Letting fly
Victory in Brisbane boosts South Africa
The Proteas kick-started their T20 preparations with a comfortable 41-run win against a Cricket Australia XI at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane on Wednesday.
SA play Australia in a oneoff T20 International at the Metricon Stadium at the Gold Coast on Saturday, the final fixture of the limited-overs tour.
Both teams were allowed to play 12 players. The Proteas rested Faf du Plessis and David Miller, while Quinton de Kock took the lead behind the stumps.
The match was important time out in the middle for the players who missed out during the recently concluded ODI series, and although limited, was a timely confidence boost for the fringe players.
The Proteas posted an imposing total of 201/5 in their allotted 20 overs, after winning the toss and electing to bat.
Reeza Hendricks (39 off 38 balls) and Aiden Markram (45 off 26 balls) set the platform with a rapid second-wicket partnership of 66 off 39 balls, which was backed up by an explosive third-wicket stand of 68 off 34 balls between Hendricks and Heinrich Klaasen (41 off 23 balls).
Farhaan Behardien (27 off 14) played the perfect finishing role at the back end of the innings, smashing 21 runs off six balls to take the score over 200.
The wickets were shared among the home team’s bowlers, with Gurinder Sandhu (1/18) and Jason Behrendorff (1/25) returning the most economical figures for their three-over spells.
De Kock used seven bowlers for CA XI’s chase, which was a useful run for them to execute their T20-specific skills and game plans.
Chris Morris (2/35) was the top wicket-taker for the Proteas, with Imran Tahir (1/11), Kagiso Rabada (1/13) and Tabraiz Shamsi (1/27) chipping in to restrict the CA XI to 160/7 in 20 overs.
Dale Steyn has been released from the squad and will return to SA.
Steyn is set to play for the Cape Town Blitz in the upcoming Mzansi Super League which gets under way on Friday.
Steyn will not be available for the opening match on Friday but is likely to feature for the weekend fixtures.
Scores:
SA 201-5 (A Markram 45, H Klaasen 41; G Sandhu 1-18, M Kuhnemann 1-18, J Behrendorff 1-25)
CA XI 160-7 (A Ross 40, M Bryant 36; C Morris 2-35, K Rabada 1-13)
Toss: SA
SA won by 41 runs.