ISLAMABAD: Does South Africa are going to repeat the habit of being chokers as its top and middle order crumbled once again on a crunch moment after Australian pace attack restricted the Proteas to 212 runs in the second Semi-final contest played at Eden Garden Kolkata, India on Thursday. The low total even included a terrific hundred by David Miller as apart from him, with a knock of 47 from Klassen no other batter was able to survive for long against the Australian bowling attack.
Earlier winning the toss South Africa decided to bat first on a bouncy and spinning track. Being better at batting first, perhaps it was not a good toss to win this toss. Proteas openers Quinton de Kock and the skipper Temba Bavuma seemed under pressure from the very first ball against the swinging deliveries of Starc and Hazlewood. Starc dismissed Bavuma on a duck in the very first over. In the next over Hazlewood also got rid of De Kock who scored just 3 runs on 14 balls.
Losing early quick wickets South African became under huge pressure and even were unable to hot a boundary. In first 10 overs they hardly managed to score just 20 runs. In the 11th over Starc dismissed Aiden Markram on 10. In the next over Hazelwood removed Rassie van der Dussen on 6 who faced 31 balls. At the stage South Africa were just 24 for the loss of 4 in 11.4 overs.
After losing 4 wickets Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller was the only pair to show resistance against Aussies. They managed to stay on the crease, pushed the run-rate up and took their side to a bit comfort level. They contributed 95 crucial runs partnership for the team. But again the chokers feelings were there as despite being staying on the crease and showing resistance against the attacking bowling line of the Aussies, an irregular bowler Travis Head became a nightmare for Proteas.
In the 31st over of the game Travis Head first bowled out Klassen on 47 and then on the very next balls removed Marco Jansen on a duck. The two quick dismissals took South Africa to a defensive mood again. From the other hand David Miller was the only player who stood firmly on the crease and attacked Australian bowlers whenever he got a chance. He completed his half-century.
But from the other hand wickets were falling with interval. After spending some time on the crease with Miller Gerald Coetzee was dismissed on 19 in the over number 44. When the score reached 191 in the 47th over Starc dismissed Keshav Maharaj on 4.
In the next over Miller completed his terrific hundred on 115 balls. However, in the same over he was caught on the boundary line by Travis Head. His innings included 5 sixes and 8 fours. At the stage South Africa were 203 for 9 in 47.2 overs. Kagiso Rabada and Tabraiz Shamsi added few runs on the board. Due to Miller fine hundred South Africa managed to score 212 all out in 49.4 overs.
From Australia Mitchel Starc was the most successful bowler taking 3 for 34 in his 10 over spill. Pat Cummins also got 3 while Travis Head and Josh Hazlewood took 2 wickets each.
Australia Team: Travis Head, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis, Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa and Josh Hazlewood
South Africa Team: Quinton de Kock, Temba Bavuma (c), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada and Tabraiz Shamsi
