It was a debut that David Warner would not have even dreamt of. The 22-year-old, who is yet to feature in a first class match, demonstrated why IPL’s Dehi Daredevils have already signed him on. Warner literally toyed with the South African bowling line-up, which troubled Australia in the Tests, and ended up smashing 89 from 43 balls. The knock encompassed seven fours and as many as six mighty sixes as the 60,000-plus MCG crowd were entertained to the hilt. In reply, South Africa’s JP Duminy continued to impress with a brilliant 78 made of 48 balls but it was not enough to overpower Warner’s magic.
Despite it being his first international experience, Warner looked at ease right from the word go although later he admitted that he was indeed nervous! He made a mockery of world class bowlers like Dale Steyn and Makhaya Ntini clubbing them for big sixes over midwicket. The most audacious of his strokes however was the one when he guided a fast short and fast Steyn delivering over fine-leg for another maximum. While most of his boundaries were on the on-side, there was cut off Jacques Kallis which beat two fielders within handshaking distance of each other and raced to the fence.
When not hitting boundaries, Warner ran hard between the wickets and ensured he took advantage of the big Melbourne ground. He brought up his half-century in 19 balls, the second fastest in the history of T20 internationals. But the misery for South Africa was far from over. Albie Morkel and skipper Johan Botha too couldn’t make much of an impression on Warner as he continued belting the bowling. But the Proteas did well to keep him off strike for a brief period in the 80 and he eventually holed out – caught by de Villiers off Ntini.
If one takes away the Warner knock, the South Africans did not do all that badly. Lonwabo Tsotsobe sent back the dangerous Shaun Marsh for 9. Ricky Ponting and David Hussey provided good support to Warner but South Africa got rid of them just when they were looking to open up. Morkel got the wicket of the Australian skipper for 21 while Ntini dismissed Hussey for 19. And once Warner fell at the score of 140, the South African bowling looked an altogether different outfit.
David’s more famous brother, Mike, continued to struggle even with the change in format. The otherwise good runner between the wickets fell prey to Herschelle Gibbs’ brilliance in the field. Steyn chipped in with three quick wickets towards the end as the Australian innings lost momentum. There weren’t too many big hits in the last few overs except for a Sachin Tendulkar-inspired late glide to deep thirdman by Luke Ronchi for six. Despite a good comeback by the Proteas, they were still faced with a daunting target of 183.
The South African innings got off to a dramatic start but not to their liking. Herschelle Gibbs was adjudged lbw to Nathan Bracken in the first over. At the other end, Shaun Tait – playing his first international game in well over a year - had the Proteas running for cover with his raw pace. He began with a snorter which Jacques Kallis somehow managed to duck under. But AB de Villiers wasn’t as lucky. He was hit in the ribs trying to pull and the pain was augmented when he hit the stumps with his bat on completing his follow-through. Kallis was soon done in by Ben Hilfenhaus, who cleaned him up for 4. At 12/3, it seemed all one-sided.
As always, South Africa fought back. And their newfound hero, JP Duminy, was the man yet again. Unlike Warner, he played more traditional cricket strokes but was equally impressive. There were some very good drives off the faster men. And even when he decided to be adventurous, he pulled it off with ease. The scoop to fine-leg off Tait was a fitting reply to Warner’s boldness against Steyn. Duminy raced to his 50 off 35 balls. Unfortunately, the early losses meant South Africa had to constantly take risks to keep up with the run-rate. Duminy perished in this effort, going for a reverse sweep. He missed the ball completely and was trapped in front by David Hussey.
Hussey earlier got the prize scalp of Mark Boucher for 5 and added Dale Steyn to his kitty to end with impressive figures of 3/25. Hilfenhaus came back and yorked Ntini first ball while Taut finished things knocking out Tsotsobe. Eventually, won Australia won comfortably by 52 runs. But South Africa shouldn’t be disheartened. It was just one of those special knocks by an exceptional talent. Tuesday will be a new day and hopefully a better one from South Africa’s point of view.
No comments:
Post a Comment