With that, we wrap up our coverage of the South Africa vs. Australia match. Today was South Africa's day, and they clinched a vital victory, leveling the series at 2-2.
We look forward to bringing you live updates from upcoming games across the globe. Signing off for now, this is Hitesh Peddurwar, along with my co-commentator Akshay Bhide, and our meticulous scorers/analysts Dushyant Madhukar Kumar and Bishal Mandal. Until next time, stay safe and enjoy the world of cricket!
Aiden Markram (South Africa Captain): "Quite a few special performances. Klaasen first up. Must-win game for us and he stepped up. Put up a solid partnership with Davey and helped us get to a mammoth total on the board.
As the series has gone on, we have improved as a team. We have done well in the powerplay. Get through it and then accelerate. It's about sticking to your strengths and we are getting closer to the Australians.
It's quite difficult to take the ball out of the hand of someone who is bowling nicely. But you have to make those decisions. The credit must go to the unit for stepping up.
It will be a fresh day on Sunday. We are getting closer to where we want to be each day and there is always room for improvement. Temba is leading the side brilliantly and we will look to come out on top on Sunday."
Heinrich Klaasen (Player of the Match):"I am trying to take everything in, that's why I was in the field. I don't remember a lot of the innings, I need to go back and watch it. I just thought to rebuild the partnership, as the wicket looked bit slow. We just thought to take over after the 35 overs. Rassie fancied in the 35th over and unfortunately, he got out.
For me it was just the wicket got better, and me and David knew that the ball comes well on the bat later, so we could take on the spin and do the big damage. When me and Rassie batted we thought we would get to 320 but when I batted with David it was like 400 total. My coach wanted a 400 total so it's for him. Pretty sweet to do it on my home ground, the crowd is incredible here."
Player of the Match: Heinrich Klaasen
Mitchell Marsh (Australia Captain): "It's a tough day at the office Pom. Klaasen was just amazing today and it was a tough day. I think if you look at the history of the ground, teams do score in the last 20 overs. It looks good on TV but we were outplayed today. You just have to take your hats off and Klaasen played really well today. Hats off to him.
I thought we would have been happy with 300-350. We were two wickets away from putting them under pressure. The ball comes nicely onto the bat and it travels nicely on the outfield.
It was good to see Carey get some runs. He is really important to us for the next two months. It is really a shame that he couldn't get his hundred but good to see him score tonight."
23:53 IST, 20:23 Local Time: Time for the post-match presentation.
23:43 IST, 20:13 Local Time| South Africa's dominance was on full display as they outperformed the Australians in every facet of the game, securing a commanding 164-run victory. With the series now level at 2-2, it's anyone's trophy. Heinrich Klaasen's(174 off 83 balls) stellar performance propelled the Proteas to a formidable total in the first innings, while Lungi Ngidi shone brightly as he led the bowling attack and scalped 4 wickets. Alex Carey was the lone warrior for Australia with the bat, in the end, it was a heartbreak for him as he departed on 99.
Earlier in the game, Australian skipper Mitchell Marsh won the toss and elected to field. South Africa's opening pair, Quinton de Kock and Reeza Hendricks had to work hard for their runs in the face of disciplined Australian bowling. They managed 44 runs during the initial powerplay.
Hendricks was dismissed for 28 by Nathan Ellis, and de Kock fell for 45 in the 21st over. Aiden Markram's early exit for eight added to the pressure. Rassie van der Dussen then joined Heinrich Klaasen, and together they built a steady partnership.
Klaasen launched an aggressive assault on the Australian bowlers, scoring a remarkable 174 off just 83 balls, featuring 13 fours and as many sixes. David Miller complemented him, remaining unbeaten with 82 off 45 balls, including six boundaries and five sixes.
The Australian bowlers had a forgettable day, with Josh Hazlewood managing two wickets but conceding 79 runs in his 10 overs. Michael Neser,Marcus Stoinis, and Nathan Ellis each picked up a wicket. Adam Zampa's figures of 0/113 in 10 overs made it one of the joint-most expensive spells in ODI cricket.
In their pursuit of a daunting 417-run target, Australia struggled right from the start as wickets tumbled at regular intervals. Lungi Ngidi was in exceptional form for the Proteas, making life difficult for the Aussie batsmen. He dismissed David Warner (12) in just the 3rd over and then sent Australian skipper Mitchell Marsh (6) packing in the 5th over. Adding to Australia's woes, Travis Head was forced to retire hurt due to a finger injury. Marnus Labuschagne and Alex Carey managed to stitch together a 34-run partnership for the 4th wicket. However, Marnus departed after scoring 20 runs. Alex Carey, showing remarkable resilience, continued to accumulate runs at a brisk pace and reached his fifty in just 36 balls.
Marcus Stoinis couldn't make a significant impact as he was dismissed after contributing 18 runs. Tim David then joined Carey, and together, they consistently found the boundary, maintaining a competitive run rate. Their partnership of 72 runs for the 6th wicket offered a glimmer of hope to Australian fans.
Lungi Ngidi once again proved to be the Proteas' star performer with the ball in hand. He returned to the attack and dismissed Tim David, who departed after a quickfire 35-run innings from just 25 balls.
The wickets were tumbling down for Australia from the one end but Alex Carey kept on scoring runs from the other end. His valiant effort ended in heartbreak, just one run short of a century, as he departed after scoring 99 runs. Ultimately, South Africa triumphed in this contest, winning by a substantial margin of 164 runs.
From a bowling point of view, Lungi Ngidi was the star performer for Proteas with the ball in hand, as he scalped 4 wickets,Kagiso Rabada chipped in with 3 wickets and Marco Jansen and Keshav Maharaj scalped a wicket each.
The series is alive now as it is leveled to 2-2. The final encounter of this series will be played on 17th September.
Stay tuned for the post-match presentation ceremony!!!
W Appeal for caught behind and up goes the finger!!! That's heartbreaking for Alex Carey as he falls just 1 run short of the 100. Short delivery down the leg stump line, Carey hops a bit and tries to pull it along the ground towards the deep mid-wicket region but the ball bounces a bit high than he expected and he gets it on the glove, the ball lobs up in the air, Quinton behind the wickets dives towards his left and takes a good catch. Alex Carey takes the review but all goes in vain as ultra edge showed clear spike on it. South Africa have leveled this series as they have won this game by 164 runs.
Carey moves to 99.
34.4 K Rabada to A Carey
2 Short delivery on the middle stump line, Carey stays tall in his crease and pulls it towards the deep mid-wicket region and collects a couple of runs, he moves onto 99*.
34.3 K Rabada to J Hazlewood
1 Back of the length delivery onto the body of Josh, Josh backs away and dabs it in front of the man at point region and collects a single.