South Africa secured a 67-run win over Australia in the first ODI of the three-match series at Kingsmead in Durban on Thursday, September 24.
Delving into the details of the first ODI, South Africa posted 297/8 in 50 overs. Matthew Breetzke top-scored with 112 runs off 106 balls with 14 fours and two sixes. Marco Jansen was the second-best scorer with 75 runs off 59 balls. Nathan Ellis scalped a three-fer.
In response, Australia could score 230 runs in 41.2 overs, losing the game by 67 runs. Mitchell Marsh was the top scorer with 60 runs, but his knock went in vain. Keshav Maharaj scalped a four-wicket haul as South Africa took a 1-0 lead.
On that note, let’s take a look at who said what after the first ODI.
Temba Bavuma, South African skipper:
Very satisfied for me. It was a good fight from the batters, from the bowlers. Looking at how both innings started in the first ten, both of them we were under pressure, but we managed. With the bat, get ourselves to a very competitive score on that wicket, and then similarly with the bowling as well. Again under pressure after the first ten, but we kind of stuck in and we were able to get on the right side of that result. [On the conditions and what South Africa expected coming into the game] I think I was hoping to win the toss. That’s the first thing. As batters, we knew it was going to be tough. It’s obviously a different thing when you’re out there. They really put us under pressure, hitting those Test lengths and lines hard. We tried to make the play now and then. You saw after the first ten that we were under pressure. In saying that, we still stayed in it. Matthew Breetzke, the way that he batted, positions he showed, the intensity, I think that’s something that all of us, we can commend. Jansen as well at the end, being able to add a couple of punches there, that got us to a good total. Then with the ball, we’re probably poor in the first ten. I think the only nice thing is that you expect Australians to play like that. The challenge is always to make sure that the body language is positive, but I think mentally just staying in the game. We just waited for the opportunity to turn it to your favour.
[On the bowlers] You’ve got guys with a strong desire to make it for the team. It’s opportunities for certain guys. They’re very hungry to make the play for the team. Fortunately, we have a guy like Keshav, who from the spin department, who kind of helps in terms of the bowling overall. We’ve got a guy like Bjorn Fortuin as well, who’s got a wealth of first-class experience. So I think that kind of balances it out. The spinners did an incredible job on the other side. In all, we kind of managed it quite well, the short boundary on this side and the two left-arm spinners on the other side. [On the second ODI and the Pink Day in the next game] Different conditions. We’ll see what Wanderers has for us, and of course we’re looking forward to the pink day. As per pink, we’ll obviously play for the good cause of breast cancer.
Mitchell Marsh, Australian captain:
[On his reaction to the defeat] Pretty disappointed. Like I said, outplayed us. Getting 100 of the last ten overs. We came close, but we fell well short tonight. [On South Africa reaching nearly 300 after Australia restricted them early] We sort of know that’s the way that they tend to play. They like to build in their fifty overs and go hard in the last sort of ten, fifteen. We pushed to try and get that extra couple of wickets there and it didn’t quite go our way and I thought Marco (Jansen) batted very well. It was hard to bowl to, particularly with that short boundary. So credit where credit’s due. They did well to get to 300 on that wicket and then obviously we had opportunities, probably sounding like a broken record and it comes to partnerships without batting, but we weren’t able to form many tonight.
[On the importance of partnerships after getting the required run rate down] Well, we managed to get the run-rate down and from there, as I said, it was about forming partnerships. We needed Maharaj and Bjorn Fortuin to be key for us in the way that we played them. Unfortunately, weren’t able to execute long enough for long periods of time, but that’s the way it goes. I think it’s good learning. It’s a great opportunity for us if we come up against that in game two to learn from this and get better and try and make it one-all. [On moving from Durban to the Wanderers and adapting to the conditions] Look, I’m a little bit unsure of how that wicket’s playing these days. It’s been a while for me. But as a batter I know the ball travels, and as someone who doesn’t bowl anymore, it’s quite nice going up there.
