Decoding SA's death-over batting woes in Australia T20I series
What's the story
Australia went past South Africa at Cazaly's Stadium, Cairns in a thrilling third T20I to clinch the series 2-1. South Africa posted a score of 172/7 batting first. In response, Glenn Maxwell's unbeaten knock of 62 off just 36 balls saw his team through with two wickets in hand. Meanwhile, the Proteas team was let down by their batters in the death overs (16-20) in this series. Here we decode the same.
1st T20I
1st T20I: 41/4 in final five overs
Australia successfully defended 178 in the first T20I as their bowlers were sensational in the final five overs. The visitors were decently placed at 120/5 at the end of the 15th over, needing 59 more runs to win. However, they could only manage 41 runs in their final legal 30 deliveries and lost four wickets in the process. Adam Zampa struck twice in the 16th over before Ben Dwarshuis did the same in the 20th.
2nd T20I
2nd T20I: 51/4 in final five overs
Though South Africa bounced back to beat Australia in the 2nd T20I, their death-over issues with the bat continued. Batting first, SA were well placed at 167/3 at the 15-over mark thanks to a blistering hundred from Dewald Brevis. With wickets in hand and a set Brevis in the middle, SA would have hoped to touch the 240-run mark. However, they lost four wickets in the last five overs and managed just 51 runs. The scoring rate came down significantly.
3rd T20I
3rd T20I: 38/3 in final five overs
SA's death-over performance in the deciding affair was even more dismal. Having placed at 134/4 by the conclusion of the 15th over, SA looked set to breach the 180-run mark without much hassle. However, they were restricted to just 172/7 as their final five overs yielded just 38 runs for them. Interestingly, they lost just three wickets in this phase. Australia managed 40 runs in their final 4.5 overs to cross the line.