Share

Proteas win T20 thriller in Durban

Cape Town - David Miller scored his maiden half-century in the T20 international format to blast the Proteas to a three-wicket victory over Australia with four balls to spare in the opening T20 International match at Kingsmead on Friday evening.

As it happened: South Africa v Australia, 1st T20

Miller’s performance (53 off 35 balls, 3 fours and 3 sixes), which won him the man of the match award, was a remarkable effort considering he was not used in the ODI series against England and had only one innings in the T20 series that followed.

One wouldn’t have thought he had had so little time in the middle, such was the perfection of his timing. He came to the crease at 72/4 with the target of 158 still looking a long way off. It rapidly became 72/5 when Faf du Plessis was run out but he settled into successive partnerships of 23 with David Wiese, 39 with Chris Morris and finally an unbroken 24 with Kyle Abbott who hit the winning boundary.

It represented a remarkable fightback for the Proteas after Australia had scored an imposing 69/1 in the six power play overs. But the Proteas then took 8/88 in the remaining 14 overs.

It meant that they still had to match the highest ever second winning score at this ground achieved by the Proteas against New Zealand in 2007.

They did not start the chase well when AB de Villiers was dismissed first ball for the first time in his international career and they found themselves 45/3 at the end of the power play with Quinton de Kock, who replaced Hashim Amla in the only change to the side that beat England, and JP Duminy also back in the hut.

They were not helped by the direct hit run outs of Du Plessis and Wiese further down the order and the Australian fielding was one of the highlights of the match.

Neither side batted as a unit as well as they would have liked while there was little to choose between the two bowling attacks. Australia also had the problem of using two inexperienced bowlers in Andrew Tye and Adam Zampa at the death.

The Proteas will be delighted with the bowling form of Wiese who played the major role alongside Imran Tahir in pulling the game back in the middle overs when Australia lost 5/44 in 9 overs. The death bowling continued to be up to scratch with Australia managing a further 3/44 in the final 5 overs.

So closely was the match contested that the teams were deadlocked at 114/5 after 15 overs and the Proteas only went ahead on comparable run rate in the following over when they scored 16 thanks to Miller collecting a four and a six.

They finally reduced the rate to less than a run a ball in the penultimate over before a single to Miller and then a straight hit for four to Abbott got them across the line in the final over.

The second match takes place at the Wanderers on Sunday afternoon (14:30).

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Should Siya Kolisi keep the captaincy as the Springboks build towards their World Cup title defence in 2027?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes! Siya will only be 36 at the next World Cup. He can make it!
26% - 1273 votes
No! I think the smart thing to do is start again with a younger skipper ...
29% - 1470 votes
I'd keep Siya captain for now, but look to have someone else for 2027.
45% - 2243 votes
Vote
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE