SA v Aus 3rd T20I Review: Australia beat South Africa to claim T20 series

Hashim Amla’s well compiled 97 went in vain as Australia beat the Proteas in the 3rd and final T20I to go on and clinch the series 2-1. The Newlands wicket was a disappointment as most of the grass was removed in order to provide a similarity to Indian conditions. However, the move ended up creating a brown strip of 22 yards in the middle of the park. The six-wicket win will perhaps be the perfect shot in the arm the lads in the Australian camp required before going into the World T20.

Anticipating the much-dreaded dew factor early on in the innings, Faf du Plessis made the decision to bat first. With the wicket looking like an absolute belter, Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla began the Proteas innings. Despite beginning the innings on the slower side, Amla soon found his feet and began treating the improved wicket to it’s merit. After stitching together a useful 47 in just 4 overs, the dangerous de Kock was removed by the impressive Nathan Coulter-Nile. Faf du Plessis too lost his wicket soon after, scoring just 4 runs by Shane Watson.

Hashim Amla continued to lose partners at the other end as Rilee Rossouw’s slump with the bat continued. He was dismissed by the irresistible Nathan Coulter-Nile for 16 off 21 balls. David Miller however, took the bull by the horns as he began ebbing away at the famed Australia attack. He smashed 2 sixes and 2 fours en route to a 16 ball 30, an innings that helped revive the Proteas innings before being dismissed in the final over. Hashim Amla however, was the real hero of the South Africa innings with an unbeaten 97 off just 62 balls. The home side finished off on a total of 178/4, an extremely competitive total on the make-shift surface created by the ground staff at Newlands, Cape Town.

Judging the wicket to perfection, the Australian opening pair of Shane Watson and Usman Khawaja got the visitors off to a flier. Khawaja in particular was severe on the Proteas bowling attack, smashing the ball to the boundary in tandem. His partner Shane Watson too found his feet upon the introduction of spin, rolling back the years with big hits well over the long off fence. The Aussies, thus, were on the verge of a memorable win at Cape Town.

They sat pretty at 76/0 in 8 overs with Usman Khawaja and Shane Watson on fire until disaster struck. Imran Tahir first removed Watson and followed it up with dismissing Khawaja in the same over. The match now, took an unprecedented turn. The Proteas achieved their mid-innings goal by bringing two relatively new batsmen to the middle. Aussie skipper Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner however, were in no mood to let off the home team. They tore apart the bowling attack, targeting bowlers in tandem as they did. Smith had smashed 44 off 26 and Warner 33 off 27 as the Aussies looked set for a comfortable win. Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Marsh completed the mop-up as the Aussies secured a 6 wicket win with 4 balls to spare.

Hashim Amla was awarded the man of the match despite being on the losing side on the day. The win sees the Aussies come from behind to secure a 2-1 series win.

Brief Scores:

South Africa 178/4 in 20 overs (Amla 97*; Coulter-Nile 2/36)

Australia 181/4 in 19.2 overs (Smith 44; Tahir 2/38)

Man of the Match: Hashim Amla

Player of the series: David Warner