Australia defeated South Africa by five wickets in the opening game of the Super 12 stage of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 in Abu Dhabi on Saturday (October 23).
It was a low-scoring affair, in which South Africa posted 118/9 on the board after being asked to bat first. Aiden Markram was the top scorer for the team with 36-ball 40.
For Australia, Josh Hazlewood (2-19), Adam Zampa (2-21), and Mitchell Starc (2-32) claimed two scalps each while Pat Cummins (1-17) and Glenn Maxwell (1-24) chipped in with wicket apiece.
In reply, Australia got off to a terrible start as they lost Aaron Finch (0), David Warner (14), and Mitchell Marsh (11) with only 38 runs on the board. Amid the pressure situation, the duo of Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell put on 42 runs to bail the team of trouble.
However, Smith (35) and Maxwell (18) got out in quick succession and the match became interesting in the death overs.
Australia needed 36 off the last four overs and it was then the pair of Marcus Stoinis (24*) and Matthew Wade (15*) added an unbeaten 40-run stand to take the team over the line with two balls to spare.
Despite the loss, Anrich Nortje (2-21), Tabraiz Shamsi (1-22), Keshav Maharaj (1-23), and Kagiso Rabada (1-28) impressed with the ball for South Africa.
Cricket experts enjoyed the close contest between the two top teams and shared their views on Twitter.
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