41.3 -
Mitchell Marsh to Duminy, FOUR, oh shot! Pulls it away over mid-wicket, off the front foot. Not all that short but Marsh doesn't have the pace to rattle good batsman and Duminy has pounced all over it
35.2 -
Starc to Duminy, FOUR, if you're going to go for it, this is a much better way. The emphasis wasn't on knocking the cover of the ball, but more on timing. Full ball curling in on off, Duminy knows mid-on is in the ring and he lofts it over him without losing his shape. Just a well-timed punch, nothing else
35.1 -
Starc to Duminy, FOUR, gets the boundary this time! A low full toss outside off helps his cause and he simply uses all the pace on it and steers it past backward point
32.4 -
Faulkner to Duminy, FOUR, picks his spot over mid-off. There are shouts of "catch" but he has cleared Finch comfortably. Full ball outside off, Duminy wades forward and lofts it through the line. Didn't quite time it as well as he would have wanted, but enough
29.5 -
Hazlewood to de Villiers, FOUR, more disappointment for the bowler who can't do much but despair as he sees an outside edge trickle into the boundary. Opened him up completely with a length ball which straightened after being angled in, left AB high and dry, but guess who has the last laugh
29.1 -
Hazlewood to de Villiers, FOUR, down the track and swatted through mid-wicket and mid-on. AB was quite far away from the ball despite using his feet but his sheer defiance meant that he was always going through with the slog. Mistimes it off the inside half but finds the gap
28.0 -
Hazlewood to de Villiers, FOUR, ho ho ho! Wow. Textbook. Full ball bending in on middle, AB has his head on top of the ball, presents the full face and drives it straight of mid-on
26.5 -
Zampa to de Villiers, FOUR, and straightaway, AB doesn't need much time to hit his straps. Sinks low while moving across and sweeps it into the backward square leg fence
22.0 -
Starc to du Plessis, FOUR, oh this is just magnificent. What an answer to the speed demon. Full delivery angled in on middle, du Plessis clears his front leg out of the way and just drives it straight back over the bowler's head. All timing
20.3 -
Zampa to Amla, FOUR, he won't be missing out on these. A juicy full toss on the stumps, Amla simply smokes it back down the ground. He's hit this powerfully and flat past the umpire
18.4 -
Zampa to Amla, FOUR, such a master. He just waits for the bad ball. And it's not exactly a bad ball. It's just a little too full outside off, Amla is prepared for it and lifts it inside out with the turn
15.2 -
Mitchell Marsh to du Plessis, FOUR, flashes, and flashes hard. It's short and wide outside off, and du Plessis won't hold back with the mood he is in. The thick edge flies away fine, beats third man
11.4 -
Mitchell Marsh to du Plessis, FOUR, gives the charge and swats Marsh over wide mid-on. This is the intent I am talking about. He is taking the game to the Aussies. Marsh tried to follow him but couldn't prevent the outcome
11.1 -
Mitchell Marsh to Amla, FOUR, there's not much of a followthrough of the bat but the timing is superb, and this outfield is his accomplice. Only a fraction full, just a fraction, and Amla has driven it straight back down the ground. Races away
10.2 -
Faulkner to du Plessis, FOUR, hmm, something for Faulkner to think about. du Plessis steps out, makes some room as well and gorgeously frees his arms for a lofted drive over extra
9.3 -
Mitchell Marsh to du Plessis, FOUR, Marsh has struggled with his line on all three deliveries and this time he has been punished. Strays on leg-stump again and is picked away behind square, all the way to the long leg fence
7.5 -
Hazlewood to Amla, FOUR, such fast hands. Has to be one of the fastest pair of hands in the business. Some of the names which come to mind are McCullum, Dhoni. But Amla will be right up there. It's short, it's wide, very unlike Hazlewood and Amla has hammered it past backward point. There's nothing third man can do
7.1 -
Hazlewood to de Kock, FOUR, oh what a shot! This is trademark de Kock. He improvises by stomping his front leg across, picks a length ball from outside off and whips it to the long leg fence. One bounce and into the ropes
7.0 -
Faulkner to Amla, FOUR, short and wide, and laced away. It's not a brutal slap, but a surgical cut. Splits the fielders either side of point
5.0 -
Starc to Amla, leg byes, FOUR, nasty take for Wade. Short ball down leg, Amla gets a little glove on the pull due to which the ball dips in front of the keeper. He dives to his left, tries to get his body behind but in vain. Smith gives chase, and flicks it back but his hands is in contact with the ropes
4.4 -
Starc to Amla, FOUR, an aerial drive but it has absolutely flown through the covers. Starc won't be too disappointed with this. On a good length and angling away outside off, a leaden-footed Amla throws his hands at it away from the body. But such is his hand-eye coordination that he finds the sweet spot and crunches it in the gap
0.5 -
Starc to de Kock, FOUR, consecutive fours. That should get de Kock going. Starc strays on his pads and is picked off in style behind square leg. Lightning outfield. Boundary
0.4 -
Starc to de Kock, FOUR, OH, that's a ravishing cover drive. This is one of the perils of pace, it absolutely travels off the willow. And de Kock timed the pants off it. Right off the middle of the bat
42.3 -
Zampa to Duminy, SIX, the slog-sweep has been nailed. Absolutely nailed. Got it on a perfect length and hammered it away into the deep mid-wicket stands
29.3 -
Hazlewood to de Villiers, SIX, this is ingenius. What a blow! It might well knock the living daylights out of Hazlewood. He has dropped it slightly short outside off, perhaps expecting another charge. AB stays his ground and smacks the living bejeezus out of it with a thundering pull over cow corner
17.2 -
Finch to Amla, SIX, that's an uncharacteristic swat over long-off by Amla. He has no intention of letting the Finch experiment go unpunished. Sees the flight, kicks his front leg out of the way and slaps it hard. Clears the short straight boundary with ease
47.4 -
Hazlewood to Rabada, out Tahir Run Out!! 1 run completed. Is Tahir's bat in the air here? Firstly, it's excellent work from Wade to collect the throw from fine leg one handed and rifle down the stumps at the non-striker's end. Don't think Tahir is expecting to be threatened and he's taking the second too casually, and he might be caught out here. It's taking a long time. The players are waiting with smiles on their faces, Smith is having a word with the umpire. Still pending. Yes, OUT! Australia have completed the comeback and closed out the match convincingly by 36 runs. Tahir run out (Khawaja/Wade) 6(9)
45.1 -
Starc to Phangiso, out Caught by (sub)Maxwell!! How easy has Maxwell made this look! Quite an astonishing catch. Angling in and swinging away outside off, it's a half-volley. Phangiso drives but can't control it due to the late movement and slices it off a thick edge (towards the bottom of the bat). It's whistling well over Maxwell at backward point, he times the jump to perfection, reaches out with his right hand stretched overhead and plucks it out of thin air. Phangiso c (sub)Maxwell b Starc 3(10)
44.3 -
Zampa to Parnell, out Caught by Mitchell Marsh!! This has been quite an amazing turnaround, and now South Africa are going down rapidly. Zampa floats a googly above Parnell's eyeline, it's too tempting an invitation to resist. Parnell shimmies down, gets close enough to the pitch but mistimes the loft straight down the throat of long-on. It's already looking like the point of no return. Parnell c Mitchell Marsh b Zampa 3(10)
43.2 -
Starc to Kyle Abbott, out Bowled!! What a rip-roaring delivery from round the wicket. With Starc bowling like this, you can only feel sorry for the lower order player. Angled in from round the wicket on a fuller length, Abbott is playing for the original angle ignorant of what sorcery is about to be unleashed. The ball dances away at the last minute and sends the off-stump cart-wheeling. Kyle Abbott b Starc 1(3)
42.4 -
Zampa to Duminy, out Caught by (sub)Maxwell!! Is that South Africa's deathknell? Their last recognized batsman, the well set JP Duminy departs. He tries another slog-sweep but can't find the elevation with this one. Hits it hard and flat and straight to deep mid-wicket. Duminy c (sub)Maxwell b Zampa 41(39) [4s-4 6s-1]
40.3 -
Zampa to Behardien, out Lbw!! There's that drift from Zampa which does the trick. Behardien is trapped LBW with the umpire's finger going up in a flash. Behardien isn't convinced and wants a second look. It certainly looks pad first, and then bat. He is a long way down on the front foot, but height shouldn't be an issue as it's hit him fairly low. And yes, it's hitting the stumps. All three reds. It drifted in beautifully towards middle and leg which landed Behardien in trouble as he planted his front leg down and failed to get the bat across in time. There was very little doubt once it clipped pad first. This game is turning. Behardien lbw b Zampa 4(8)
37.5 -
Hazlewood to de Villiers, out Bowled!! That has come back a fair way and knocked AB's middle stump back. A potential gamechanger from Hazlewood. AB reads the length early, clears his front leg and is aiming a swipe down the ground oblivious to the reverse swing. Ends up leaving a big gap between bat and pad and the ball snakes right through it. A mostly untroubled knock, but one bad shot and .. boom .. it's over. de Villiers b Hazlewood 39(32) [4s-4 6s-1]
31.1 -
Starc to du Plessis, out Caught by Bailey!! And completely against the run of play, du Plessis has fallen to a wide one. Went chasing after it, and smeared it straight to backward point. It came quickly to the left of Bailey around head high and he showed good reactions. Vital, vital wicket for the Aussies. du Plessis c Bailey b Starc 63(76) [4s-5]
25.4 -
Hazlewood to Amla, out Caught by Smith!! Sharp low catch from Smith at short cover, and Australia have the breakthrough they so desperately needed. It didn't take a special delivery from Hazlewood to do the job. On the contrary actually. A wide half-volley which Amla tries to blast through the off-side. He times it decently but finds Smith to perfection. A fluent knock comes to an end. Amla c Smith b Hazlewood 60(64) [4s-6 6s-1]
7.2 -
Hazlewood to de Kock, out Caught by Faulkner!! Would you believe it, he's tried it again and perished. Finds the man at deep square leg. Hazlewood had cleverly pulled the length back with this one and bowled it even wider outside off making de Kock's task that much more difficult. He doesn't back away, picks it up with his wrists and drags it straight to Faulkner. de Kock c Faulkner b Hazlewood 19(29) [4s-3]
42.2 -
Zampa to Parnell, 1 run, another tough chance goes down! This time it's Faulkner at backward point. Shortish googly turning away outside off, Parnell creates too much room and ends up slicing it off the outside edge while trying to cut it away. Faulkner is well inside the circle at backward point, the ball is over him, he times his jump nicely, gets fingertips but can't hang on
45.5 -
Starc to Rabada, leg byes, 1 run, Australia want to get this done and over with. Perhaps that's the only thing which explains this review. A ridiculous one. Inswinging low full toss which thuds Rabada on the pad, but even the impact is outside leg
24.2 -
Mitchell Marsh to du Plessis, 1 run, fraction full outside off, and another drive is painted from du Plessis's bat, through the covers. It also brings up the 100-run partnership
23.5 -
Starc to du Plessis, 1 run, a generous gift for du Plessis to get to fifty! Full toss outside off which he simply steers down to third man. His effort is applauded by his teammates who rise in the balcony
19.3 -
Finch to Amla, 1 run, pushed down to long-off and that brings up his fifty! Geez, isn't he the epitome of consistency. The platform has been set