Twitter Reactions: South Africa bowlers help a sinking ship float again as the Proteas level the series
Steve Smith saving five runs for his team on the boundary line was one of the biggest highlights of the match.
Some of the most intense T20I games have been witnessed in South Africa in recent times. While the fortunes weren’t in their favour at times, it wasn’t that way in the 2nd T20I against Australia. The Proteas might have tapered down with the bat. But their bowlers made up for it in this tense encounter. Their bowlers helped them pull off a victory out of nowhere as they managed to level the series heading to Cape Town. David Warner, despite all his efforts, couldn’t take Australia home.
Quinton de Kock decided that his team will bat first after winning the toss. Reeza Hendricks, who was a forced change for this game in place of Heinrich Klaasen, struggled with the bat. He toiled hard for 17 deliveries but only scored 14 runs before he was dismissed. The skipper, however, went all guns blazing. He was on song and South Africa was sailing along as long as he was in the middle. But once he got out in the 15th over, the tide shifted the other way.
After De Kock was dismissed for 70 off 47, the Proteas couldn’t find the momentum again. They struggled in the last five overs scoring only 36 runs. It has to be kept in mind that they scored 22 runs in just two of those five overs showing how brilliant a couple of Aussie bowlers were. Rassie van der Dussen scored 37 off 26 while Miller took 13 balls to score 11. The team only put 158 runs on the board for the loss of four wickets.
David Warner slows down, Aussies lose the plot
Australia lost Aaron Finch early in the chase for just 14. Steve Smith then tried to consolidate and got almost a run-a-ball 29. At number four, Alex Carey couldn’t create a big impact and mustered only 14 runs. However, David Warner kept persisting from one end. He played calculated cricket and made the most of the loose ones. But at the backend of the innings, South Africa stormed back amazingly well.
They managed to pick up important wickets and managed to pull off a 12-run win. Australia would still be stunned as to how they couldn’t pull this off. Only 30 runs were scored in the last five and they lost 4 wickets. With Warner going as well as he did, there seemed no way that they could lose this one. But that is how it finished and the Proteas fans were elated with this victory. They were all praise for Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje.
Here is how Twitterati reacted:
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