South Africa pacer Dale Steyn has looked on fire in the opening game of the ODI series between Australia and South Africa in Perth on Sunday, but what many wouldn’t see in the scoreboard is the brilliant catch that Proteas skipper Faf du Plessis took to send back Australia batsman D’Arcy Short.
After dismissing opener Travis Head off the third ball of the third over, Steyn pitched the fifth ball up and induced the drive. With the natural movement taking the ball away from the left-hander, Short managed to only edge the booming drive. Even as the ball flew towards the slip cordon and looked almost certain to miss the fingers of the South Africa skipper, du Plessis managed to pluck it out of thin air as the Proteas celebrated and the score read 4/2 after the hosts were put into bat.
With the South Africa bowlers bowling a tight line, the Australians never recovered from the early loss and were dismissed for 152 in the first game of the series. While Nathan Coulter-Nile was the top scorer for the hosts with 34, the Proteas bowlers fired in unison as Steyn finished with figures of 2/18 from his seven overs, Lungi Ngidi had figures of 2/26 from his 8.1 overs, all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo picked 3/33 from his six overs and spinner Imran Tahir got two wickets for 39 runs from his nine.
{{/usCountry}}With the South Africa bowlers bowling a tight line, the Australians never recovered from the early loss and were dismissed for 152 in the first game of the series. While Nathan Coulter-Nile was the top scorer for the hosts with 34, the Proteas bowlers fired in unison as Steyn finished with figures of 2/18 from his seven overs, Lungi Ngidi had figures of 2/26 from his 8.1 overs, all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo picked 3/33 from his six overs and spinner Imran Tahir got two wickets for 39 runs from his nine.
{{/usCountry}}Kagiso Rabada was the only bowler who did not manage to pick a wicket and finished with figures of 0/30 from his 8 overs. Australia wicket-keeper Alex Carey was the second highest scorer for the hosts with 33.