In the five match One day International contest between Australia and South Africa, the latter took a 3-1 lead after winning the fourth match at Adelaide Oval. During this series, the South African cricketers have gained confidence, while the Australians have gone from bad to worse. The Australian batting has not been successful in converting good starts into huge totals and the fourth match was not an exception. At one stage, the team looked well set at 110 for 2 in the 20th over, but it collapsed to 222 in the 48th over. The South African batting was exceptional with Hashim Amla scoring 80 runs in 103 deliveries while AB de Villiers, who appeared in a hurry, hitting 82 runs from 85 balls. South Africa won with 71 deliveries to spare and the team did not ask for the batting Powerplay. AB de Villiers was declared as the Man of the Match.
South African innings
The opening batsman of South Africa, Herschelle Gibbs clobbered 8 boundaries while scoring 38 runs in 29 deliveries. He returned back to the pavilion during the 10th over when the score was 58. Jacques Kallis did not last long and was dismissed on a personal score of 13, when the team’s total was 79 in the 13th over. In 15 overs, South Africa reached the 100 mark. Further, Amla and de Villiers played at a slow speed to ensure triumph. However, as soon as de Villiers started feeling comfortable, the pace of scoring increased. When the match was over, de Villiers had struck 1 sixer and 6 fours while Amla was content with 7 boundaries. None of the Australian bowlers could sparkle, while the South African batsmen displayed that the pitch was very good. This match appeared like a tour game where the international batsmen were desirous of playing better than each other.
Australian innings
The Australian opening batsmen, David Warner and Shaun Marsh failed to offer a robust start and in 2.5 overs, the team was tottering at 2 for 17. At this stage, Ricky Ponting, the captain and Michael Hussey exhibited an important partnership of 93 runs. However, Johan Botha, the South Africa skipper, provided a crucial breakthrough by trapping Hussey leg before wicket on 28 in the 20th over, when Australia was 110. In the next over, Ponting was caught by Neil McKenzie off the bowling of Makhaya Ntini. He made 63 off 70 deliveries inclusive of 9 boundaries. Further, Brad Haddin was caught for 3 and was Botha’s second wicket. Botha finished with excellent figures of 10 overs, no maidens, 28 runs and 2 wickets. The most successful bowlers from the South African side were Ntini and Dale Steyn, each of whom bagged 3 wickets. David Hussey had reached 24 off 29 deliveries, but tried an airy square drive and was caught by Gibbs. All of a sudden, Australia was 151 for 6 wickets and the match appeared one-sided. The team was able to cross the 200 run mark mainly due to Cameron White, who made 30 off 54 balls and James Hopes who added 42 runs in 44 deliveries.