South Africa crashed to a heart-breaking 2-wicket loss to Australia in the final over to lose the series 2-1. South Africa fought so hard to remain in the contest and pushed Australia all the way. It was a case of so near yet so far for the visitors. There were handful of reasons why they went down to Australia at Cairns and we will try and list three of them out.
Continuous Failure of Aiden Markram Hurts South Africa Badly
Aiden Markram did his bit as captain and did a handy job with the ball as when whenever he came onto bowl. He dismissed Travis Head twice in this series. But with bat in hand, it was a struggle for the South African captain as he could muster only one run. In this series, he has blown cold in the match with scores of 12, 18, & 1. With South Africa bringing in a young team with bat in hand and Markram wanting to open the batting, he should bring better returns than these.
It is just not this series alone, Markram hasn’t performed in International cricket for quite a while. He is yet to cross 30 in his last 13 innings and his last half century came in 2024 during the T20 World Cup. After that he has had a lean patch. Yes, he had a terrific IPL opening the batting for Lucknow Super Giants alongside Mitchell Marsh and scored runs but his international record in the recent past hasn’t been great.
For South Africa to do well with bat in hand, Markram has to contribute a lot more because people around him are young in the international circuit. Markram is experienced now. So, in future T20Is, South Africa will want their captain Markram to do well and lead from the front with bat in hand. If he does that, it will solve a lot of problems for South African cricket team.
Kwena Maphaka, Senuran Muthusamy & Lungi Ngidi Leaking Runs Pegs South Africa Back
When South Africa came to defend 172, it was important that all bowlers bowl well and have a good day and don’t leak runs. While one bowler can have an off-day and can be covered up by others, the problem starts to happen when multiple bowlers start to leak runs. That is what happened with South Africa when they came to defend the score.
Kwena Maphaka has a bright future and is young and he is a genuine wicket-taker, and he showed that when he picked up another two wickets. But his economy rate is a concern and work in progress as he gave away 36 runs in 3 overs. This is an area he needs to work on, but he will get better in time.
The most disappointing bowler on show was their lone spinner Senuran Muthusamy. Muthusamy continuously bowled slot balls and gave away runs at will. He bowled well in the first two games but looked off-colour in this one. He conceded 34 runs in 3 overs and with Maphaka going for runs as well, it meant Australia had bowlers to target all the time.
Lungi Ngidi might not have leaked as much runs as the other two but he went wicketless and being an experienced bowler, he should have done better. He went for 34 runs in 3.5 overs and most importantly couldn’t stop Glenn Maxwell when game was on the line. It would have helped had he taken wickets and supported his senior bowler Rabada who got two wickets. These three bowlers having off-day meant the efforts of Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, and Aiden Markram for that matter went in vain.
South Africa cannot afford to leak runs like this when defending a total of 170-180 runs. They need bowlers to be tight and getting wickets. They tried their best despite bowlers having off-days but it was not to be for the Proteas.
Overdependence on Dewald Brevis hurting South Africa
If we look at the performers for South Africa with bat in hand, one man stands out and that is Dewald Brevis. Apart from him, no one really came to the party in this series. The lack of finishing sans Brevis has hurt South Africa. If we look at it, Markram has been a flop while Rickelton had one good game. Pretorius and Tristan Stubbs have looked good in patches with Stubbs playing the supporting role to Brevis. But Brevis was the main act.
Yes, Rassie van der Dussen finished things off well yesterday and remained unbeaten on 38 but no one played around him. There seemed to be lack of finishers as South Africa would have got to 180-190 had they finished better and that would have certainly made a difference. Agreed, Brevis was picked by a brilliant catch by Maxwell, but others should have stood up and be counted in this situation, but that was not the case.
When Brevis fell, the score was 110/4 in 11.4 overs. From there, South Africa managed to score 172/7 in 20 overs. That means a further 62 runs in 8.2 overs for the loss of 3 wickets. That is not an ideal finish and the middle order lower middle order looks a little fragile. South Africa going forward needs to build a solid middle order in order to challenge for the big events. Yes, David Miller might be back to help them for the big event but they need to look at other options as well.
What Lies Ahead
The T20I series between Australia and South Africa is done and dusted with Australia winning it 2-1. The focus now shifts to the 3-match ODI series which begins at Cairns on 19th August i.e. Tuesday at 10 AM IST. South Africa will be led by Temba Bavuma with Markram as his deputy while Australia will continue to be led by Mitchell Marsh.
A cracking ODI series awaits us and we expect the games to be close between both these teams. Which team will have bragging rights in the first game? Only time will tell.
Also Read:Â AUS VS SA: Nathan Ellis’ Deadly Spell Rips South Africa’s Batting Line-Up.