Australia go No.1 in ICC rankings with 4-1 ODI series win
Steve Smith named player-of-the-series
11.07pm AEST
Australia climb to Number One, the Proteas have some work to do
You wouldn’t necessarily have tipped that a few weeks ago, would you? The Aussies aren’t without their faults right now (currently-injured skipper Michael Clarke poses all sorts of awkward questions, Glenn Maxwell is short on form and confidence and the Aussies need a reliable front-line spinner) but they have momentum hading towards the World Cup in February.
10.55pm AEST
I bet he wishes it was five-nil...
Congratulations to Australia on becoming the No.1 ODI team in the world after beating South Africa 4-1 #AUSvSA
10.54pm AEST
Peterson goes from hero to zero in an instant, watching on in mild horror as Faulkner slog sweeps him for four from the first delivery of the final over. That ices the game for the Aussies and actually took some serious plums but for the fifth time in his career, Faulkner has clubbed the winning runs in an ODI.
Australia win the series 4-1 and within minutes of that final ball, the stands are completely and utterly empty.
10.49pm AEST
47th over - Australia 267-8 (Faulkner 0, Starc 0)
Mitchell Starc, with a Test 99 to his name, is no mug with the bat, but James Faulkner is the guy who has to finish this for Australia. He’s fresh at the crease too though, so who even knows?
10.42pm AEST
This game is off its head! Now Cummins is bowled by a Peterson arm ball after nervously patting away at three dot balls. This is a boilover. Australia might lose and Robin Peterson has turned into Lance Gibbs.
This is what happens without Steve Smith. #AusvSA
10.39pm AEST
Yes, Australia can balls this up. With sensible batting required, Matthew Wade runs down the pitch like a madman and gets bowled by Peterson, who is actually turning them for the first time in living memory. What an awful stroke in the circumstances. He was mature and composed to bring Australia home on Friday. Tonight he’s lost the plot.
8 from 17 is the equation.
10.36pm AEST
45th over - Australia 267-5 (Wade 3, Faulkner 0)
Well well well. David Miller has the opportunity to run out Matthew Wade with a direct hit but his throw from point flies wide of the stumps at the bowler’s end. Australia require 8 from 18 deliveries. Surely they can’t balls it up?
10.33pm AEST
Now Bailey departs! Like Maxwell, he seeks to slog straight but only skies a top edge to Rossuow at mid-on. Maybe this isn’t the formality we thought. Australia has the speed wobbles.
10.30pm AEST
44th over - Australia 264-5 (Bailey 4, Wade 0)
Robin Peterson is making field changes with the relish of a man who thinks he might be a show of some junk-time wickets. He’s probably correct in that assessment, though Australia should still get home.
10.28pm AEST
As was the case last night, Smith falls with the hard work 99% done. He’s struggling with that limp I mentioned earlier and goes inside-out over cover, where Rossuow moves in sharply to dive low and complete the catch.
10.25pm AEST
43rd over - Australia 260-4 (Smith 64, Bailey 3)
Morkel’s bowled some trash tonight and Smith gets in the spirit by playing a quite ugly pull for four when the towering paceman fires down a half-tracker. My only concern for Smith is that he might be using up all of his runs before the Tests start. Or is he just now reaching a level where he’ll make runs no matter what the format, opposition, or page on the calendar?
10.20pm AEST
42nd over - Australia 251-4 (Smith 58, Bailey 1)
Wayne Parnell’s bowled like a drain tonight but he hasn’t stopped trying to take wickets. He has a plan too, with two gullies to Smith. He jams one in short around the line of off stump but gets cut to the point boundary with depressing ease. It’s a decent metaphor for South Africa’s series; better in theory than practice.
10.15pm AEST
Glenn Maxwell doesn’t particularly need to lose his head here but he does so. He starts the over by working Morkel for ones and twos but sooncuts a forlorn figure as he walks to the pavilion following another rush of blood to the head. He advanced down the pitch and tried to slog Morkel over the long off boundary but only skies it to Behardien at mid-off. It’s not been his couple of months, really.
10.10pm AEST
40th over - Australia 238-3 (Smith 51, Maxwell 2)
Steve Smith brings up his half-century with a lofted straight drive that brings to mind Australia’s champion wood-chopper David Foster (not to be confused with David Foster-Wallace). It was not pretty, and he sort of hides his head in mild embarrassment but he shouldn’t be embarrassed, because he’s a batting genius right now. He could probably bat with an actual axe and still make runs.
10.05pm AEST
39th over - Australia 232-2 (Smith 46, Maxwell 1)
Morkel recovers from his previous two overs of horror when he restricts Smith and Maxwell to 3 singles (Maxwell smiles in obvious relief after his) and the only real incident is Smith seeming to hyper-extend his left leg when dashing through for a quick single.
10.01pm AEST
38th over - Australia 229-3 (Smith 44, Maxwell 0)
Morkel can’t stay out of the action, even when he’s at third man. First he misfields in comical style to hand Smith a boundary and then he dives with admirable intent but can’t save another Smith glide two balls later.
9.56pm AEST
Like Rodney Dangerfield, Morne Morkel can’t get no respect. When he’s reintroduced to the Proteas attack, Steve Smith slogs him over his head for six and then Shane Watson does the same. The only difference between the two is that Smith follows his with a single whereas Watson goes for an even bigger one and holes out to the man in the deep. He was accelerating there Watson, so this at least makes things interesting.
9.52pm AEST
36th over - Australia 205-2 (Watson 76, Smith 26)
Right on cue, Watson achieves lift-off. He peels off a textbook straight drive for four off Abbott, then crunches him through mid-wicket for another boundary. I never doubted you, Watto.
9.45pm AEST
35th over - Australia 193-2 (Watson 64, Smith 26)
Whisper it gently, but both these batsmen need to get a wriggle on here to avoid hindering their team. Watson is 64 from 84 deliveries and after a boundary, Smith is 26 from 46. Thus 82 is needed from 78 deliveries. The Aussies have plenty of firepower left in the pavilion but they won’t want to dawdle.
9.41pm AEST
34th over - Australia 187-2 (Watson 63, Smith 21)
Kyle Abbott returns in shambolic style. Not only does he overstep the mark to give away a free hit with his first delivery, but Steve Smith chops said no-ball onto his stumps.
9.35pm AEST
33rd over - Australia 185-2 (Watson 63, Smith 20)
Any joy that was ever present in Ryan McLaren’s eyes has been drained from him by these five games. His body is still going through the motions but his soul is elsewhere, perhaps spread across a hotel sofa attempting a Sudoku or skimming stones across the gently rippling water of a deserted beach.
9.29pm AEST
32nd over - Australia 178-2 (Watson 60, Smith 16)
You know who Farhaan Behardien bowls like? He bowls like a sports movie character actor who is proficient enough to fool a sports-illiterate casting director but not so proficient, I must say, to stop hardened, cynical and humourless sports fans from openly scoffing in the cinema. He’s basically Hugo Weaving in the Bodyline mini-series.
9.26pm AEST
31st over - Australia 176-2 (Watson 59, Smith 15)
Things can’t get any worse for the Proteas so Amla keeps McLaren going. He goes back to being good McLaren, conceding only a single to Watson as the crowd mumbles away in mild discontent.
9.22pm AEST
30th over - Australia 175-2 (Watson 58, Smith 15)
Farhaan Behardien is back to remind Watson and Smith what it was like to face Under-16s bowlers when they were kids. As he does so, Nine use their revolutionary (read: ceaselessly irritating) Spidercam technology to relive David Warner’s dismissal and it does, I have to admit, look pretty cool.
9.15pm AEST
29th over - Australia 170-2 (Watson 54, Smith 14)
He’s crept up on us a little in this innings, but Shane Watson has been in exemplary form tonight and brings up his half-century when he opens the face of the bat and drives Ryan McLaren wide of point for a boundary.
Cricket security guards are the only authority figures in Australia who can tackle somebody and not have it end with social media outrage.
9.11pm AEST
28th over - Australia 162-2 (Watson 49, Smith 12)
Peterson is back to test the patience of both the batsmen and TV viewers. Watson and Smith him around for ones and twos and Mike Hussey, who knows a thing or two about batting in ODIs, wonders if Smith isn’t a little bit worn out from his exertions on Friday. If he is, he’s not showing it so far.
9.07pm AEST
27th over - Australia 155-2 (Watson 45, Smith 9)
This over is pretty typical Steve Smith stuff. After Watson gets a single he gathers a pair of twos from nothing, which is as good as a boundary, isn’t it? I should have been a mathemetician.
9.03pm AEST
26th over - Australia 150-2 (Watson 44, Smith 5)
Do you want me to lie and say that these middle overs are utterly gripping and that every ball is overflowing with possibility and romance? I didn’t think so. Actually, it hardly qualifies as romance but a ground invader has just been subjected to some intense physical contact from a number of security guards. He’s face down on the turf and potentially being sedated, based on how long they’re taking to subdue him.
8.59pm AEST
25th over - Australia 148-2 (Watson 43, Smith 4)
Smith is taking his time to become estabblished at the crease, which is a hallmark of his stellar form of the past 12 months. Parnell thus concedes only one from the over, a single to Smith.
8.54pm AEST
24th over - Australia 147-2 (Watson 43, Smith 3)
In case the score at the top wasn’t a giveaway, Steve Smith is at the crease now, which gives us the amusing sight of Australia’s best runner between the wickets being paired with its most lumbering and disaster-prone. Smith looks like a relay runner, Watson like he’s trying to lift a fridge upstairs without a trolley. This could end in tears.
8.49pm AEST
23rd over - Australia 142-2 (Watson 40, Smith 1)
I’ll be honest, the whole wanking gesture thing requires a live pause and rewind, so I miss a fair bit of the over from Parnell that follows. I make it back to live action in time for the final delivery, which Watson brutally murders through cover for a boundary.
8.46pm AEST
22nd over - Australia 137-2 (Watson 36, Smith 0)
It also needs to be pointed out that Peterson celebrated that wicket with a gesture not too dissimilar from the universal hand signal for wanking, only with two hands. It was a good catch but not that good.
8.44pm AEST
Well, it was always going to take something special to get Finch out tonight and so has been the case. Facing Peterson, he hits a lofted inside-out drive and gets caught in remarkable circumstances when du Plessis reels in the catch as he’s heading toward the boundary rope but successfully flings the ball back into the hands of Rilee Rossuow, who was still inside the field of play.
What a way to go.
8.39pm AEST
21st over - Australia 135-1 (Finch 75, Watson 35)
Shane Watson never likes to sit back and wait for too long and when the returning Parnell digs in a short and straight one, he swivels back and slams him over the fence at deep square leg. There’s shades of Matthew Elliott when Finch and Watson nearly collide and the big all-rounder tumbles to the ground as he attempts to make his ground from a quick single. He’s safe and by the looks of things, still in one piece.
8.35pm AEST
20th over - Australia 126-1 (Finch 73, Watson 28)
The Nine team now think it’s “unbelievable” that Aaron Finch averages just 25 in Sheffield Shield cricket, which would indicate that none of them have attended such a fixture in the last half-decade.
8.31pm AEST
19th over - Australia 117-1 (Finch 65, Watson 27)
“It got up to about Carlton Mid logo height”, says Ian Healy in one of the worst examples of cross-promotion within the description of live sports action that I’ve ever heard.
8.27pm AEST
18th over - Australia 112-1 (Finch 61, Watson 26)
Behardien produces another thrifty over, but South Africa’s dire predicament is underlined a little he becomes excited by the sight of the ball glancing Shane Watson’s pad on the way down the leg side. It might be Stockholm Syndrome and he’s just finally lost it.
8.25pm AEST
17th over - Australia 110-1 (Finch 60, Watson 25)
If you tried, you probably couldn’t bowl as many front-foot no balls as the Proteas have managed on this brief tour. Now it’s Kyle Abbott’s turn to cough up a free hit, but he at least does his side a solid by producing a dot to follow. I quite like the cut of Abbott’s jib, actually, but he’s hardly taken the game by the scruff of the throat tonight.
Imagine bowling a no-ball when Hashim Amla is your captain. He'd probably reassure you and promise to buy you dinner after the game.
8.21pm AEST
16th over - Australia 107-1 (Finch 59, Watson 24)
I hesitate to say that any situation particularly calls for Farhaan Behardien’s medium nude nuts, but at least he only concedes a pair of singles in his first over. That’s better than a few of his more credentialed mates can muster right now.
8.17pm AEST
15th over - Australia 105-1 (Finch 58, Watson 23)
“Knee bent, chin over the ball, sniff the leather,” says Ian Healy after Finch drives another four off McLaren. In doing so he brings to mind Spinal Tap’s “Smell the glove”, though perhaps not in a good way.
8.11pm AEST
14th over - Australia 95-1 (Finch 50, Watson 22)
Aaron Finch clearly has somewhere to be tonight and Robin Peterson is helping him get there quicker. The Aussie brings up his half-century from 39 deliveries when he biffs the left-arm spinner for successive boundaries and in doing so, pushes Australia past three figures as well.
8.09pm AEST
13th over - Australia 86-1 (Finch 42, Watson 21)
The most bleak aspect of Ryan McLaren’s struggles in this series is that he’s capable of better and he’s also as tough as nails. I don’t think I’ll ever get the image of him batting with a broken arm (broken by Mitchell Johnson, no less) out of my head. I think it gives him some credit points too. He’s no Jacques Kallis, but who is?
8.05pm AEST
12th over - Australia 82-1 (Finch 40, Watson 19)
Robin Peterson is introduced into the attack now in an attempt to slow the pace on the ball and force the Aussies to do something other than plant their feet and heave. The Nine team praise the footwork in Finch’s cut for two, when in fact he hadn’t moved them an inch. It works, mind you.
8.00pm AEST
11th over - Australia 76-1 (Finch 36, Watson 17)
Ryan MClaren concedes a single to Watson, which doesn’t seem like a great idea once Finch creams him to the long-off fence with a classical drive.
7.58pm AEST
10th over - Australia 71-1 (Finch 32, Watson 16)
Finally we’re back with a single to Watson before Finch takes out his frustrations of the delay on Morne Morkel, crunching a pull through mid-wicket for four. James Brayshaw compares the Aussie to Gordon Greenidge, which speaks more of his desperation to be the one talking than it does anything else.
7.50pm AEST
274 is the revised total, from 48 overs
...and we’ll be underway soon.
7.41pm AEST
The restart is 10 minutes away
...and we’ll still get 48 overs in if there’s no more rain. I’ll be back to you with Australia’s revised target.
7.39pm AEST
This rain break just got interesting
With the kind of timing that Aaron Finch could only dream of, my fiancee has just wandered in with some gnocchi with spicy sausage sauce. At the SCG, the covers are about to be peeled back a little but the skies still look ominous. I might just shovel some of this dinner down while that happens.
7.36pm AEST
Qasim, Sarfraz and Abdul
Robert Wilson is also an appreciator of the literary qualities of Pakistan cricket, and he’s a professor of literature, so he knows what he’s talking about. “Yes on Umar and yes on Nawaz. But it was Abdul Qadir who was the philospher-king, bleak purveyor of mayhem and despair. Vengeful, sardonic and profoundly distrubing. That’s what I thought leg-spinners would always be like. And then Shane came along. Is this what they mean by a paradigm shift?”
7.31pm AEST
RAIN STOPPED PLAY - 9th over - Australia 66-1 (Finch 28, Watson 15)
Watson has seen enough of Morne Morkel now. When the lanky Protea overpitches, the blonde bombshell thumps him down through mid-on for a boundary. But then... rain, and plenty of it.
7.27pm AEST
8th over - Australia 62-1 (Finch 28, Watson 11)
The bowling changes keep coming from Amla. Now Ryan McLaren takes off his cap and he’ll be hoping for a better showing than his shaky bowling performance on Friday.
7.24pm AEST
7th over - Australia 56-1 (Finch 25, Watson 9)
Morkel is back to redeem himself now and he does to a degree, firing off 5 dots to Watson and letting this game get its breath back a little. Watson dabs a single to third man off the final delivery, potentially peeving his partner a little.
Disappointed Peterson didn't have a beer to try and hold on to when he took that catch. Takes the gloss off it for me. #AUSvSA
7.19pm AEST
6th over - Australia 55-1 (Finch 25, Watson 8)
Parnell appears for his second try at Finch but gives him the kind of half-tracker that is the burly Victorian’s bread, butter and probably dripping too. He hits it for four, then gathers two before cracking a cut shot through the 40 cm gap between David Miller’s legs, which would be insane and brilliant if he’d planned it. But he didn’t, he just pinned his ears back and smoked it. Miller won’t want to see the replay.
7.16pm AEST
5th over - Australia 45-1 (Finch 15, Watson 8)
Shane Watson’s front pad is the elephant in the room in both a metaphorical sense and almost, it has to be said, in its sheer mass. Kyle Abbott is thus bowling deliberately straight, which is all well and good until he strays onto the big all-rounders’ pads and gets clipped for a pair of well-timed boundaries.
7.13pm AEST
4th over - Australia 37-1 (Finch 15, Watson 0)
Shane Watson trots out to the middle and Finch sees off the last ball of Parnell’s over. It cost 7 runs but brought with it the wicket of Warner, so he vindicated Hashim Amla’s decision to make an early change.
7.10pm AEST
As ever, Warner both lives and dies by the sword, both within a maddeningly short time period. After a let-off when he tried to hit Parnell to Bondi but skied it instead, he clips a lofted boundary to fine leg but then, unsatisfied with his lot, seeks to launch the next delivery into orbit as well.
For the 2nd time in 3 balls he skies it, only this time Peterson has enough time to run around, dive slightly and take a straightforward catch. What a waste.
7.05pm AEST
3rd over - Australia 30-0 (Warner 15, Finch 14)
Abbott continues with a bit more frugality than the overs prior, allowing Finch a single but tying up Warner for the rest of his over.
7.01pm AEST
2nd over - Australia 29-0 (Warner 15, Finch 13)
Morkel has the one slip in place for Aaron Finch, which is perhaps a little generous to the batsman at this point, but extra coverage on the off-side at least gives the bowler some protection from these two flashing blades. Finch works a single to third man and then Warner throws not only the kitchen sink, but an island bench, a knife block, the toaster and a George Foreman grill at a Morkel length ball, sending it fizzing to the fence at cow corner.
6.56pm AEST
2nd over - Australia 18-0 (Warner 5, Finch 12)
The hulking figure of Kyle Abbott appears now to pair with Morkel and unlike on Friday, when he started well, the bowler overpitches to Finch and gets slammed for another Australian boundary through cover. The Victorian gets a single, then it’s Warner’s turn to take Abbott to Thrashtown. He pounds him for four with relish and the Aussies are off to the perfect start.
6.53pm AEST
1st over - Australia 8-0 (Warner 1, Finch 7)
Morne Morkel is back in the Proteas side today and has gone from temporary outcast to the possessor of the brand new ball in the space of days. He has Warner jumping around to start and almost running himself out from the first delivery.
6.46pm AEST
Quinny de Kock
...hit them reasonably well today. He’s never really turned it on against Australia until today, so the locals mighn’t be aware of just how impressive he’s been in these formative seasons of his international career.
Only six SA batsmen have got more ODI 100s that de @QuinnyDeKock69 's six. And he is only 21. http://t.co/NCWds2XLac …
6.42pm AEST
There is life in the AB-less Proteas
What an excellent finish to the innings that was by the unheralded but highly effective Farhaan Behardien. His snappy 63 from 41 balls ensured that unlike on Friday night, the South Africans finished with more of bang than a whimper. Two days back they managed only 51 from their last 10 overs but today that number was 80. Well done that man.
6.34pm AEST
Good evening OBOers and welcome to the Australian chase
Firstly I must give thanks to Paul Connolly, who promised me a Rob Quiney-like debut but pulled off something closer to Ricky Ponting’s 96 on debut in Perth (better leave him some room for improvement, right?). Please don’t head off to the Bourbon and Beefsteak now, Paul.
6.23pm AEST
South Africa will be delighted with that innings, set up by an impressive century to de Kock and a 51-run contribution by Rossouw. But it could have mattered little without Behardien guiding South Africa through a tricky spell with some belligerent batting.
I’ll now leave you in the capable hands of
J-Lo
Russell Jackson, a man who can find the time, and inclination, to visit the MCC library in order to peruse Pakistani cricket magazines from the 1970s. Thank you for your company and enjoy the rest of the match.
6.16pm AEST
50th over: South Africa 280-6 (Parnell 18, McLaren 1)
After Behardien’s dismissal, McLaren gets a single to get South Africa to an imposing 280. That’ll take some chasing.
6.14pm AEST
Behardien, going for a six over long-off on the second ball of the over, finds Smith and that ends his excellent innings.
It might have been his second six of the over for on the first ball he picked a Faulkner slower ball and heaved it over the midwicket fence. Next ball he was given out lbw as the ball ran away for four byes. But Begardien reviewed and it was just pitching outside the line. Otherwise he was plumb.
6.06pm AEST
49th over: South Afriuca 273-5 (Behardien 57, Parnell 18)
Behardien hoik-hooks Starc for three and he brings up his 50 off just 35 balls. A top innings that ensured no momentum was lost with the dismissals of de Kock and Rossouw. If anything, he’s picked up the momentum. Speaking of which, one ball later he steps to leg and, one knee knee, lofts Starc over extra cover for six! Shot of the day!
6.00pm AEST
48th over: South Africa 261-5 (Behardien 47, Parnell 16)
Behardien looks to the heavens after failing to beat the deep mid-wicket fielder with a sweetly-timed pull but he earns himself a run, one of eight compiled in the over. That 270 is looking a certainty with just two overs remaining.
5.56pm AEST
47th over: South Africa 253-5 (Behardien 41, Parnell 15)
Two dot balls before Behardien drives wonderfully through covers. Bam! Not a bad ball by Hazlewood, just perfect execution. A few balls later, Parnell drives Hazlewood down the ground!
5.51pm AEST
46th over: South Africa 244-5 (Behardien 36, Parnell 11)
Faulker saves two runs with a dive at mid-off that restricts Parnell to a double. Following a single, Behardien lifts one just over Bailey’s head at mid-off and it whistles away for four. What does it whistle? Rawhide, I’d say. After another single, Parnell adds a couple more when Starc again strays down leg side.
5.43pm AEST
45th over: South Africa 234-5 (Behardien 31, Parnell 6)
Behardien is really hitting his straps now, and when Hazlewood drops short he pulls handsomely to the boundary, finding considerable air but none of it within coo-ee of a fielder. The run-rate is now 5.2 an over and eight an over for the duration will get them a very competitive 270 or so.
5.39pm AEST
44th over: South Africa 227-5 (Behardien 26, Parnell 4)
Starc strays down leg and Behardien flicks him to the fine-leg boundary. He picks up another two behind point.
5.37pm AEST
43rd over: South Africa 220-5 (Behardien 20, Parnell 5)
Behardien pulls another for four, this time rocking back to Cummins!
5.32pm AEST
42nd over: South Africa 213-5 (Behardien 15, Parnell 1)
Starc, short, is punched through mid-wicket by Behardien! That was some shot, and perhaps he’s the man to help South Africa maintain the rage.
5.30pm AEST
41st over: South Africa 207-5 (Behardien 10, Parnell 0)
That’s a big wicket, and Australia are getting themselves on top here. Prior to the excitement of the wicket and de Kock’s walking, Behardien helped himself to his first boundary, feasting on a half volley outside off and belting it it through the covers.
5.26pm AEST
Well, well, well! De Kock swings at Cummins and it flies through to Wade. Cummins appeals but the umpire shakes his head, yet here’s de Kock walking! As it turns out, it did nick the gloves on the way through. Fine innings, fine act of sportsmanship.
5.21pm AEST
40th over: South Africa 200-4 (de Kock 106, Behardien 5)
After three singles, De Kock backs off on ball five and cuts one through point for four! It’s enough to make Smith, bowling, scratch his head, so Smith scratches his head. De Kock adds another to ensure he keeps the strike.
5.17pm AEST
39th over: South Africa 192-4 (de Kock 100, Behardien 3)
And there’s the ton for de Kock! A single in front of square leg brings up his 6th ODI century. It’s come off 116 balls, with 13 fours, at a strike-rate of 85. Excellent work, young man.
5.14pm AEST
38th over: South Africa 187-4 (de Kock 98, Behardien 0)
The momentum of this match has certainly changed in the last 10 overs. Australia might restrict South Africa to much less than they might have expected.
5.12pm AEST
Miller shouldn’t have taken that run because it put him on strike to Smith. While there, he sweeps a full toss, gets a top edge and it goes down the throat of Cummins at fine leg!
5.09pm AEST
37th over: South Africa 185-3 (de Kock 98, Miller 5)
De Kock is almost run out on 98! Miller calls a suicide single and de Kock gives up on it halfway down the pitch running to the batsman’s end. Smith has time to steady and throw but it goes just wide and de Kock lives to get that hundred.
5.03pm AEST
36th over: South Africa 182-3 (de Kock 97, Miller 3)
De Kock races through the 90s with seven runs, helped when Bailey, sliding on his belly like an orca shooting out of the water and up a beach to nab a fat seal, fails to haul in de Kock’s cut behind point.
5.00pm AEST
35th over: South Africa 173-3 (de Kock 90, Miller 1)
De Kock fails on a number of occasions to find the square leg fence but on the final ball of Hazlewood’s over he completes his mission, timing a short-arm pull to perfection.
4.57pm AEST
34th over: South Africa 167-3 (de Kock 85, Miller 0)
Two leg-side wides from Starc undermines an otherwise sharp over, as Mark Taylor spies two kids in the crowd wearing flat caps, the kind sported by Andy Capp and various hipsters (you know we’ve reached peak flat cap when little kids have them on). Anyway, Taylor calls them berets. Berets! Oh la la!
4.51pm AEST
33rd over: South Africa 164-3 (de Kock 84, Miller 0)
The 33rd over finally comes to an end with South Africa having endured some damage: two wickets. Will this give them a wobble?
4.49pm AEST
First ball over the rain delay and du Plessis’s disappointing series continues! The South African checks his shot after Cummins slips in a slower ball and it lobs to Bailey at mid-off who catches well, diving forwards.
4.46pm AEST
So who’s out there? Any first day on the job stories? Any predictions? Anyone not at the cricket today because of a terrible case of cricket-overload inspired ennui?
Here’s a first day on the job story. From me. I was a hotel porter, carrying bags for the well-off and, just as often, couples and families treating themselves (yes, the latter tipped better than the former). Anyway, part of my job description was to carry bags to rooms which I did on one occasion without company as the visiting couple had decided to check out the pool before going to their room. Well, moments after delivering the bags I had rifled through their bags and was halfway through pulling on fishnets and a garter belt when the couple walked in on me, their mouths open like that of the Luna Park clown! Actually, I just made that up because I realised my story was not half as exciting as it should be. What really happened was the couple walked in on me as I was perched —in my porter’s monkey-grinder’s monkey getup—on the end of their bed watching cricket. I was a little embarrassed but they were nice about it and sent me on my way with a $2 coin. Cracking yarn, right?
4.37pm AEST
33rd over (in progress): 164-2 (de Kock 84, de Plessis 2)
Du Plessis comes in with time enough to get himself set. Still, de Kock will look to do the heavy lifting in the short term. But what’s this? As de Plessis helps himself to a double to deep square leg, rain starts to fall! And the players jog off. Everyone seems caught unawares, even the ground staff. There’s a light cover on the pitch and it looks a passing flurry.
4.32pm AEST
WICKET! Rossouw c Bailey b Cummins 51 (South Africa 161-2)
Looking to get a wriggle on, Rossouw stands and delivers but doesn’t get hold of it and presents Bailey an easy catch at mid-on. Kind of gave that away, really.
4.29pm AEST
32nd over: South Africa 161-1 (de Kock 83, Rossouw 51)
Starc, 0-16 off 4, is thrown the ball as Australia get increasingly desperate for a wicket, but he fails to ruffle any feathers and he struggles to break 130kph. While Starc is sporting a mo it hasn’t thus far today imbued him with Lilliesque qualities. Six from the over and Rossouw brings up a deserved half ton.
4.24pm AEST
31st over: South Africa 155-1 (de Kock 80, Rossouw 48)
It’s Power Play time, ladies and gents, but the scoring in this Cummins over is of the keep-the-scoreboard-ticking-over variety. And it’s one of those ticks that brings up the 100 partnership before Cummins throws in a wide so as to do his bit.
4.20pm AEST
30th over: 151-1 (de Kock 78, Rossouw 47)
A wicket?! A review! Rossouw sweeps Smith only for the ball to loop to Wade behind the stumps. The finger goes up but Rossouw asks for a review and Billy Bowden uses every available technology to adjudge the decision, including Google Earth and, new to Nine this year, Women’s Intuition. Not out! It bat brushed the deck, the ball hit the forearm.
4.15pm AEST
29th over: 149-1 (de Kock 77, Rossouw 46)
Rossouw swivels sweetly and as easy as you like guides a Cummins short ball to the square leg boundary! It fairly motored along, but it was timing more than strength that gave it the spring in its step.
4.12pm AEST
28th over: South Africa 142-1 (de Kock 76, Rossouw 40)
Smith nearly gets Rossouw with a rank full toss. Rossouw clobbers it towards the midwicket fielder whose eyes light up momentarily. But it falls short, and South Africa continue to build and keep wickets in hand for what should be a full-on assault in the overs to come.
4.08pm AEST
27th over: South Africa 138-1 (de Kock 74, Rossouw 38)
More singles before a half chance to Australia. De Kock comes down the pitch looking to hit Hazlewood through the off-side but he gets a thick edge to it and it flies high towards third man — but the ball dies before hands can be put under it.
4.04pm AEST
26th over: South Africa 133-1 (de Kock 71, Rossouw 36)
In an attempt to shift these stubborn stains, Steve Smith comes into the attack. South Africa keep a close watch and content themselves with three singles.
4.01pm AEST
25th over: South Africa 130-1 (de Kock 69, Rossouw 35)
Hazlewood gives up two singles before de Kock waits and guides an educated edge to third man for a boundary. An artist would have been proud of that stroke.
3.57pm AEST
24th over: South Africa 123-1 (de Kock 63, Rossouw 34)
That’s more like it! Realising he and Rossouw have allowed the run-rate to drop a touch such is their comfort, de Kock hits Faulkner to everyone’s favourite part of the ground, cow corner! Two balls later, Rossouw rocks back and pulls to square leg! Chuck in a two at the end that’s an expensive over, 11 from it.
3.53pm AEST
23rd over: South Africa 112-1 (de Kock 57 Rossouw 29)
Four more singles, and a two! A two to Rossouw!
3.50pm AEST
22nd over: South Africa 107-1 (de Kock 55, Rossouw 26)
Four more easy singles, off Faulkner this time, as we well and truly enter the somnolence of the middle overs.
3.46pm AEST
21st over: South Africa 103-1 (de Kock 53, Rossouw 24)
Three singles, worked into the gaps like wood putty. De Kock and Rossouw looked comfortable, despite the heat.
3.44pm AEST
20th over: South Africa 100-1 (de Kock 52, Rossouw 22)
And that’s the hundred up, after Rossouw caresses Faulker (easy!) to long-off. One hundred off 20 overs. Who wants to guess the run rate?
3.41pm AEST
19th over: South Africa 99-1 (de Kock 52, Rossouw 21)
Maxwell continues after a drinks break, and he fails to trouble either batsman who combine for four easy singles, completed with the kind of amble you make after a big Italian dinner followed by a gelato.
3.35pm AEST
18th over: South Africa 95-1 (de Kock 50, Rossouw 19)
“Welcome back to the crease, Mitchell,” Rossouw says to Starc, as he flays a full and wide delivery in front of point for four! And now he adds another boundary, digging out a good length ball and steering it through extra cover. He’s rattling along here, Rossouw.
3.31pm AEST
17th over: South Africa 87-1 (de Kock 50, Rossouw 11)
And there’s de Kock’s 50 —a bunt between cover and point— off just 55 balls. That’s his first against Australia. Rossouw adds another single and that gets the run rate up to 5.12. South Africa look comfortable here. Though Australia could claim the No.1 ranking with a win, they seem to be lacking some edge.
3.27pm AEST
16th over: South Africa 85-1 (de Kock 49, Rossouw 10)
Shot of the day so far from de Kock who drills Cummins through extra cover for four! Take that you cur! Cummins is too short here and he adds another wide to go with three singles conceded.
3.24pm AEST
15th over: South Africa 77-1 (de Kock 43, Rossouw 9)
The runs keep coming, and Rossouw adds four to his total when he comes down the track and tonks Maxwell over his head. He looks to have mistimed that as Hazlewood, at mid-on, leaps up and stretches for it like a basketballer on his way to a slam dunk. But it just clears his head and that’s four!
3.20pm AEST
14th over: South Africa 71-1 (de Kock 42, Rossouw 4)
So what has Rossouw got? Big job to step into the shoes of de Villiers, but he’s got a good opportunity here to put himself in the frame for the World Cup. The pitch is demon free and the sun is out, there are runs to be had. And here he goes, pulling Cummins to deep fine leg for two.
3.17pm AEST
13th over: South Africa 67-1 (de Kock 41, Rossouw 1)
Two singles, one to Rossouw who gets off the mark.
3.15pm AEST
12th over: South Africa 65-1 (de Kock 40, Rossouw 0)
Nice over for South Africa and de Kock especially who adds 10 to his score. His first of two boundaries comes from a bottom edge but the second is well-earned, a late cut that the bowler, Watson, watches race away with a long sigh.
3.12pm AEST
11th over: South Africa 54-1 (de Kock 30, Rossouw 0)
Maxwell was talked up as de Kock’s bogeyman prior to his first delivery, but he won’t mind picking up Amla instead.
3.08pm AEST
And there’s the breakthrough! Maxwell comes on, with no slip for back up, but he entices Amla into a drive, it takes a thick edge, and Wade takes a sharp catch behind the stumps.
3.03pm AEST
10th over: South Africa 51-0 (Amla 17, de Kock 27)
Now there’s a cheeky shot! de Kock walks across his stumps and hooks a straightish delivery for four. A leading egde nearly undoes him on the next ball but it drops just short of Bailey.
3.00pm AEST
9th over: South Africa 45-0 (Amla 17, de Kock 23)
The clear highlight of the over comes when Amla cracks a lovely cut shot through point. Smith launched himself at it in a manner that would see Ned Zelic’s head explode, but it’s too good. Cummins hasn’t got his line right yet.
2.57pm AEST
8th over: South Africa 40-0 (Amla 13, de Kock 22)
Faulkner on now, perhaps a little earlier than he might have expected, and he gets a rude introduction when Amla hoiks a short, wide and relatively slow delivery in front of square for four. For good measure, he then jogs through an easy single, and de Kock adds one of his own. I think this is where we say, “good start for South Africa.”
2.52pm AEST
7th over: South Africa 34-0 (Amla 8, de Kock 21)
Cummins, on for Hazlewood, hits the mark straight away, getting one to move away from de Kock who fishes for it but, fortunately for him, fails to land it. On ball two, however, de Kock turns the hips and helps one on its way to the deep square leg boundary. After a wide —the third of the innings— de Kock clips one through mid wicket with some elan. After looking shaky early, he’s really hitting his straps and Australia’s bowling becomes increasingly erratic.
2.46pm AEST
6th over: South Africa 25-0 (Amla 8, de Kock 13)
News from this over? Amla and de Kock add a single each and Mark Taylor tells us he was at a Katy Perry concert last night. Did he dance? He doesn’t say. I can see Tubby doing the Shellharbour Shuffle. You know, that dad dance where you just shift your weight from one foot to another?
2.43pm AEST
5th over: South Africa 23-0 (Amla 7, de Kock 12)
He’s hitting a good length, Hazlewood, and de Kock blocks out the first two deliveries before he springs to life hitting a looser one through mid-on. He didn’t seem to time it all that well but it races away for four showing just how fast the outfield is today. His confidence boosted, he smashes Hazlewood’s final ball over his head for another.
2.38pm AEST
4th over: South Africa 14-0 (Amla 6, de Kock 4)
“No such thing as a dead rubber game [for players],” says Mark Taylor, drawing our attention to the coming World Cup. Meantime, Starc strays leg side again and there’s two leg byes. But he then sends one whistling under the chin of de Kock who does well it to save a cruel de knock to his head. Sorry. I’ll get my coat.
2.34pm AEST
3rd over: South Africa 12-0 (Amla 6, de Kock 4)
Tight as a drum from Hazlewood who gives Amla nothing, so Amla takes nothing in return. A maiden. The best result for the novice OBO’er.
2.32pm AEST
2nd over: South Africa 12-0 (Amla 6, de Kock 4)
Starc begins well and fires in a corker of a yorker that de Kock only just gets his bat to. Cruelly for Starc, it catches an inside edge and races away, past Bailey, for four. Like Russ conjuring J-Lo, Starc is getting good shape but spoils his good start but shooting a couple of wides down leg side. De Kock looks a little stiff here, as if he’s just hopped out of the car after driving to the ground from Melbourne.
2.27pm AEST
1st over: South Africa 6-0 (Amla 6, de Kock 0)
A nice steady start for South Africa, albeit after a scare. On ball two Amla pulls out of a shot, there’s a loud thwack that sounds at first like the handle, and the looping ball is caught at slip. Australia appeal but don’t review. And just as well, it hit the arm guard on the way through. If Amla was shaken by it he doesn’t show it, getting off the mark with a four through mid-off, then adding two more through midwicket after Hazlewood strays on to his pads.
2.20pm AEST
Here we go...Amla facing Hazlewood...
2.19pm AEST
So what’s a par score today? Don’t ask me. If George Bailey doesn’t know, how should I?
"I don't mind bowling because I'm not sure what a good score would be today." - Bailey. #AUSvSA #WWOS pic.twitter.com/PunUjOmFSe
2.17pm AEST
So what shall we talk about today? Awkward/disastrous first day experiences on a new job? (Tempting fate, perhaps?) Reasons why ODI crowds are down —just 14,000 at the MCG the other day? Reasons why you are not at today’s game (if you’re in Sydney, that is)? First Test selection predictions? What about grade side Western Suburbs declaring at 0-17 to allow Michael Clarke to bat for them next week and get some time in the middle in order to boost his chances for the first Test against India? Don’t be shy. Drop me a line: paul.connolly@theguardian.com
2.08pm AEST
The toss: South Africa have won it and will bat. So Australia will get to do all the running about in the hot sun. Sydney could hit 40 today, so an afternoon in the field should take a fair bit out of them.
2.06pm AEST
Teams
Australia: AJ Finch*, DA Warner, SR Watson, SPD Smith, GJ Bailey, GJ Maxwell, MS Wade†, JP Faulkner, PJ Cummins, JR Hazlewood, MA Starc
2.00pm AEST
I should point out straight off the bat (by way of getting my excuses in early) that I come to this OBO with my cherry un-popped. That is to say that despite my worldliness, lush facial hair and virility (that sound you hear in the background is my two children gamboling in the next room like rhinoceros with blindfolds on and a litre of Red Bull in their guts), I have not undertaken a cricket OBO before.
I suspect recently departed editor Tom Lutz (no, don’t send flowers, he’s gone to New York City, the lucky sod) tossed me the gig to punish me for always enquiring about remuneration whilst sighing liberally. Not punished because I dislike cricket in any way, more that I’m not quite the cricketing anorak and there’s every chance I’ll make a dick of myself this afternoon. Not by calling a bowler a pitcher, or anything quite so reprehensible, but by failing to know where Dave Warner went to school and which kids he liked to play with at recess.
1.49pm AEST
... and welcome to the fifth and final One-Day International between Australia and South Africa, a match that has had much of the drama stolen from it by Steve Smith, on account of that match-winning century on Friday evening; a century that secured the five-match series 3-1 for Australia. Without Smith’s heroic batting —that at times resembled a man negotiating his way through suburban London during a zombie apocalypse*— it would be 2-2 with this match the decider. But it’s not, so we’ll have to deal with the, excuse my French, “dead rubber” business in our own way. At the very least we’ll get to feast on the view. Is there any finer sight in world cricket than the Sydney Cricket Ground?
*Smith in action on Friday night:
1.35pm AEST
Paul is first up as your host for today’s dead rubber at the Sydney Cricket Ground and while you’re waiting for him to arrive, why not remind yourselves of how Australia sealed a series victory in Melbourne on Friday.
South Africa had looked well on course to set up a winner-takes-all decider in Sydney this weekend when, after making 267 for eight, they reduced Australia to 98 for five in the 25th over. However, Steve Smith had other ideas and his 104 off 112 balls – his second ODI hundred after reaching the landmark against Pakistan earlier this month – turned the match on its head and took Australia to within touching distance of victory.
Smith was unable to see the job through to the end, bowled by Robin Peterson in the penultimate over with the scores level, but the new batsman Pat Cummins got the single Australia needed to claim the match and series off the next ball, although not without more drama. South Africa thought they had claimed two wickets in two balls when David Miller appeared to take a stunning one-handed catch off Peterson to snare Cummins. But, after checking replays, it was confirmed the ball had not carried on the full and Cummins and James Faulkner were able to celebrate victory, with the pair having crossed.
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