A gallant 173-run performance from Australian batsman David Warner wasn’t enough to stop South Africa from completing a five-game whitewash.
Australia’s inexperienced bowling lineup was forced to deal with the exceptional batting display from South Africa’s Rilee Rossouw, who scored 122 runs off 118 balls, just reaching his third ODI century.
Rossouw’s heroics didn’t last for too long as he fell in the 48th over thanks to Australian pacer Joe Mennie. Veteran South African JP Duminy scored 73 runs in partnership with Roussow, propelling 327 for eight.
Serving as a one-man wrecking ball, David Warner lacked the support from his fellow batsmen to help Australia catch up to the 329 runs set by South Africa to win the game.
Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh scored the most runs for Australia aside from Warner, with 35 runs each. Aaron Finch formed a 72-run partnership, scoring 19 runs but fell on the 14th over to an Imran Tahir ball.
Australia’s lower order batsmen didn’t make more than 20 runs. Captain Steve Smith, Joe Mennie and Chris Tremain all went out for ducks and George Bailey was dismissed for only two runs.
As a result of Australia’s poor performance in South Africa, Rod Marsh announced he will quit from his position as national selector, with his contract expiring in June 2017. – Ben Owusu
Photo of South Africa celebrating with their trophy from the Cricket South Africa Twitter feed.
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