get Australia home. Matthew Wade’s contribution was also key; his partnership with Smith was crucial when Australia teetered at 98-5.
REVIEW! NOT OUT! Australia win!
Cummins need only block out the final ball of Peterson’s over but he goes the tonk and hits it towards David Miller at mid-on. Miller claims a catch but replays show it didn’t carry. Amid all this madness, the batsmen had crossed so the game ends in bizarre circumstances and Australia win it by 2 wickets.
What a comeback from Smith and co.
WICKET! Smith b Peterson 104 (Australia 267-7)
In a sort of concession of defeat, de Villiers brings back Robin Peterson. He almost gets Faulkner hit wicket but then gets smoked for four, after which Smith is given the strike and the opportunity to knock off the winning runs. The scores are tied and Smith goes for a heave over cow corner, but misses and gets bowled. What an anti-climax! Smith is livid with himself but he should be doing cartwheels, because he just played a world class innings to win this game off his own bat.
48th over: Australia 260-6 (Smith 103, Faulkner 29)
South Africa has lost the plot here. Bowling is ragged, field placements questionable and with Smith taking a risky third run, Kyle Abbott makes a hash of his attempt to take the stumps, giving the Aussie centurion a let-off. Then Faulkner almost commits the cardinal sin of running himself out off a mis-field.
One Kyle Abbott full toss later, the Proteas wish Faulkner had run, because the all-rounder bosses it between mid-wicket and mid-on for four and then gets two more. That’s followed by another boundary as Faulkner blitzes Abbott through mid-wicket from an awful half-tracker. Australia are all but home. This is a boilover of decent proportions.
Fourkner #AUSvSA
— Steve Smith (@stevesmithffx) November 21, 2014
Updated
47th over: Australia 247-6 (Smith 100, Faulkner 19)
Dale Steyn reappears at the end of the film, like all good villains do. He’s going to have plenty of lines in this last 15 minutes and might even increase the body count. Smith nearly offs himself with a suicidal single and then on 99 he plays a fitting stroke to bring up three figures; a dirty cross-bat bunt for one. He celebrates the milestone with gusto but knows the job is only half-done here.
Not content to sit back and watch Smith prove his doubters wrong, James Fualkner goes in for a bit of kudos himself, pulling a rasping boundary through mid-wicket and then slapping the next delivery over mid-on for another. Now it’s Australia in the box seat.
46th over: Australia 235-6 (Smith 98, Faulkner 10)
Kyle Abbott is back for one final blast now and James Faulkner does his job by immediately getting himself off strike and letting Steve Smith get to work.The two of them trade singles when the seagulls aren’t swooping, so the game has a certain Hitchcockian aesthetic. Who will bite the dust though? It better happen soon; I’ve eaten all my popcorn, slurped all of my soda, and I need to pee.
Robert Wilson is hitting his stride now. “You know, without the Aussie OBO, I’m not sure I’d make it,” he lies. “Like what’shername said, a good life is a series of small treats.”
Speaking of treats, this game has turned into the best kind; one with a nervy, scrappy and oh-so-tight finish. Australia needs 33 from 24 and Steve Smith 2 more runs to bring up a magnificent century.
45th over: Australia 228-6 (Smith 95, Faulkner 6)
This over has something for everyone. After the wicket, Parnell overtseps the mark to cough up a free hit and the full toss he then serves up to James Faulkner is edged down to the fine leg fence for four.
With this game heading into squeaky bum time (40 needed from 30 deliveries), I must distract myself with Robert Wilson’s first email of the game. “All morning,” he says, “I was leafing through Stendhal manuscripts with rectal-exam gloves, dying of boredom and Ebola. The hairdryer-coffee filter thing didn’t work because there was no hairdryer. Quite seriously, how mental is is that I searched for it? For ten minutes?”
And then...
“I really think I love Steve Smith now. He’s not an ugly batsman. He’s a fey logician. Don’t we all wanna be that?”
Whatever Smithers is on, I want some.
WICKET! Wade c McLaren b Parnell 52 (Australia 219-6)
Parnell and McLaren couldn’t buy a wicket individually, so instead they collaborate on a combination of arsey catching and your archetype sh*t-gets-wickets bowling. Parnell digs in a half-tracker, Wade rocks back and hooks it high into the swirling night air and McLaren runs around from fine leg and then dives to take a stunning catch with his arms just above the turf. What a take!
44th over: Australia 218-5 (Smith 92, Wade 52)
Ryan McLaren returns now. AB de Villiers definitely wants to get his overs done with. He starts in unfortunate style, with a slower leg-cutter taking an under-edge (or did it? The umpire calls byes) and spearing past Quinton de Kock for a boundary. Three singles follow, then McLaren sends another terrible full toss down the leg side for Smith to tuck away to the fence. That moves him into the 90s and signals a merciful end to McLaren’s struggles.
That dreary crowd figure, by the way, is 14,177. I think that might include caterers and players.
43rd over: Australia 206-5 (Smith 86, Wade 50)
Ryan McLaren has an over left but de Villiers has seen enough of him for now, so reintroduces Wayne Parnell. The advantage of this approach is that he doesn’t have to hide Parnell in the field, not that it would make a difference for the six the Aussie keeper bashes over the bowlers’ head.
The local crowd, which had waned in both numbers and enthusiasm until half an hour ago, is now noticeably more excited abou the momentum that’s building between this pair. Wade brings up his half-century with a single to extra cover. It took him 55 balls of graft but he’s still there and gaining in confidence with every lusty blow.
The equation now for the Aussies is 62 from 42.
42nd over: Australia 195-5 (Smith 83, Wade 43)
The 42nd over starts with a conference at the top of Dale Steyn’s mark but there is no planning you can do for a full toss down the leg side. Steve Smith can though - he flicks it around the corner for a boundary to fine leg and Australia lives to fight another over.
Multiple reader emails are telling me that the best way to improve the hit rate on this live blog is to change the title to that of an A League game. I’m trying not to be offended on behalf of the great and noble game of cricket.
Steve Smith is a good example of why finding a way to put the ball in empty spaces is more imp than looking good while batting #effective
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) November 21, 2014
41st over: Australia 190-5 (Smith 78, Wade 43)
32 runs came from the 5-over Power Play period, but the equation is getting away from Australia a little all the same. AB de Villiers has a few concerns; he needs to rotate his bowlers and he also keeps clutching at his ribs.
Matthew Wade gets a short one from McLaren and tucks in, hooking it high and long, so it fizzes over the head of the advancing and then back-tracking David Miller. He probably wouldn’t have got there either way, but managed to make the improbable look absolutely impossible. From a different column, Quinton de Kock makes a remarkably difficult take look straightforward when McLaren bowls a huge wide.
40th over: Australia 182-5 (Smith 76, Wade 38)
Did I mention we’re in the power play now? Well we’re not for long - it ends after this over. Abbott bowls a belter of an over in the circumstances, jamming in yorkers and other hard-to-hit fare, which restricts the damage to three runs.
“Stop with this Aussie pessimism!” pleads Ravi Nair. “We English own that. You have more than 10 overs and less than 100 runs to get - pure T20 stuff. And Smith’s good at that.”
Amazing to think that fifteen years ago, Steve Smith wasn't even part of Australia's best ODI XI. #AUSvSA
— Dan Liebke (@LiebCricket) November 21, 2014
39th over: Australia 179-5 (Smith 74, Wade 37)
There are many words I’d associate with Ryan McLaren’s bowling today, but ‘frugality’ is not one of them. Still, he has a job to do for his skipper. Matthew Wade thumps him for three through cover and Steve Smith only has to belt his cover drive another half-metre either side of de Villiers to get it through. He doesn’t, but a mis-field from Parnell results in four from the next delivery. To put it politely, fielding is not Parnell’s forte.
There’s some levity to end the over when Steve Smith backs out of the delivery on account of a low-swooping seagull. Birds remain McLaren’s chief ally right now - while they’re getting in the way the Aussies can’t slog him.
38th over: Australia 170-5 (Smith 68, Wade 34)
AB de Villiers must also get rid of some of Wayne Parnell’s overs and the big lefty makes a better fist of the containment business than Steyn until his final delivery disappears over the head of mid-off for a Matthew Wade boundary, one that required skill and courage, because the margin for error if he hadn’t middled it was microscopic.
“The 39-run final over loss,” says Nick Toovey, “is like being called in to a Training Session at Work and noticing that you’ve been paired with the suck-up that always wants to provide examples and ask questions. Just get it over with quickly, either way. Everybody’s happy.”
37th over: Australia 163-5 (Smith 66, Wade 29)
There is a time to concede the battle is lost but that time has not yet come for Steve Smith, who leans back and wallops Dale Steyn over mid-wicket for a lofted boundary. His theory, I’m guessing, is that he’ll need to use the pace on the ball from the quicks because the boudaries are not flowing off the spinners and cutters elsewhere.
Matthew Wade does likewise, stepping down the trac to Steyn and hammering him high towards long-on for another four. Maybe I wrote that obituary a little prematurely. Thirteen come from the Steyn over and if not for the diving work of de Kock from the final delivery, it might have been 17.
36th over: Australia 154-5 (Smith 61, Wade 25)
Maybe this is pessimistic for an Aussie, but the main interest that remains for me here is what type of loss Australia is going to experience; will it be a blaze of glory, dismissed in the 41st over type of loss, or a hang around until the last over and lose by 39 runs loss. I think the former is what’s called for if it’s a lost cause.
114 off 84 is not completely out of reach in these times, but it’s a tough ask.
Ian Jones, meanwhile, is in worse pain than Nathan Coulter-Nile. “It’s bad enough the top order rolling over like a dog wanting it’s belly scratched but on top of that I’ve got Brayshaw and Slater making my ears bleed with Healy there to shove the needle in that little bit deeper,” he says. “There are a couple of leopard and some spotted hyena around my house that I would be happy to feed them to.”
35th over: Australia 150-5 (Smith 58, Wade 23)
If anyone tries to tell you that one-day international cricket has nothing going for it, please don’t argue with them while Farhaan Behardien is wheeling away with his right-arm straights. While he’s doing so, you’ll start questioning whether you even like cricket yourself.
34th over: Australia 146-5 (Smith 57, Wade 22)
According to Nine, word from the Australian rooms is that Nathan Coulter-Nile will not bat tonight, no matter what the circumstance, so the Proteas’ task is a little easier still.
Also according to Nine, 65% of Australians think that the Aussies will get home. From that, make whatever inferences about the average intelligence of Nine viewers you like.
33rd over: Australia 142-5 (Smith 55, Wade 20)
Now Wade gets in on the boundary-hitting act, thumping Peterson through cover to lift the game a little further from its middle-over slumber. Eight runs come from the over and heading to the drinks break, Australia is going to need even more still from the following 17 to get anywhere close to the Proteas total.
Given the poor crowd numbers, can Melbournians write in and tell me why they didn’t go to the cricket today?
32nd over: Australia 134-5 (Smith 54, Wade 13)
Smith brings up 50 and it is in fact his fourth half-century in his last five innings, though not in consecutive games. He wasn’t even picked for the series-opener and more famously missed out in Zimbabwe too, all of which is rather remarkable to consider given his increasing reliability in this format. Having passed the milestone, he steps back to square leg and slaps Kyle Abbott for a quite ridiculous forehand lob to the mid-off boundary. Ranji might have blushed, but it was very effective.
Updated
31st over: Australia 126-5 (Smith 48, Wade 11)
How bad are Australia doing? James Brayshaw has resorted to talking about Greg Blewett’s golf game, which I need to know about as much as I need to know about Andrew Hudson’s squash pursuits. Steve Smith profits a little more from this particular Robin Peterson over and thus edges a little closer to his half-century, but he’s also got some kind of niggle that may require medical treatment.
30th over: Australia 119-5 (Smith 43, Wade 9)
The positive for the Aussies right now - and for what few spectators are left at the MCG - is that Steve Smith is still at the crease and with him is Matthew Wade, a street fighter if ever there was one.
Nick Toovey hasn’t died from the paint fumes yet and he has a decent point about the apoplectic rage that greets every Glenn Maxwell dismissal. “It wasn’t that long ago that the Hate-Faeces was being flung in Steve Smith’s direction. 12 months out of the spotlight correcting some flaws in Shield cricket, finding his feet in non-prime time matches in India and England and all of a sudden he could be the Test Captain next week. You can want something too much, sometimes, and it seems like everybody is trying to force some brilliance out of Maxi, himself included.”
Nobody wants it more than Maxwell. His approach might not always suggest it, but he’s always striving.
29th over: Australia 116-5 (Smith 41, Wade 8)
Robin Peterson is racing through his overs and also keeping things tidy, which is exactly what AB de Villiers wants amid such a regular fall of wickets. This over costs just three and gets Australia no closer to reeling in the reuired run rate.
I'd be terrified to have a selfie of Dale Steyn in my phone. It sounds like the premise for a Japanese horror movie. #AUSvSA
— Dan Liebke (@LiebCricket) November 21, 2014
28th over: Australia 113-5 (Smith 39, Wade 7)
What happens to Glenn Maxwell at this point? He has a surplus ‘n’ but a deficit of runs. To be truthful he really needs a confidence booster and at the moment it just won’t come. Is he in Australia’s best XI heading towards a World Cup and if not, who will take his place? Neither Usman Khwaja or Cameron White bowl well enough to replace his off-spin, but both will probably feel they can offer more with the bat right at this moment. I
27th over: Australia 108-5 (Smith 36, Wade 5)
Now Nick Toovey is thinking of ways in which I can mail in my shift. “I sat in once with a guy doing cricinfo ball-by-ball for a NZ v WI test,” he says. “He reasoned that since very few people were watching or following, he could just repeat what the commentators were saying. I imagine that really isn’t an option for you, unless you’ve discovered how to spell indecipherable shouting and are a big BIG fan of The Block?”
As tempting as it always is to quote the words of Brett Lee verbatim...
26th over: Australia 103-5 (Smith 32, Wade 3)
I will not lie, I spent that entire over hate-reading the Glenn Maxwell hate-tweets. People hate this guy. They hate him like they hate war criminals and root canal surgery.
25th over: Australia 101-5 (Smith 32, Wade 3)
“Maybe tonight’s his night,” says a hopeful Ian Healy of the new man, Matthew Wade. As he does so I can’t help but watch the replay of the Maxwell dismissal, in which the Victorian really threw his bat at a ball that jagged in. It was a dead-simple catch for Hashim Amla at first slip.
Can Smith and Wade still do this? Time is on their side, though not the laws of probability.
WICKET! Maxwell c Amla b Steyn 2 (Australia 98-5)
If you were hoping that tonight would be the night that Glenn Maxwell fulfilled his boundless potential and won the hearts of a nation, you’re shit out of luck, because he’s just nicked off to Dale Steyn. Moving his feet might have helped. I bloody love Our Glenn but he can’t take a trick right now. I don’t even want to watch the replay, neither will he.
Updated
24th over: Australia 98-4 (Smith 32, Maxwell 2)
Nick Toovey writes in to say hi, which is always nice. “Morning Russ, here to keep you company from a freshly painted London office whilst most sane people in your timezone are arguing with security about whether they can get in for a quick drink in these shoes. Possibility that by 50 overs, these paint fumes will send me loopy. I notice the ‘casual’ element has been removed from your email. Have you and Ms Guardian made it official?”
We have, Nick. I got down on one knee, threatened IT that they were compromising the slim amount of esteem in which I’m held by readers, and they agreed to consolidate all of my emails into the more professional-looking format, sans-”casual”. I am still pretty chilled out though, obviously.
Ryan McLaren appears to replace Behardien and though de Villiers might be looking to get through his overs before things get tight, he’s pretty loose and Smith immeditaely takes him for a boundary.
23rd over: Australia 89-4 (Smith 25, Maxwell 1)
The much-maligned Glenn Maxwell appears to replace Bailey and he really can’t take a trick at the moment; even when he gets off strike from his first delivery it caves in his blade and he has to call for another. He won’t mind as long the new one brings him some much-needed runs, I’m sure, and he has the ideal opportunity now to win over some fans; 27 overs remaining and a lot of runs to get.
WICKET! Bailey c de Kock b Steyn 16 (Australia 86-4)
Just as things were consolidating a little for the Aussies, Steyn gets the breakthrough and it’s Bailey this time who slashes at a wide ball much like Shane Watson’s earlier and gets a thick edge through to Quinton de Kock. The Aussies are up against it now and Dale Steyn lets off another primal scream of...is it joy? It seems a little too manic and guttural to be joy.
22nd over: Australia 86-3 (Smith 23, Bailey 15)
“Graun not having a good day today, methinks - earlier someone linked Rob Smyth’s T20 OBO from 9/2/2013 as a “Live” one,” says Ravi Nair. But any kind of Smyth is good Smyth, right Ravi?
“In any case, I’m with the Saffers on this one and want them to win. Say it’s in order to keep the series alive. But I do want Smith and Bailey to do well, even heroically. Just to lose at the end.”
21st over: Australia 82-3 (Smith 21, Bailey 14)
Simon Shiell clearly feels sorry enough for me to email in, and he has a few observations. “I reckon there will be more people at the annual Parkville District Cricket Club (aka ‘The Wombats’) trivia night tomorrow night than is at the G tonight. (Shameless plug ahoi!). The most insightful thing the 9 team has delivered tonight has been counting Smiths’ mannerisms...”
Right as Simon observes that, Ian Healy is again counting Smith’s fidgets between balls. Can we get that as a statistical category so he can finally be accurately compared to Derek Randall?
Steyn returns but his is the kind of over in which the crowd becomes disinterested and instead starts a skolling competition. Judging by the roar they let off, beer has indeed been successfully consumed. Well done, everyone involved.
20th over: Australia 78-3 (Smith 20, Bailey 11)
Now Farhaan Behardien appears with what Ian Healy correctly describes as “part-time-ish bowling”. I wonder how he’d describe his hair. “Sometimes these types of bowlers can be difficult to face in this type of situation,” adds Mike Hussey. This situation being a game of professional cricket, he’s right. He’s really not the type of bowler the Aussies regularly face, but they milk him for five runs all the same.
19th over: Australia 73-3 (Smith 17, Bailey 9)
Robin Peterson is sort of getting away with it here. The Aussies are working him for the odd single but not taking him to Flog City, Smashtown, which is what they should be doing. Maybe I’m being impatient, but he really doesn’t do much with it, old Robbie P.
18th over: Australia 71-3 (Smith 16, Bailey 8)
Steve Smith is getting in a groove now. He starts this new Parnell over by cross-batting the bowler through mid-on for a boundary. Australia need a lot more of that type of thing to get back into this contest.
17th over: Australia 64-3 (Smith 10, Bailey 7)
Like when you get a phantom vibration in the pocket from your phone, I’ve just had my hopes raised by the appearance of an email in my inbox. Sadly, it’s an auto-generated quarantine list of all the herbal viagra emails I’ve been denied access to. This is the person you’ve made of me, readers - someone who thinks spam bots are his only friends.
16th over: Australia 59-3 (Smith 5, Bailey 7)
Where are all you usual suspects on the email? Robert Wilson, have you found some new hotel room in which to strain coffee through your socks, McGuyver -style? Wherefore art thou Gary Naylor?
Meanwhile, now it’s Wayne Parnell’s turn to be ticked off by Billy Bowden for running down the middle of the tack. And with that, we’ll take drinks.
15th over: Australia 55-3 (Smith 5, Bailey 4)
Robin Peterson is not a name that strukes fear into the heart of a newly-arrived batsman and so it proves for Bailey when he eases into things with some easy runs against the left-arm spinner. There is a need for the Protease to race through some middle-innings overs but you also wonder whether this could release a little of the pressure they’ve built so well in the last 5.
Dale Steyn is happy, so happy that he’s leaning into the MCG fence and submitting to selfie requests from fans. What a guy.
14th over: Australia 49-3 (Smith 2, Bailey 0)
There was some bad news there too as far as the Proteas are concerned. Faf du Plessis looks to have crocked himself slightly taking the catch, though to what degree it’s not yet certain. He landed awkwardly on his hip and is thus in the kind of discomfort that the warm glow of a wicket can’t quite smother.
George Bailey is the new man in for the Aussies.
Big innings this for Bailey #AUSvSA
— Daniel Brettig (@danbrettig) November 21, 2014
WICKET! Finch c du Plessis b Parnell 22 (Australia 48-3)
Aaron Finch commits batting suicide, rocking onto his back foot and pulling Parnell straight down the throat of du Plessis at an improvised deep square leg. That is disastrous for Australia. Now they have two new men at the crease and three wickets down. They’re making 210 look like a par score right now.
13th over: Australia 47-2 (Finch 22, Smith 1)
The runs are really drying up now for the Aussies and de Villiers’ men have noticeably sharpened up. Smith gets off the mark with a confident drive through cover and he’ll need to be every bit as industrious as he was on Wednesday in Canberra if his side is to get up here. With every fidget of his gloves, pads and trousers he becomes more and more confident.
12th over: Australia 45-2 (Finch 21, Smith 0)
Replays of the Watson dismissal are even less flattering to everyone concerned and it’s also a potential worry for Australia heading into the Test series (in which Watson is likely to figure) given that the all-rounder is squandering so many starts. I mean, that’s always a worry with Watson but you see my point?
Parnell is a little better this over, conceding only two to keep the pressure on new man Smith and his well-set partner.
11th over: Australia 43-2 (Finch 20, Smith 0)
McLaren finishes the over with exactly the kind of dross that got Watson. Umpire John Ward figures the same type of delivery got a wicket only a ball earlier so he couldn’t possibly call it a wide, which it was.
WICKET! Watson c de Kock b McLaren 19 (Australia 43-2)
Oh my. After never particularly looking like taking a wicket, Ryan McLaren does so with an absolute scrubber of a delivery; a loose, wide half-tracker that Watson reaches for with a wafty slog and feathers through to de Kock behind the wicket. What a way to go. It probably would have been a wide but it’s done the job for the Proteas.
10th over: Australia 39-1 (Finch 18, Watson 17)
That man Wayne Parnell appears now, but I promise you I won’t bang on about his diabolically bad haircut because that would be a waste of blog space, wouldn’t it? To start with here he concedes five singles, which is at least a form of consistency I suppose.
9th over: Australia 34-1 (Finch 16, Watson 14)
Ryan McLaren is really misfiring for the Proteas, which is a genuine concern for AB de Villiers. Again he is short and wide to Watson, whose eyes light up in delight as he crunches four more from a cut through point.
I’ll ask the question again: does South Africa has the bowling firepower to win a World Cup? The only guy they’re missing on this tour is JP Duminy, whom everyone keeps telling me is a lynchpin, but is he in a bowling sense? God help them if that’s the case.
Morkel needs to be playing and firing, as does Philander in Australian conditions. Parnell is almost a game-by-game proposition as far as his inconsistent output, Imran Tahir’s spin is a game-by-game proposition, Steyn is a dimished force and the bit-part guys (de Villiers and Behardien? Really) are a liability.
Am I being harsh? Can AB and Amla just win it for them with the bat? I have doubts, damn it!
8th over: Australia 27-1 (Finch 15, Watson 8)
Kyle Abbott is taking that straightened approach to the Aussie batsmen a little too far and incurs the wrath of Umpire Billy Bowden when he runs right down the middle of the pitch after delivering to Finch. Abbott has an LBW shout against Finch too, which is close but turned down, then the Proteas take too long to decide if they’ll take a review. A good thing that is too, because it was flying well over the top of off stump.
Billy Bowden - 2, Kyle Abbott - 0.
7th over: Australia 26-1 (Finch 15, Watson 7)
You can’t tie Aaron Finch down for too long, even if it means a filthy inside-out slog over cover, which is what the Victorian employs to get two. A ball later the batsman gets it right, launching a more classical version of the same stroke high and wide and then watching it bounce once before it slams into the fence.
Finch makes it an even more profitable over when the new bowler, Ryan McLaren, digs one in short and allows him to glide the final delivery down to the rope at third man.
6th over: Australia 16-1 (Finch 5, Watson 7)
Aaron Finch gets off strike early in the over, which is a sound approach with Kyle Abbott bowling as well as he has been. There is a little less swing in this over from the Protea but he’s still sweating away on account of his whole-hearted exertions. He loses his second slip, perhaps suggesting a straighter line will be pursued to Watson. With a front pad as clumsy as Watto’s to aim for, that’s not a bad move.
Meanwhile, we’re possibly breaking records tonight...
@rustyjacko need to check but could be first OBO in recorded history dedicated to a curtain lady.
— Cam Manning (@cmrnmnning) November 21, 2014
5th over: Australia 15-1 (Finch 4, Watson 7)
Shane Watson made a solid start in Manuka, making 40, but he’d love to make a far bigger contribution tonight and he’s off to a good start when he confidently drives Steyn through cover for two. A pair of deliveries later he does even better, reaching a little to a wider one, opening the face and cracking it through cover for a boundary. I’m sure he hits those kinds of shots in his sleep. His poor wife.
4th over: Australia 9-1 (Finch 4, Watson 1)
Kyle Abbott is bowling like a demon now, sending a succession of textbook out-swingers past the edge of Finch after Watson had got off the mark. He’s lucky to survive this probing; each of the two that almost kssed the edge was the definition of ‘too good to take a wicket’.
The Proteas, it’s safe to say, are right on top in these early stages.
WICKET! Warner lbw Abbott 4 (Australia 8-1)
Abbott strikes early! Warner sort of shuffles forward without any conviction and fails to get bat to a delivery that is full, straight and jags away slightly. It raps the Aussie on the back pad in front of middle and off and the appeal is both vociferous and upheld. Warner, to his credit, knows he’s stone cold and doesn’t call for a review.
3rd over: Australia 8-0 (Finch 4, Warner 4)
Steyn is definately shaping it away from the right-handed Finch but even Mike Hussey, normally a purveyor of gushing compliments, is giving him stick for not bending his back and really wanging it down there . Finch gets two from a misfield-overthrow combo, which is never ideal for a bowler.
Steyn thinks he might have Finch caught behind a ball later and contorts his face into a series of strange gurns before asking the batsman whether he got a feather on it. Finch blanks him and the Proteas do the same with the looming possibility of a review.
2nd over: Australia 6-0 (Finch 2, Warner 4)
The Channel Nine team is already bored with this Australian reply so talk immediately turns to the spot in which Michael ‘Mr Cricket’ Hussey proposed to his now-wife. This was something that I genuinely found interesting up until the point that it was revealed that he didn’t do it in the souvenir shop after an MCG tour.
Kyle Abbott has come into the Proteas side today at the expense of one or both of Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander and gets thrown the new ball. He starts tidily but without any great venom. Morkel looks on with no great joy on his face.
1st over: Australia 4-0 (Finch 1, Warner 3)
The Australian innings kicks off with Finch facing up to Dale Steyn and tapping him down to third man for a single. Like at Manuka, Steyn is bowling well within himself from a pace perspective and aiming for sideways movement. Warner knocks him out to square leg for two and looks far more comfortable than he might if Steyn really let it fly.
Maybe I’m just being selfish wanting the extra pace. Do whatever you feel like doing, Dale, that’s worked out pretty well for you so far.
More on the CA selection saga
Well, last night Mark Waugh said he and fellow selectors had been forced to make their Brisbane Test selections a week earlier on marketing grounds but today, possibly with the assistance of a flaming-hot cattle prod, he has backed down on that claim just a little bit, saying he used the wrong terminology.
The problem? “Logistics.” “If the selectors feel they need more time to select the squad that option is always there,” explained CA’s high performance manager-slash-former-carny Pat Howard. They could do that, for sure, but who wants to bet they don’t?
Some reading for you before the Aussies start their chase
Here is the always-brilliant Matt Cleary continuing his ‘Away Days’ series, in this case dropping by the Southern Stars play game against the West Indies women at Bowral.
This one should really resonate with anyone who has been moved on our bossed around unnecessarily by officious ground staff at near-empty cricket venues. They’re a breed all of their own those guys (and they’re nearly always men), aren’t they?
That South African Innings
As Geoff pointed out, it wasn’t exactly a disaster for South Africa - de Villiers looked like 8 trillion dollars again, as he always does these days - but you expected rather more from the Proteas when they passed the 200 mark after 37 overs. From there they managed only 67 more; a terrible waste of such a promising platform.
Needless to say, I think it’s ever so slightly under par for this surface. The pressure is heaped back on the Australians now but they’re confronted with a chase that will not stretch them beyond their capabilities. The injury to Nathan Coulter-Nile is far from ideal heading towards the World Cup, but didn’t Australia’s bowling attack look a little more solid with James Faulkner wheeling away?
A little bit of ‘me time’ to start with…
Imagine the scene, dear readers; a 55” HD screen filled to its borders with glorious, glorious cricket, but a couple of pesky windows through which the bright Melbourne is flooding in. Sunshine is glorious too, of course, but not when it’s reflecting off a TV screen with such venom that you get a migraine looking at it. But today that changed my friends, oh yes, today that changed. The curtain lady came. She came with a tool kit, she came with blinds and she has saved us all from the horrors of an OBO written under the duress of blinding sun reflection.
The curtain lady had a name, which to my discredit I have forgotten already, but this OBO goes out to her, the bringer of all this joy and happiness in which I currently bask.
Now the air-conditioner hums away at that perfect volume that drowns out the Nine commentary but not the crowd noise and the unnecessarily-large flat screen that old mate down at The Good Guys deflty talked me into buying beams back at me with the warmth of a Curtly Ambrose smile – the kind of smile that Curtly would flash after he’d almost maimed and then ruthlessly dismissed an Australian batsman.
But enough about me…
If you would like to talk about this quite intriguing battle between bat and ball, hit me on russell.jackson@theguardian.com or via twitter: @rustyjacko
Australia have been set 268 to win
That’s a fair score, but certainly attainable. South Africa started poorly with a couple of early wickets, consolidated through the 122-run partnership between de Villiers and Miller, then were pegged back again once the captain fell just short of his century. He was brilliant again, the rest were not.
Here’s a run through the card.
Batting
de Kock 17
Amla 18
du Plessis 28
de Villiers 91
Miller 45
Behardien 22
McLaren 13
Peterson 11
Parnell 3 not out
Steyn 0 not out
Bowling
Starc 10-0-40-1
Coulter-Nile 3-0-16-1
Cummins 10-0-61-2
Maxwell 9-0-43-1
Watson 5-0-25-0
Faulkner 10-0-45-2
Smith 3-0-27-0
That’s it from me - Geoff Lemon out, and Russell Jackson will be in after the innings break to take you through the Australian reply.
50th over: South Africa 267-8 (Parnell 3, Steyn 0)
Some unlovely stuff from Steyn. One slog, two slogs, three slogs, four. None of them connect. Frustrated, on the fourth slog Parnell darts through for a bye to the wicketkeeper. Parnell gets a couple of leg byes, then two runs to midwciket from the final ball of the innings. Australia’s bowlers have done the job well.
49th over: South Africa 262-8 (Parnell 1)
Eventful over. A single, the Peterson six to a massive pull-slog that landed on the sight screen, then the wicket, a single, and the run out.
Faulkner’s spell is done: 10 overs, 2/45.
Wicket! Behardien 22 (23 balls), run out (Warner)
Another one down. I’ve been critical of Waner for missing his shots at the stumps in the past, but this one nailed the timber at the non-striker’s end. Last ball of the over, Behardien drove to mid off, chanced the single to stay on strike, and Warner beat him in by a distance.
Wicket! Peterson 11 (12 balls), b Faulkner
That’s some lovely bowling from the Fork. He’s just been launched down the ground for six by Peterson, then comes back with another of those fast leg breaks, which uterly evades Peterson’s swing and takes out middle stump.
48th over: South Africa 254-6 (Behardien 21, Peterson 5)
Starc continues. Behardien isn’t exactly setting the world alight in this series, especially late in the innings. He’s only poked and prodded around, and has only found the fence off the outside edge. Four singles from the over.
47th over: South Africa 250-6 (Behardien 19, Peterson 3)
There’s some nice work from Faulkner, he’s bowling fast leg breaks through the second half of that over, and Peterson couldn’t lay bat on them. Three singles from the over.
Three overs to go. Faulkner has one more, Starc has one more, and I’m guessing Bailey won’t want to go back to the expensive Cummins, so perhaps Watson will bowl the other.
Updated
46th over: South Africa 247-6 (Behardien 18, Peterson 1)
Only three runs from Starc’s over. He has 1/36 from 9.
Updated
Wicket! McLaren 13 (14 balls), c Wade b Starc
McLaren basically gave himself out there - he didn’t look comfortably on the pull shot at all during that innings, and this one he yanked at, it wasn’t that short, and he top-edged it to Wade. McLaren walked off almost immediately.
45th over: South Africa 244-5 (Behardien 18, McLaren 11)
McLaren is looking good straight off. Cummins has two wickets today but he’s gone for plenty. First he overpitches and McLaren drives classically down the ground for four. Then Cummins underpitches and McLaren doesn’t look like he loves playing the pull shot, but he plays it well, getting all of that ball for another boundary behind square.
10 from the over, 59 from 54 balls so far from Cummins.
44th over: South Africa 234-5 (Behardien 17, McLaren 2)
Starc consolidates Cummins’ gains with an over conceding only four singles.
43rd over: South Africa 230-5 (Behardien 15)
Cummins was lucky and unlucky that over. Behardien edged through slip again for four to start it off. It might have been half deliberate, Behardien was jumping and just tried to get something on it. It worked.
De Villiers was nearly run out next ball, Behardien dobbing one to the on side and taking off for a run. AB honoured the call, Bailey picked up coming from midwicket, and he would have had AB cold if he’d hit the stumps. Bailey had to sidearm the throw as he was travelling sideways, so when the ball bounced in line with the stumps, it spun sideways and skipped away.
But then, from the last ball, de Villiers got the toe of the bat on his unorthodox pull shot, and now it’s down to Behardien and the tail.
Wicket! de Villiers 91 (88 balls), c Smith b Cummins
Big moment, disappointment for AB, he wasn’t looking quite right the last few overs, he was trying to force the pace. Cummins bowled a bouncer, AB was advancing, he tried that sort of overhead tennis smash shot, skewed off the bat, and the high ball was caught at deep midwicket.
42nd over: South Africa 223-4 (de Villiers 90, Behardien 9)
Big carving back-foot drive from AB against Starc, out to deep cover and they’ll run two. AB leaves the bouncer from the next ball, which is a victory in itself. Then a single, then a leg bye as Behardien was hit on the pad and Wade fumbled the ball as he dived away to stop it. Starc’s rhythm is in. Big swinging yorker to finish things off and AB can’t do a thing! Jammed down on it and kept his stumps intact, but no chance to score. Great over, top-line stuff.
41st over: South Africa 219-4 (de Villiers 87, Behardien 9)
De Villiers is getting a little frustrated I reckon, he hasn’t been middling them for a couple of overs. Wants to punish the bowling a bit more, ad Faulkner isn’t letting him. Again he’s cramping the batsman, again there are only three singles off the over. South Africa are still probably four overs away from really launching, but they’d be wanting to get going a little.
40th over: South Africa 216-4 (de Villiers 85, Behardien 8)
Nice over from Starc too. Behariden goes to great lengths to get off strike, wandering way outside off stump to jab a ball away to square leg. But then AB is struggling to score - yorkers in at his toes and short balls angled at his ribs both deprive him of room. Only three from the over. Hmm.
39th over: South Africa 213-4 (de Villiers 83, Behardien 7)
Faulkner turns in a good over. Four singles from it, he even makes AB defend one ball off the back foot. He’s again proving hard to hit.
38th over: South Africa 209-4 (de Villiers 81, Behardien 5)
Close-run thing - Behardien edges Cummins through an empty slip area for four. Then he manages to get off strike, Cummins over-pitches, and AB slams the drive straight down the pitch for four. Top shot.
AB has a ton in his sights, and South Africa still have a big score in the offing. The 200 is up, and 100 off the last 10 overs is always possible.
37th over: South Africa 199-4 (de Villiers 77, Behardien 0)
Three runs and the wicket from the over. More depends on AB. Behardien hasn’t had much opportunity to bat this series, but he will have now.
Wicket! Miller 45 (61 balls), c Smith b Faulkner
Jimmy Forks! The double change brings the wicket, Faulkner held that ball back as he often does with his pace-changes, and Dan Liebke gets his wish of a Steve Smith catch. Miller has played extremely well supporting de Villiers but he got some width there, tried a big drive, got the toe of the bat, and was caught out at a regulation cover.
36th over: South Africa 196-3 (de Villiers 75, Miller 44)
The speedster Cummins returns and nearly has de Villiers - bouncer fown leg, gloved as AB tried to pull, and it lobbed just wide of Wade for a boundary. Then Miller crunches a pull to the square leg fence. 11 from it.
Disappointed Steve Smith didn't run from wherever he was fielding to catch that. #AUSvSA
— Dan Liebke (@LiebCricket) November 21, 2014
35th over: South Africa 185-3 (de Villiers 68, Miller 40)
A third over from Smith - is that really necessary? It looks one too many. First Smith produces another fully, and AB drives that through point for four. Then they knock singles around, then Miller remarkably scores an all-run four out to deep cover for the left-handed field.
The 100 partnership arrives in that over, it’s taken a tick over 17 overs, so it’s almost exactly a run a ball.
34th over: South Africa 174-3 (de Villiers 62, Miller 35)
They’re picking up the pace now. 10 from Maxwell’s over: two singles, two braces, then a sweep by Miller for four. Ominousness increasing.
33rd over: South Africa 164-3 (de Villiers 57, Miller 30)
I like this, Bailey keeping Smith on. Attacking move, and it nearly pays off, with a big lbw shout against Miller. Not out, but that pitched in line, straightened into him and he missed the sweep. I reckon that would have been clipping leg stump, but the Aussies opted not to review. Hmm.
Six from the over, including an AB boundary on the sweep.
32nd over: South Africa 158-3 (de Villiers 52, Miller 29)
Another quick Maxwell over, another three runs to the total. Australia’s need for a wicket is growing more pressing now, this partnership is ominously comfortable.
Half century
31st over: South Africa 155-3 (de Villiers 50, Miller 28)
This is what the people wanted: Spud Smith is on to bowl. It’s what AB wanted too, as he drives a full toss between the two deep fieldsmen out at deep cover for four, then repeats the dose for three. He gets a single from the last ball of the over to raise his 50 from 46 balls - and he’s only hit two boundaries in that innings. Phenomenal working of the bowling. Ten from the over. The 150 arrives.
30th over: South Africa 145-3 (de Villiers 42, Miller 26)
Hello, reverse sweep from ABCDVFG as Maxwell resumes his bowling. They get three to fine third man, then keep at the single game. Eight from the over.
Is there anything less interesting than commentators being self-deprecating about their own cricketing abilities?
29th over: South Africa 137-3 (de Villiers 36, Miller 24)
Nice to hear a sunny-day story from Tom Cameron: “About to head down to the G with a couple of mates after work. Was wondering – how is the new outfield looking? MCG did a full scale resurface starting the day after the grand final.” Indeed, and the outfield looks perfect, nice mowed stripes all around it, and it’s the perfect day for sitting and watching.
Watson’s over gets worked around for six runs in bits and pieces. This partnership still ticking over.
28th over: South Africa 131-3 (de Villiers 32, Miller 22)
The 50 partnership comes up from Faulkner’s over, from 65 balls. A couple of singles and then de Villiers drives three to backward point. Six from the over in total.
Even with the five bowlers in hand, I’m surprised Bailey hasn’t tried to get an over or two out of Smith or Finch while things are quiet, at least just to give himself some room to move late in the innings.
27th over: South Africa 125-3 (de Villiers 28, Miller 20)
Bailey sees the chance to sneak a quiet over out of Watson, who hasn’t had a great time with the ball this series. He’s a much better bowler than his critics make out, mind you. Patrick O’Brien emailing in is not complimentary. I can remember Watto winning games with the ball, though.
That was a good over, three from it, a couple of false shots from Miller.
26th over: South Africa 122-3 (de Villiers 27, Miller 19)
Four runs and a leg bye from the Faulkner over. Does anyone else struggle to stay awake during these bits? Maybe you can tell me a story or we can play noughts and crosses?
25th over: South Africa 117-3 (de Villiers 24, Miller 17)
Magnificent save from George Bailey at mid on as AB pulled Starc. Then AB walked a metre outside his off stump, recognising Starc’s intended line, and worked it to mid on. That’s audacious. Two runs from the stroke, five from the over.
24th over: South Africa 112-3 (de Villiers 20, Miller 16)
They’re on the gentle accumulation phase, South Africa. Four from that Faulkner over.
23rd over: South Africa 108-3 (de Villiers 17, Miller 15)
M. Starc returns and it’s the perfect low-key batting over, a single from each ball. Keep that going and you’ll make 300 every time. Hamstring news:
Coulter-Nile left hammy the same one he had surgery on in June
— Chloe Saltau (@chloejane32) November 21, 2014
22nd over: South Africa 102-3 (de Villiers 14, Miller 12)
Faulkner now, left-arm over. AB gets his first boundary away - a misfield at mid off to a drive hit so firmly at Finch that it bounced off his hands and ran all the way to the rope. Finch stays down there after he goes to fetch the projectile.
AB also picks up a brace and a couple of singles, and a single to Miller, so nine from the over. That’ll make the batsmen happier. The hundred is up.
21st over: South Africa 93-3 (de Villiers 6, Miller 11)
An interesting chat on ABC Radio just wrapping up with John Hastings telling Neil Manthorp about how things are behind the scenes at the IPL, making friends with MS Dhoni and meeting the man behind the massive marketing image. Reckon they might podcast that later if you missed it.
A few runs from Cummins’ over: singles and a brace, a wide with an accompanying appeal for the catch down leg, then a huge appeal as a full ball hits Miller on the pad. Not out, maybe pitched outside leg for the left-handed batsman. Cummins is right-arm over. AB is starting very slowly, with so many overs yet to come.
20th over: South Africa 88-3 (de Villiers 5, Miller 8)
It’s been a while, but James Faulkner finally comes on fir his first over. Our talk about part-time bowlers may not be relevant if the all-rounders Maxwell, Faulkner and Watson all bowl their full ten. Only if South Africa can get after one of them will the wiles of Smith or Finch be necessary.
It’s a good over from Faulkner, again tying down Miller who can only get a single from the fifth ball.
19th over: South Africa 87-3 (de Villiers 5, Miller 7)
Cummins is heating up here, getting that speed gun up into the high 140 kmh range. AB takes a single first ball, then Miller is nailed down for the rest of the over, just a run from the final ball deflected to the leg side. Noice.
18th over: South Africa 85-3 (de Villiers 4, Miller 6)
You’d think a guy called Miller would grind out a score, but instead he hits Maxwell for the bowler’s first boundary of the day, cut through covers. Two more singles follow. Maxwell has a wicket and had a catch dropped from the same batsman.
17th over: South Africa 79-3 (de Villiers 3, Miller 1)
So it was Cummins round the mountain once more. He first got wided for a bouncer. What sort of world is it where you can’t bowl a metre above the batsman’s head? Then he got that big, big wicket of the Safrican first drop.
David Miller at the crease with AB.
Geoff Foley is keeping an eye on the Coulter-Nile permutations: “I’m getting pretty excited to see some enigmatic leggies from the anointed one. I’m tipping 2-27 off 3 overs. With Finch to scam his was to 0-23 off 4.”
Wicket! du Plessis 28 (37 balls), c Wade b Cummins
That’s huge! A good ball from Cummins, short just outside off but plenty of lift and pace, and Faf could only fence at it, nicking it through to the keeper. That’s drinks.
16th over: South Africa 74-2 (du Plessis 27, de Villiers 2)
Uh-oh. AB de Villiers has just emerged, and he may have pinged a calf muscle taking an early single. He’s stretching and trotting his singles very slowly. Still out there, but we’ll keep an eye on that one. Four runs and the wicket from Maxwell’s over.
Updated
Wicket! de Kock 17 (38 balls), c & b Maxwell
That was soft as you like. Maxwell lobs it up, Q tries to turn it for a single, and instead lobs a leading edge back to the bowler. Maxwell barely reacted, it was such an easy catch. QDK was out there over an hour for that less than effective innings.
15th over: South Africa 70-1 (de Kock 17, du Plessis 25)
Watson is providing more scoring opportunities today. His wicket-to-wicket line is glanced away for four by du Plessis, plus a few singles.
14th over: South Africa 63-1 (de Kock 16, du Plessis 20)
Maxwell is doing a top job so far, just three runs from his over, and that’s 12 runs from four overs thus far.
If you want to drop me an OBO line it’s geoff.lemon@theguardian.com.
13th over: South Africa 60-1 (de Kock 13, du Plessis 19)
Weird stuff from Wade. He decides to keep up to the stumps for Watson, to stop QDK getting out of his crease. The very next ball beats Q’s slog, but rips past the keeper and away for four byes. Four fieldsmen out for Faf. The last ball hits him on the pad going down leg. Only two singles from the bat that over.
12th over: South Africa 54-1 (de Kock 12, du Plessis 18)
So Nathan Coulter-Nile is off the field, we’re told. News filtering through is that he might have done a hamstring. If that’s the case Australia are short about seven top-line overs. This could be awkward.
Maxwell gets through an over for five runs worked around the square.
11th over: South Africa 49-1 (de Kock 11, du Plessis 14)
Righto, Shane Watson is coming on for his first bowl of the match. He took some tap in Canberra last time out. The early Powerplay is over but Bailey is keeping men up in the circle - there’s a deep backward and a third man, from what I can see the rest are up.
QDK goes the waltz down the pitch to Watson and hits a violent cut shot through cover, doesn’t quite time it so he’ll only get three.
10th over: South Africa 42-1 (de Kock 7, du Plessis 11)
Maxwell carries on, another tidy over with just two singles across it. I reckon Faf will have a lash before long. Maxwell is just landing them on the right spot.
9th over: South Africa 40-1 (de Kock 6, du Plessis 10)
Faf du Plessis is in good nick. Top pull shot from Cummins for four, then another on the cover drive.
Boundaries aside, could Cummins be on the march for an Australian Test spot? Surely Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris are automatic picks, but who comes third? Will it still be Siddle? Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins, Coulter-Nile are all bowling and in good form. Where’s James Pattinson these days, anyone? Will they use Nathan Lyon against India or perhaps go all pace?
I need answers, gentle readers.
Dropped!
8th over: South Africa 32-1 (de Kock 6, du Plessis 2)
Double change, with the Excitement Machine that is Glenn Maxwell whirring into gear. Gentle off-spin, but he’s on the dot and de Kock can’t score. He gets frustrated, throws a big cover drive at the last ball, edges it hard and straight at Shane Watson’s face at slip, and Watson could only parry it away. Tough catch, that would have hit him right between the eyes at pace.
Matt Reddin raises the tone by letting me know that “M’colleague and I are just having wayyyyy to much fun for 30-something adult males to have making ‘de Kock’ puns.” You are not the first, Matt, nor will you be the last.
My main concern is that the prefix ‘de’ usually indicates removal.
7th over: South Africa 30-1 (de Kock 5, du Plessis 1)
This is exciting, Pat Cummins is cummin on. This is his first ODI on Australian soil. He played the one Test in South Africa as a teenager, was man of the match in a win, and then missed most of the next two years through injury. He’s only just making his way back in through the limited-overs stuff.
He played three T20s on Australian soil this summer, his first international matches at home, but this is his first bowl in the 50-over form.
A good over, beating du Plessis for pace a couple of times, only a wide from it.
6th over: South Africa 29-1 (de Kock 5, du Plessis 1)
Successful over for NCN, he hasn’t bowled threatening stuff but batsmen have to score, and that brings bowlers into the game. Picked one up. Only two runs from the over.
Wicket! Amla 18 (20 balls), c Cummins b Coulter-Nile
That is huge. Amla is coming of a hundred last game, was in great touch already today, but he pulls in the air and it was dying on Cummins at square leg, but Cummins got down low, leaned away to his left, and got his fingers under it.
5th over: South Africa 27-0 (de Kock 4, Amla 18)
Some very tough wides being dished out by Umpire Ward, getting over excited. Starc’s bowling short left-arm stuff over the wicket, beating Amla’s swings outside off with the angle, and the umpire keeps saying he has to rebowl them. Starc eventually gets closer to the stumps and Amla is on the walk and cover-drives for four. Harsh-im Amla.
Nice bouncer from Starc zips through, sees Amla sway out of the way, then another one brings a loud appeal as Amla tried to cut, but the ump says not out.
4th over: South Africa 20-0 (de Kock 3, Amla 14)
Quiet over from NCN to Amla until the fourth ball, when Amla gets an inswinging yorker that so nearly bowls him, but takes an inside edge to fine leg for a couple. Then he gets one short but barely wide, and somehow manages to cut while cramped for room, safely along the ground and out for four. He’s off to another quick start with a post-100 strike rate.
Beautiful arvo, I’m settled in here with a spicy chicken pizza and a couple of new-season Australian mangos, what’s been on the lunch table out there in OBO land?
3rd over: South Africa 13-0 (de Kock 3, Amla 8)
Uff, nice bounce from this pitch. Starc bowls one on a good length and it leaps into de Kock’s gloves, stung him a bit as he shakes one hand in the air. There are two runs from a Faulkner misfield at square leg, but that’s all from the over. Good start from Starc.
2nd over: South Africa 11-0 (de Kock 1, Amla 8)
Nathan Coulter-Nile starts the day from the other end, with the fast man Cummins in reserve. He was taken for plenty in Perth the other night, and he’s not looking great in his first over here, some ones and twos, then Amla flips a ball off his pads over the infield, out to midwicket for four. Bowling too much at the pads.
1st over: South Africa 3-0 (de Kock 1, Amla 1)
Two slips in as Mitchell Starc commences proceedings to the left-handed Quinton de Kock. There’s a ring field, the only men out are at third man and fine leg. Two good balls on the spot from Starc, and some swing for Starc. South Africa open their account with a wide down leg, then QDK opens his with a single to third man, Amla with one to cover. Both openers content to gauge the pace and carry of this pitch. Q is nearly undone by Starc’s last ball, that swung into him and bounced over the stumps.
Updated
South Africa win the toss and will bat
If you want to catch up on who scored what and who beat who last time around, the third ODI in Canberra, you’ll find the match report here.
South Africa have won the toss and elected to bat, so finally Australia bowl first in this series.
Updated
Four changes for each side. Glenn Maxwell and Nathan Coulter-Nile are back for Australia, along with James Faulkner and Patrick Cummins.
Marsh, Richardson, Doherty and Hazlewood are the men omitted, so no specialist spinner for Australia on the G, just Maxwell and Steve Smith.
For South Africa, Kyle Abbott, Wayne Parnell, Ryan McLaren and Robin Peterson come in, so that’s three new seamers all with some batting credentials, and the spinner in Peterson. Rilee Rossouw is out, as is Morne Morkel, as is Vernon Philander, as is Imran Tahir.
Hello again, and welcome to another One-Day International between Australia and South Africa - the fourth in this series, and it’s a gorgeous Melbourne day at the MCG. Clear, sunny, not too hot, nice cool breeze, perfect for cricket. Geoff Lemon here with you to get us started. The visitors need to win to level the series 2-2, but Australia can seal it if they’re able to win today.
Here are the teams. Plenty of changes for both sides here today.
Australia
DA Warner, AJ Finch, SR Watson, SPD Smith, GJ Bailey*, GJ Maxwell, MS Wade†, JP Faulkner, PJ Cummins, NM Coulter-Nile, MA Starc
South Africa
Q de Kock†, HM Amla, F du Plessis, AB de Villiers*, DA Miller, F Behardien, R McLaren, RJ Peterson, WD Parnell, KJ Abbott, DW Steyn
