A walk in the park for the Proteas in Oz
● SA eased to a 21-run win in their one-off T20 game against Australia in Gold Coast to finish their whirlwind limited-overs tour on a high note.
Chasing 109 in 10 overs after rain took a chunk of the playing time, not at any stage did Australia look like keeping up with the initial 10.90 per over asking rate.
They managed only 87/7 after the visitors posted 108/6 in their 10 overs.
Glenn Maxwell (38) provided the sole innings of substance and Chris Lynn (14) made a small contribution.
The rest of the line-up failed to get into double digits as SA’s bowlers applied the collective squeeze from the get-go.
When Australia had half their batting shaved off with only 42 runs after five and a half overs, the game was done as a contest.
After being inserted by birthday boy and Australia's T20 captain Aaron Finch, SA got off to a rapid start when Quinton de Kock (22) and Reeza Hendricks (19) put together a 42-run opening stand in under three overs.
Maximum timing
Hendricks was the first to go, holing out to Ben McDermott at deep square leg off Nathan Coulter-Nile.
On a different ground, the Highveld Lions opener would have cleared the rope with ease, but the Carrara Stadium is big and reaching the boundary meant maximum timing.
There also was the slow outfield saturated by a downpour that lopped an hour and 50 minutes off playing time.
The ground staff and the excellent drainage ensured play in an inconsequential game.
The Gold Coast-based stadium wasn’t going to allow the weather gods to get in the way of its first international cricket match.
The start was frittered away as none of the batsmen who followed the openers could clear the boundary.
De Kock though cleared the boundary twice but he was snared by Maxwell when keeper Alex Carey made a smart stumping.
The stringing together of partnerships was made difficult by the abbreviated nature of the game as the batsmen hardly had time to bed in before making the runs.
Proteas captain Faf du Plessis (27) was also a victim of the massive outfield when his tennis slap to deep long-on off the bowling of Billy Stanlake was well caught by Maxwell.
Heinrich Klaasen (12), David Miller (11) and Chris Morris (0) came and went without much of an intervention but the score again proved beyond Australia’s reach.