Tri-Series 2016, Match 3: Five Talking Points

The South Africans got on the Tri-Series 2016 board with an important 47-run victory over the mighty Australians. Farhaan Behardien was the architect of the win with a magnificent 62 off 80 deliveries while Kagiso Rabada was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets to his name. Even a brilliantly compiled 72 from Aaron Finch wasn’t enough for the Australians as they crumbled to a humiliating loss at a rather diabolical track at Providence, Guyana.

1. DRS removes de Kock and Rossouw

In spite of winning the toss and opting to bat first, it was the Australians who drew first blood. Josh Hazelwood trapped Quinton de Kock leg-before in the 7th over only to be given not out by Joel Wilson, the on-filed umpire. However, after reviewing it, the damning evidence found by third umpire Rod Tucker ensured that de Kock was on his way. The next southpaw, Rilee Rossouw was trapped this time by Coulter-Nile. However, this time, around, DRS didn’t come to the aid of Rossouw as he was back on his way to the pavilion.

2. AB de Villiers and Amla rebuild the ruins

As in the previous match, AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla were once more thrust with the burden of rebuilding the innings. The duo began to negotiate the variety of pace and spin hurled at them by Nathan Lyon and Nathan Coulter-Nile. The duo played the diabolical wicket with poise and finesse as they went on to add a crucial 40 runs in 9 odd overs before some horrific running from Hashim Amla saw him head back to the dressing room.

3. Behardien adds finishing touches

In his entire career, Farhaan Behardien had always been viewed as a player who comes in late in the innings, hits a few biggies and is done. However, his role had significantly changed when he came out to shut the gaping holes of the South Africa batting unit. He played with responsibility and went on to smash 62 off just 80 deliveries. His compilation included 4 boundaries and a solitary six. Needless to say, the Proteas crawled to 189 and Behardien was named the man-of-the-match.

4. Aaron Finch boards the sinking ship

Aaron Finch stood out with a magnificent innings of 72 among a series of failures with the bat from the other Australian batsmen. He was batting in the middle of heaps of ruin, ruins left by the relentless and merciless South African bowling attack. He did battle and was accompanied by Nathan Lyon who made a valiant 30 before he too fell out of sheer frustration. In spite of his knock going in vain, Finch was the standout player on the Australian scorecard. Josh Hazelwood also chipped in with a useful 11.

5. Rabada and co. prove too hot to handle

Kagiso Rabada’s rustiness was there for all to see in the first ODI against the West Indies. However, there was none of it against the Aussies as Rabada was back at his fearsome best. Of course, he was well complimented by the likes of Aaron Phangiso and Imran Tahir. But he concluded with figures of 3/13 in his spell, making him a strong contender for the man-of-the-match award.

Also, read – Tri Series 2016, 3rd ODI: Australia v South Africa – Statistical Highlights