SA v AUS, 5th ODI Review: David Warner century in vain as Proteas create history

A wonderfully compiled 173 from David Warner went in vain as the Proteas went ahead and created history courtesy of their first ever clean sweep in an ODI series against Australia. The fifth SA v AUS ODI was also somewhat of a cherry on the cake as it was played at the Newlands in Cape Town where the South Africans led by skipper Faf du Plessis secured a 37-run victory.

Du Plessis won the toss and made the executive decision to bat first. Perhaps this decision was fueled by the dew factor that would play a massive role in proceedings in the latter stages of the encounter. Quinton de Kock, one of South Africa’s brighter opening batsmen seemed to be missing his element on the day as he was dismissed without managing a single boundary.

The newbie Australian pacers Joe Mennie and Chris Tremain began to turn it up a notch when they started to capture wickets in tandem following the abrupt close of the first powerplay. Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis were the next to depart courtesy of a wonderful delivery from Tremain.

Enter Rilee Rossouw. The southpaw initially impressed with some gleeful shots while he was supported by JP Duminy at the other end who was making his statement loud and clear in the grand scheme of things. Rossouw however, was playing well out of his skin as he went about his way of scoring 122 while Duminy netted 73 crucial runs to the team’s cause.

Also read- South Africa v Australia, 5th ODI – 5 Talking Points

The duo stitched a crucial 178-run partnership, something that allowed the finishers to push the South Africans past the 300-run mark. The quintessential cherry on the cake was added by yet another blinder from David Miller who smashed a quickfire 39.

The Australian innings once again began with David Warner. The southpaw was in a menacing mood as he looked somewhat invincible. Due to the onslaught, skipper  du Plessis was left with little choice but to bring on spinner Imran Tahir.

While the 36-year old Tahir contained Warner, he also began to take a few crucial wickets. After struggling quite a bit, Aaron Finch was dismissed before skipper Steve Smith was removed for a duck. Warner then received a little support from the Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head who scored 35 runs each.

However, apart from that, it was quintessentially the David Warner show. The southpaw waged a lone yet disappointing battle against the South African pacers as he continued to lose partners at the other end. The lower order’s imminent collapse meant that reaching the total would be a bridge too far as far as David Warner was concerned. The Australian vice-captain finally fell for 173 runs before the innings concluded on 296.

Brief Scores:

South Africa: 327/8 in 50 overs (R Rossouw 122; J Mennie 3/49)

Australia: 296 all out in 48.2 overs (D Warner 173; I Tahir 2/42)

Man of the match: David Warner

Man of the Series: Rilee Rossouw