As the second T20 match between Australia and South Africa is finally over, this was one filled with loads of excitement, plus enthralling scenes all evening in the Marrara Stadium of Darwin. Two sides that came into this match to play for different reasons, the Proteas ended up finishing on top by 53 runs and tying this series at 1-1 apiece.
Looking at them having a clinical batting performance, their bowling attack also did a great deal of work in order to ensure that they didn’t lose a 3rd straight T20I game. Although this unit was without many big stars like Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, and David Miller, the younger pieces got to show their full potential and how they could revitalize this group for tournaments that follow.
Led by captain Aiden Markram, his unquestioned leadership and chemistry with all teammates are something to note since he always seems to have South Africa in a primed position to win. For the Aussies, this match was a tough one to swallow because they hadn’t lost even once in the short format over their past 6 appearances. Hoping that they could keep that streak going, it has officially been broken, and now they will look to rebuild momentum by potentially starting a new winning trend next match.
With Mitchell Marsh leading their side, he has shown tremendous determination and will continue trying to make changes so Australia are more well-positioned in upcoming games. Since the third T20I is still four days ahead of us, it’s very important to look at who the key performers were in this match that caused this outcome.
South Africa: A High-Scoring Innings Led By One Of The Top Knocks Ever Seen
With South Africa having to bat first today, they were hoping to erase any struggles that had impacted them in their first T20I match. The opening pair of Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickleton started quite fast after smashing 34 runs in just 21 balls before their initial wicket fell.
This was a catch off Ryan Rickleton as he departed for 14, while smashing both a six and four. Talking about Markram, he also was removed a little bit later on with an 18-knock that put them in a tense position already. Hoping Lhuan-Dre Pretorious could get them out of that early hole, his incosistencies with the bat continued as well, holding this group to 57/3 and really needing a boost from their middle-order.
Then came in the 22-year-old kid from Johannesburg, South Africa, named Dewald Brevis, who completely turned this match around with his own hands. Crunching balls down the ground for maximums and using both sides to his advantage, he was the major catalyst in a 126-run partnership with Tristan Subbs. Hitting a 125-knock, it was clear that he wanted to take on all of Australia’s bowlers, plus give them no breathing room for knocking off his stumps.
Someone who hit eight sixes, a few went far over 100 meters, while this innings only took him 56 balls to complete, due to an aggressive approach that allowed him to attack open boundaries. Although the previously mentioned Stubbs added 31 to the Proteas innings before getting taken out by Adam Zampa, Dewald Brevis was the real star of this show as he remained not out despite wickets falling in quick succession around him. A strong performance that may be remembered in South African history, he helped his side reach a final score of 218/7 with ease.
Australia: Bowling Was Extremely Expensive Throughout This Match
One shocking aspect of this match was how the Australian bowlers performed and were absolutely getting dominated every over. First, going into Josh Hazlewood’s outing, this is a pacer who generally tends to only give up economies of between 7 to 8, while bowling all four overs in every match. Allowing 56 runs, this was very unexpected of him due to the threat he possesses with his line and length that allows for more wickets.
Although Hazlewood did clean-bowl Corbin Bosch, it was very clear that Dewald Brevis was taking on Hazlewood with ease and making double or triple think about balls that were being delivered. Sean Abbott also had a very rough afternoon as he couldn’t find the sweet spot on many balls and was missing his length a ton.
Not looking like a wicket-taking threat at all, it really played a major factor in how players attacked him in the powerplay, plus death overs. A positive sign for this team was Ben Dwarshuis, who helped make their bowling performance a little better by coming in from the left side and taking two wickets.
The only bowler on this side that seemed to attack with a similar pace, Ben Dwarshius, was able to take out both Rassie van Der Dussen and Ryan Rickleton, while keeping a manageable 6.00 economy throughout. Despite his help, their two spinners in Glenn Maxwell and Adam Zampa, heavily struggled to produce anything sufficient as well. Both going for economies of well over 10, it was clear that they couldn’t create much swing on the ball to fool big hitters.
Australia: The Order Struggled To Maintain Consistency Yet Again
Looking at Australia’s batting side, their group has continued struggling to produce many runs up top or towards the back end. Opener Travis Head was the first wicket taken in this match at just 5 runs and now has dropped his average down to 2.5 in this series. A batsman who really needs to get in form since he can be a real left-handed threat to many bowlers worldwide, his opening partner in Mitchell Marsh, also managed to get out under a score of 25, yet again.
Although Mitchell Marsh known for power-hitting and being a real match-changer, it hasn’t shown much throughout his last couple of T20I series. Seeing that Josh Inglis wasn’t in the lineup today, Cameron Green came in early, and even though he looked on a surge, Kwena Maphaka fooled him with the slower ball.
This group’s most consistent batter has been Tim David, who continues torching opposing bowlers for deep sixes and commanding innings on his own. Hitting his second half-century in a row during this series, this was someone who once again looked like he was going to take over the match. Giving an absolute hammering to all Proteas bowlers by knocking 8 total boundaries in just 24 balls, losing his wicket was a massive blow for the Aussies since he has been their only real threat, lately.
Another batsman struggling with consistency has been Glenn Maxwell, after being removed for 16 runs and yet again failing to take his innings into a 2nd-gear. At the end of it, Mitchell Owen and Alex Carey couldn’t handle all the pressure, which caused them both to lose their wickets quite early, plus brought in lower-order batsmen that made Australia all out for 165.
South Africa: An Extremely Deep Pace Attack Has Been Formed
For South Africa, their fast bowling looked strong for a 2nd straight match, and it was due to the various options they had. Leading the way today was Kwena Maphaka, who did leak a lot of runs, but also picked up three extremely important wickets. With the lefty now having 7 combined, he helped take out some big-time hitters of Australia like Cameron Green plus Mitchell Owen.
Using Kwena Maphaka’s pace and swing abilities, he has shown to be the next coming of a left-handed Kagiso Rabada, who also took a wicket plus allowed just 7.00 runs per over in tense situations. Lungi Ngidi was yet again pretty economical, as it’s clear he’s continued improving that aspect of his game, while also taking the last blow. To close it out, all-rounder Corbin Bosch had a three-wicket haul in this match, which should have been four if the stumps had fallen down on an absolute fiery delivery he had bowled to Mitchell Owen.
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