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South Africa’s bowlers set it up this win before Rilee Rossouw played that stunning innings. Not a track where you can get away with scoring just 144.
I thought the Australian batsmen lacked a bit of confidence going into the final five overs and that could have been because they did not want to lose too many wickets in a hurry given the shortened batting line-up.
Credit to the South African bowlers though – they stuck to their plans of bowling very full and with Australia not trying the unconventional.
Abbott’s 3/21 from four was a standout.
In the end it was South Africa home by seven wickets.
A new-look Australia side take on South Africa in the first T20I of their three-match series starting on Wednesday. You can follow the live score and commentary of the game at Adelaide starting 7:35pm AEDT.
The dust has barely settled on the stunning Test series defeat to Pakistan in the UAE and most Aussie players would still be recovering from jet-lag when a totally different set of players feature in this encounter against South Africa.
The calendar had been planned in a way that there wasn’t going to be wasting any time between these two series and that unfortunately – or probably, even fortunately – means that none of those Test players who featured in the two Tests in UAE, will be playing these three games against South Africa.
The Aussies are being led by Aaron Finch, who is one match in as full-time T20 captain, having been at the helm in UAE in a one-off game against Pakistan. Finch’s Australia had won that game after restricting Pakistan to a sub-100 score.
As one can expect from a team which is made up of specialists from the shorter format of the game, there are quite a few to look out for.
Among the younger brigade, Nic Maddinson, Sean Abbott & Cameron Boyce could be watched with bated breath while Shane Watson’s comeback following months of being out because of injury will also be followed. Also given another go is Cameron White, once a T20I captain, an 87-match ODI veteran and a player who was selected for four Tests for his bowling.
South Africa have selected on similar lines. There’s no Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn or Morne Morkel in the squad. Instead, the team is led by JP Duminy while the rest of the side consists of those who have done well at the domestic T20 level or ones who might not play in all three formats of the game.
David Miller is one of those in the line-up who needs to get himself some big scores in order to regain his confidence in the ODIs as well, while Robin Peterson has gotten himself another chance as a late selection in place of the injured Aaron Phangiso.
Wayne Parnell, Marchant de Lange and Kyle Abbott could lead the pace attack while 19-year-old Kagiso Rabada seems like a joker in the pack, having been given a chance despite a total domestic experience of just 23 matches.
Australia have won their last three T20I matches against Proteas including a 2-0 win earlier this in South Africa and should start off favourites.
Join me for this first T20I between Australia and South Africa on Wednesday here and you can follow the live score of this game from 7:35pm (AEDT) and post your comments in the section below.
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