Here again are the everything ratings – a review of everything and anything from the ODI series final and the Aussies versus the South Africans.
Television Coverage: D
Australia’s innings began poorly with Phil Hughes dismissed for just 15. It wasn’t completely clear whether the dismissal was the result of good bowling from Dale Steyn or whether it was due to some kind of technical difficulty in Phil’s batting.
Mostly because Fox Sports was undergoing its own technical difficulties at the time and missed the wicket. This broadcasting fault may well have been a side-effect of them being out of practice, having not bothered to cover a third of the games during this series.
Philosophical side-question: If a Phil Hughes wicket falls at cover and Fox Sports doesn’t broadcast it, does the bandwagon falling apart make a sound?
When the commentators did return, they embarked upon a one-eyed cheerleading spree that would make even Ian Healy blush, peaking early when they unashamedly declared a Steve Smith four to be ‘a pity’.
Dale Steyn: A
The first three wickets of the Australian innings were spread evenly among the South African bowlers.
Hughes fell victim to Steyn. George Bailey failed to pick a googly from Imran Tahir. And in between those two wickets, Smith tried to pull a ball off Wayne Parnell, whose top-knotted hairstyle suggests he is fulfilling an inexplicable samurai quota for the South African team.
Alas, Smith only succeeded in top-edging the pull shot to Dave Miller, who caught the ball, then tossed it casually away in a manner that suggests he may well go full Herschelle by the time the World Cup rolls around.
This would, of course, be ‘a pity’.
Then the increasingly lycanthropic Steyn tore the Australian innings to pieces, dismissing Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell in successive balls before returning a few overs later to account for Brad Haddin too.
It was fearsome stuff and it prompted Graeme Smith on Twitter to declare that he ‘[didn’t] think anyone [could] lace his boots in world cricket today’.
Which makes one wonder just how many wickets Steyn would take if he bothered to have somebody lace his boots. Surely it’s something he should at least try. Although I’m not going to be the one to tell him.
Michael Clarke: B+
Graeme Smith wasn’t the only former captain commenting on the game on Twitter. Australia’s semi-touring part-time skipper Michael Clarke was also watching, despite Shane Warne’s frantic pleas for him to switch over and watch the AFL with him.
Perhaps Clarke had seen news reports that Channel Nine had hired an exciting young Australian captain to join their commentary team this summer and thought he’d best get some practice in.
As Australian wickets fell, Pup surged through the stages of grief with impressive speed, jumping from denial (‘No!’ at Bailey’s wicket), straight over anger, bargaining and depression and landing comfortably on acceptance (‘Reverse swing? Class bowling’ when Maxwell fell).
Warne declared that Australia needed Clarke’s batting. Also, his captaincy. Presumably, Shane was not pleased with the way Bailey had skippered the batting collapse. Alas, despite Warne’s reverence, Clarke still couldn’t be convinced to switch to the AFL. Which was a pity.
Faf du Plessis: F
Is there anything sadder than a man so desperate for attention that he’ll just keep batting on and on, making an absurd amount of runs at an equally absurd average? Tedious when Don Bradman did it. Tedious today.
Despite everybody already knowing that he was in extraordinary form, Faf du Plessis spent the entire run chase ramming the point home, his seemingly boundless insecurities driving him to a shameless 96 as he guided South Africa to an easy victory.
We get it, Faf. You’re an excellent batsman in exquisite form. It’s just a pity you have to keep banging on about it.
Mitch Sixes: B-
The final tally of sixes hit by Mitches and non-Mitches for Australia in this tri-series was:
Mitches: 17
Non-Mitches: 22
Much tighter final there, with the Mitches just falling short of their non-Mitch counterparts. A pity.
Andrew
Guest
Given the couple of epic rear-guards he's played already at this stage of his career I think it's a bit harsh to pick on his strike rate too much. I may be biased because all we Australians have seen of him so far is a decidely annoying refusal to get out, but he looks a pretty handy player to me. Time will always tell though. He does seem to have a bit of a knack for getting up people's noses, which may explain biltonbek's first comment above, but I'd take an a-hole who makes runs over a sweetheart who doesn't any day in my test side (sadly Australian cricket at the moment has a few blokes who combine the worst of both worlds).
Neil
Guest
Granted. He took a while to settle, but he must surely be repaying the faith in some way now in your mind? His strike rate is heavily determined by the fact he has faced silly balls to save us tests before. My chirp was more that you should allow yourself to enjoy our victories when they are deserved and hard-earned. SA vs AUS cricket. #madeforeachother
Hi Neil, there is something about Faf that I don't like, whether it is his demeanor, his face, or just the pedantic form he was in after tat century in OZ. He s in great form currently, but look at his strike rate at times. We use to see a lot of criticism for Kallis about his strike rate. His test batting strike rate is 42, Kallis batted faster tha that, and he was our mainstay for a long time, when 2008 came round and Kalls had back up his strike rate improved significantly. Faf can be extremely pedestrian at times. Then forget his ZIm performance and go look at his first 50 matches in ODI's, an average of 30. Poor for a specialist batsman.
Neil
Guest
Sheesh Biltong. For a Bok fan you seem to have a hard time supporting our lads. Faf is amazing!
I personally think FaF is overrated, and he is just currently in a purple patch. But he does like playing the Aussies. Test record, 5 matches, 10 innings, 507 runs, 1 century, 4 fifties, average 63.37 ODI record, 6 matches, 388 runs, 2 centuries and one fifty, average 64,66, strike rate 103
shiv
Guest
so we will se him in aus lolz remember what happened last time when warner smack you chokers out of the park in test and hodge in t20 hhahah 3 good innings cannot make him a good player he just overrated flog and not forget aus are without WARNER WATSON SHUAN MARSH otherwise all of us know the result
Vustro
Guest
If you’re an Aussie, you’re forgiven if you’re sick of the sight of Faf du Plessis by now. He seems to have made the Aussies his bunny in every format of the game. In fact, Du Plessis could probably have beaten the Aussie rugby team on Saturday. It’s as if he is channelling all of the pain suffered by Daryl Cullinan and exacting revenge for all the years the former South African batsman was tormented by the men from Down Under. Du Plessis has taken root at number three and with this kind of form, opposition will feel he’s stubbornly sticking around like those annoying weeds that don’t seem to die even if you set them on fire. He missed out on being the first-ever player to hit four centuries in a series after being dismissed for 96 in during South Africa’s chase. A late thwack from AB de Villiers aimed to spur him on a bit, like a father pushing his child into the deep end and telling him to swim. Du Plessis started to slightly lose his composure towards the end, but that hardly matters in the greater scheme of things. South Africa has found a solid number three and Australia has met somebody who is going to make their life hell. He finished the series with 464 runs at an average of 92.82, nearly double the amount of runs of the second-highest run scorer - Aaron Finch with 250
Quitwhinging
Guest
maybe he should sack someone from the squad and lie about him? sound familiar??
shiv
Guest
and now they are saying sorry watto its time to go ,people was so excited when shane watson get injured and hughes replace him but for me watson is a most important for aus in limited overs formet. all the other team will play with their playing 11 aus will play wth their playing 10 (count glenn maxwell out just about every time ) why there are so many chance for max he can smash with 200 s/rate but what if his inning coming against bangladesh aur afgan in world cup aus need a strong middle order who can create inning and smash big when needed like symond and for me may be (chris lynn can do this but without international exp.it will be tough for him in squad .
Charl
Guest
Convincing win from the Proteas -A+. Conditions were just as difficult for them as for the Aussies. Michael Clarke's snide little remark on twitter - F-. Bad loser. Bad example as captain. Time the Aussies found a captain with class. Can't be that hard.
bearfax
Guest
Roar comments: B+
Broken-hearted Toy
Guest
Ha, ha. Love the stuff about Faf.