(This entry was originally published on Friday, January 16th, 2009)
South Africa got off to a good start in the five match ODI series against host Australia winning the first ODI by 3 wickets in a thrilling fashion. Batting first, host Australia scored 271 runs losing 8 wickets after 50 overs, and South Africa reached the target losing 7 wickets with three balls still remaining in hands.
Winning the toss, Australia decided to bat first, but the start was not pretty impressive for the host side as they lost opener Michael Hussey’s wicket for 8. However, opener Marsh and captain Ponting added 94 runs for the second wicket, helping Australia to get over the early setback. Highest 79 runs of Australian innings came from opener Marsh’s willow. Ponting fell just four runs short of half century. In the end, David Hussey’s well-played 52-run innings was responsible for Australia’s fighting total of 271. Morne Morkel, Johan Botha and Albie Morkel all took 2 wickets each.
Chasing down a big total, South Africa did not get a start which was expected as the visiting side lost the wickets of two openers by the time they reached 36. However, the fourth-wicket stand between Jean-Paul Duminy and Neil McKenzie brought up 123 runs, putting South Africa on course of a thrilling victory. Still, the victory would not have been possible for South Africa unless Albie Morkel scored a quick-fire innings of 40 runs off 18 balls. For his all-round performance, Morkel was awarded the man of the match award.
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