Twitter Reactions: Janneman Malan's maiden ODI ton and Lungi Ngidi's six-fer set up a fantastic series win for South Africa

Lungi Ngidi was the star with the ball as he picked up six wickets.

By Sahil Jain

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Janneman Malan
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Janneman Malan. (Photo Source: Twitter)

After struggling for the most part of this home summer, South Africa have finally managed to win a series. They won the first game convincingly as they defended 291 with ease in the end. However, they were chasing 272 on a slightly tricky two-paced surface but the South African batting line-up stood up and delivered. They’ve now taken an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the series. Moreover, this is Australia’s second successive ODI series loss in 2020.

Aaron Finch, D’Arcy Short help Australia recover as Lungi Ngidi takes best figures

Earlier, after opting to bat first, Australia were off to a flying start. David Warner took off as skipper Aaron Finch played second fiddle as they raced away to 50/0 in six overs. The left-handed opener scored a quickfire 35 before Lungi Ngidi struck and sent back the hard-hitting Aussie batsman. Steve Smith didn’t last too long as he was out for 13 while Marnus Labuschagne got a first-baller.

But it was Finch and Short who got together and bailed Australia out of a tricky situation (81/3). The duo shared a 77-run stand for the fourth wicket but it was Anrich Nortje who got the better of Finch. Mitchell Marsh and Alex Carey played a couple of handy cameos. But the innings fell off the cliff towards the end as the Aussies could score just 14 runs from the last 20 balls.

It was Ngidi who was doing the bulk of the damage. The 23-year-old fast bowler picked up 6/58 and bowled really well throughout. He first derailed Australia’s top order before coming back to pick regular wickets at the death to help South Africa restrict the visitors to 271.

Mitchell Starc knocks over Quinton de Kock, again

Quinton de Kock has been batting really well and has been South Africa’s best batsman across formats. However, he’s had a tough time countering Mitchell Starc. The South African skipper was knocked over twice in the T20I series in a similar manner. Starc went through de Kock’s defence once again but this time it was on the inside edge. It was an early breakthrough for Australia but they couldn’t capitalize.

Janneman Malan ton sets up South Africa’s win

After South Africa lost de Kock in the first over, Janneman Malan joined hands with JJ Smuts to resurrect the innings and the duo added 91 runs for the second wicket. Kyle Verreynne was dismissed early as well. But the likes of Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller complemented Malan really well as the latter went on to score a maiden ODI ton.

It was just his second ODI and was out for a golden duck on debut. Malan made an unbeaten 129 which included seven fours and four sixes as he took the Proteas home with nine balls to spare.

Here’s how Twitter reacted:

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