South Africa won a first-ever
tournament final against Australia after
a Dale Steyn bowling masterclass handed them the advantage and an anchoring
innings from Faf du Plessis - which ended just four short of what would have
been a fourth century in the series - guided a composed chase. Steyn's four
wickets, which included two in two balls, led a surge through the Australian
middle-order in which South Africa plucked five wickets for 29 runs. South
Africa paced the reply perfectly using du Plessis' purple patch as the pivot
and winning with 9.1 overs remaining.
On a pitch that had not
been used in the tournament so far, Steyn found movement early on and
reverse-swing by the half-way stage. Australia could not muster anything
similar, nor could they find a way to dislodge du Plessis who eventually fell
searching for his milestone.
Swing was on offer from the outset but it
did not account for the initial breakthrough; Phillip Hughes' over eagerness to
show aggression did. He hit the first ball of Steyn's third over hard but AB de
Villiers had moved himself out of slip and to short cover, where he collected a
stinger. Similarly, after Wayne Parnell's opening over cost nine runs, Steve
Smith tried to take the left-armer on and top-edged a pull that ballooned
straight up for David Miller at mid-on.
South Africa spinners
then enforced a stranglehold as Aaron Phangiso found bounce and Imran Tahir
used the googly to good effect. Ultimately, it was Tahir's variation that
accounted for George Bailey who chopped one on as he failed to pick the wrong
'un. Australia needed a batsman to partner Aaron Finch and Mitchell Marsh
looked the candidate to do the job but the strike was seldom rotated. Finch
reached his third fifty of the tournament and but Australia were stung when
Steyn's second spell launched in full swing, literally.
Finch's growing unease
was exposed when Steyn ripped through the bat-pad gap and wrenched the stumps
from the ground. With his next ball, Steyn trapped Glenn Maxwell on the back
foot to open Australia up. After a six off Tahir, Marsh's threat was also
blunted when he inside-edged a Parnell delivery onto his stumps in the over
before the Powerplay, leaving the lower-middle-order with a big job.
They could not complete
it after Steyn trapped Haddin and Morkel dismissed Mitchell Johnson. Australia
were 144 for 8 with 12 overs remaining and in danger of totalling less than
their lowest score of the series - 209 for 9 when they lost Zimbabwe - but
James Faulkner had other ideas.
His first task was to
bat out overs and he employed an industrious approach with Mitchell Starc for
seven overs in which they added only 23 runs. Once the last five overs dawned,
the pair pushed. Starc cleared long-on off Phangiso, Steyn's final over cost 13
runs with Faulkner hitting him to cow corner and extra cover and Australia
inched over 200. Fifty runs came off the last five overs to give Australia's
bowlers something to work with but they needed to dig holes in South Africa's
line-up early and often.
Australia had an early
success as Glenn Maxwell, sharing the new ball, had Quinton de Kock caught at
cover off a leading edge. That brought du Plessis in early again and gave him
the time he needed to craft his innings.
Du Plessis' touch was
Midas-like as he drove through covers, swatted short balls to midwicket and
skipped down the track to Faulkner to hit him for six and bring up a fifty with
Amla, who was almost invisible. Du Plessis gave Australia an opportunity when
he was on 34 as he skied one over long-off but Finch could not judge his
position well enough to take the catch. After the let-off, du Plessis punished
Lyon to reach his fifty off 45 balls, before Amla got to his, off 72 deliveries
in the next over. Amla only added another run and then hit a Smith long hop
straight to cover.
Wayne Parnell was
promoted to No.4 in an experiment that did not work because it slowed South
Africa down. His partnership with du Plessis lasted for 30 balls and yielded 14
runs to allow Australia to regain some control. Parnell chopped Faulkner onto
his stumps but even at 126 for 3, South Africa's position was far from
precarious.
Normal service resumed
when de Villiers joined du Plessis and they ate into the remainder of the
target, patiently at first and then with more intent as Australia's bowlers
grew frustrated. De Villiers became impatient as the 40th over began and
decided to end things quickly. South Africa needed 23 runs and du Plessis nine
to become the first batsman to record four centuries in an ODI series. De
Villiers took two sixes and a four off Faulkner to reduce the target. South
Africa team required six to win at the end over. Du Plessis needed eight.
He smashed four off the
first ball of Johnson's final over, refused a single off the next ball and then
saw the third called a no-ball. In his attempt to reach the boundary to get his
century, du Plessis holed out to mid-on to leave de Villiers to hit the winning
runs and secure a trophy for South Africa in the lead-up to the World Cup.
Ref: http://www.espncricinfo.com/zimbabwe-triangular-series-2014/content/current/story/778473.html
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