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The Liebke Ratings: South Africa vs Australia First ODI

1st October, 2016
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George Bailey should be given another shot. (AAP Image/Richard Wainwright)
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1st October, 2016
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The Australian team headed over to South Africa for a tri-series that also included Ireland. Unfortunately, Ireland lost their first two games and failed to make the finals, due to a quirk in the playing conditions that said that the finals would be between South Africa and Australia. Unlucky for Ireland, but good news for everybody else out there, theoretically breathless with anticipation at yet another five-match ODI series between these two sides.

Here are the ratings from the First ODI between South Africa and Australia.

Australia’s squad
Grade: D

By the end of their previous tour against Sri Lanka, Australia had been left with a bare minimum of available players, scrambling to muster a side and relying on their second and third tier players to get the job done.

The selectors weren’t going to make that same mistake on this South African tour, instead choosing to start with their lower tier players. And also, a lower tier captain, with Steve Smith yawning, stretching his arms out wide, and hopping out of his Official Cricket Australia Resting Chair to reclaim the captaincy from David Warner.

This series would be a great opportunity for both teams to get a look at the players they won’t be facing when South Africa tour Australia later this summer, and pleasingly, Smith picked up straight where he left off, losing the toss and being sent in to bat.

Andile Phehlukwayo
Grade: A-

Despite Warner getting Australia off to a rollicking start (Warner is still ranked number one on the ICC Rollicker Ratings), the South African attack soon hit back hard, led by youngster Andile Phehlukwayo.

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Phehlukwayo struck early. First, with the hands to catch Warner off the bowling of Wayne Parnell, but then more conventionally as a bowler, when Parnell reciprocated to take a low catch to dismiss Finch.

Finch, naturally, stood his ground, as tradition dictates, but the third umpire eventually ruled that the catch carried and sent Finch on his way. Bad luck for Finch, but I think the mere act of hitting a ball low enough to warrant a catch being sent upstairs should be considered an act of dissent. So rather than complain, he should instead consider himself lucky.

Or, at the very least, dismissed by ‘Lucky’, which is Phehlukwayo’s delightful middle name. Still, you make your own middle name, as Phehlukwayo showed by trapping Smith LBW in the same over and eventually going on to take 4/44 off his ten overs.

George Bailey’s nous
Grade: B+

With Australia 4/131 following Phehlukwayo’s wicket of Mitchell Marsh, it was left to wily old George Bailey to perform an unorthodox rescue operation.

He’d already wasted a review by refusing to give Smith out. The captain had asked Bailey just how plumb he was and Bailey had inexplicably failed to respond with the phrase ‘ridiculously so’.

Bailey then also did his best to run out both Travis Head and Matthew Wade. He succeeded only with the latter, with Head instead stumped by wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock off the bowling of Imran Tahir. As far as de Kock-Head stumpings go, it was easily one of the most impressive I’ve ever seen.

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Needless to say, the wicket sent Tahir charging off in celebration. To be honest, it’s utterly beyond me why batsmen get out to Tahir when they know perfectly well how obnoxious his celebration will be. And yes, I know some South African fans claim they enjoy Tahir’s celebrations. But those fans are just confused by the fact they correlate with the fall of opposition wickets. It’s an understandable mistake.

The Head wicket and Bailey’s successful run out of Wade saw John Hastings join the veteran at the crease. This had apparently been Bailey’s plan all along as the pair then put on 79 for the seventh wicket to push Australia towards 300.

In the end, Australia fell just short of that milestone, ending on 9/294 from their fifty overs, which all the commentators agreed was ‘about par’.

Quinton De Kock
Grade: A

But of course it wasn’t par. It was instead approximately 170 runs below par, according to Duckworth-Lewis calculations. I don’t know what kind of bird 170 below par corresponds to in golf, but in cricket, it’s apparently a five thousand kilogram rooster. Or, as it’s more commonly known, Quinton de Kock.

Before the innings began, South Africa would have planned to see off the Australian strike bowlers then capitalise when the part-timers came on. It didn’t take de Kock long, however, to realise that he had approximately fifty overs of part-time bowling to flay around.

And flay he did, clubbing an astonishing 178 from 113 balls. It would have been 182, except that he hit umpire Joel Wilson with one of his straight drives. Great work from Wilson, who the Australians must strongly consider calling up for the Second ODI.

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Conserving energy
Grade: B-

Powered by de Kock’s assault, South Africa kept a cool head to run down the Australian total with 82 balls and six wickets to spare.

Great news for the Australian captain, who will presumably be that much less tired after the match. And sloppy stuff from South Africa, who fell right into a pretty obvious Australian trap. At this rate, Smith may have the energy to captain the team for as many as three of these ODIs.

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