A tight, tense affair at the MCG…as in the test series it came down to brilliance when it mattered most.

South Africa bowled ok, with Australia threatening at many stages to get a massive total. In the end our bowlers managed to keep the aussies in check and allow us a chance at a total of 270. In could have been much better had we field better and taken our catches. Van Jaarsveld dropped 2 sitters. What has happened to our fielding since the test matches??? I think the lack of Smith in the field is no coincidence to our drop off in intensity.

Our batting started our slowly as it usually does in run chases. After putting pressure on ourselves, Kallis and Duminy batted well to get the scoreboard ticking over and build a foundation. Unfortunately Kallis got undone by a slightly quicker ball from Clarke. However is was still short and should’ve gone to the boundary. That is the difference between the greats and the rest (I still class Kallis as a great but his average iof 31 against Australia which is 14 below his career shows he has to step up more often when needed)

Duminy and McKenzie batted well to put us in a winning position, but then after Duminy got out we tried as hard as possible to lose the game. With 5 overs left, 50 needed and only 3 wickets, we had a 20% chance of winning. We needed a hero. Step up Albie Morkel. What a great innings. Powerful, clean hitting, all around the park. One of the best sixes you’ll ever see 30 rows back down the ground at the MCG. A beautiful 4 over cover, a deft touch between gully and keeper, past short fine leg, Albie had all the strokes.

Even better than beating Australia and getting a 1-0 lead in the series was maintaining our unbeaten record against Australia at the MCG. 6 and 0. Heading to Hobart, a chance to make it all count and heap the pressure right on the enemy…