South Africa overpowered their nemesis from down under, beating Australia by 25 runs in the third ODI at Newlands on Thursday. The Proteas, playing almost right through with a clinical, ruthless efficiency reminiscent of Hansie Cronje’s team of about a decade ago, shut the Aussies out without giving them as much as a sniff. The Australians must be thankful for the three rest days that they have to recover from this game and rediscover their tenacity.
A Shaky Start
To begin with, Greame Smith must have been extremely pleased with winning the toss, as the record in Newlands for the team batting second in day/night games did not look promising. However, the going was not easy for the home team and especially the captain first up. Mitchell Johnson had the ball in his hand and he was conjuring up his subtle magic at blistering speeds just as he has done both sides of the ocean all summer. Unable to read whether the ball was going to hold its line, deviate inwards or seam away, Smith looked like a helpless bunny. He resorted to playing at the last instant, his feet were nowhere in position and when he finally got out in the seventh over, edging one off Johnson to Haddin with the score at 28, it came as no surprise. More than anything else, it was quite evident that the muscular left-armer from Queensland had got in his head. Gibbs at the other end looked much more at ease, but he appeared in no hurry to press the scoring, probably trying to set himself up for a long overdue big innings.
Quite contrarily, Kallis began his innings in a tearing hurry, and for the next forty minutes or so the partnership that unfolded was as bewildering as it was amusing. The crowd at Newlands, the South African dressing room and the Australian team were probably all equally confounded. Gibbs was batting with an almost lazy composure and Kallis, equally uncharacteristically, was trying to smash the leather out of the white ball. It almost seemed like a magician had switched their personalities. While Gibbs’ patience looked like it was being stretched to tipping point, Kallis’ largely unsuccessful attempts at swatting the ball away often produced comical results. With the score still at a rather dismal 50 after 14 overs (out of which Johnson’s 5 overs had only produced 6 runs), it appeared that something was going to give soon. It took only another two balls. Bracken bowling patient slower off-cutters finally got the better of Gibbs. The dasher tried to hoick him over mid-wicket only to be caught by Hopes in the deep for 26. Yet another start had been squandered…
An Excellent Partnership
As deVilliers walked out to bat, South Africa desperately needed Kallis to rediscover his composure and construct a steady partnership. To some extent he did just that, playing some majestic strokes whenever he tried to time rather than hit the ball. On the other end his younger partner began to work the ball around as soon as he got used to the pace of the wicket. When the score stood at 70 after 20 overs, it was very clear that the Aussies were going to try to take the pace off the ball and play on their host’s patience. 
Brutal Onslaught
When Kallis finally got out after scoring a masterly 70, it was thanks to a lapse in his own concentration more than anything else. He pulled a loose delivery from Geeves straight down Hopes’ throat at mid-wicket. But the score stood at 164 from 36 overs, and it was probably good for the Proteas that after laying a solid foundation, Kallis had made way for the power hitters at this stage. Devilliers upped a gear after that and ended up scoring 80. Duminy (32 from 26), Morkel (29 from 25) and especially Boucher (28 from 15) played brutal cameos, lifting the score to a whopping 289-6 from the 50 overs. The last five of these yielded 67 runs. Except for a brilliant lone effort from Johnson (34-4 from 10 overs), South Africa might have got a lot more. Anyway, though, this score was more than enough, and no one really believed that Australia would be able to chase it under lights on this wicket.
Faltering Chase
The destroyers of the previous innings, Steyn and Parnell, bowled clinically even though the ball was not swinging. They maintained a perfect line and length and Parnell especially varied his pace deceptively, bowling between 132 and 148 kph. After 10 overs Australia had managed only 30 runs, and Haddin had just been run out by an accurate throw from Duminy. Australia were well behind the game and they never caught up from there. Ponting rode his luck till he was finally out caught and bowled by Botha for 20 in the 18th over. The score was only 67 then and the required run rate already close to seven an over. From then on the slow bowlers, Botha and Van Der Merwe, kept the game firmly in their grip. Faced with the desperate need to increase the run rate while they got no pace on the ball to work with, the Australians tried to make things happen and played into the hands of the South African slow bowlers. Their panicky attempts sent them back into the dressing room one after another. Van Der Merwe got two and Duminy one and the score stood a dismal 114-5 in the 31st over. Victory already seemed well beyond the visitors when Ferguson was joined by Hopes.
A Fightback Too Late…
Finally, though, some sense was restored in the Australian batting performance as the two low middle order batsmen showed their more illustrious compatriots just how to bat in such circumstances. 
The lights came back in a few minutes, but they never really shone on Australia and the faint hope quickly faded. Too much had been left to do too late, and it was never going to be possible against a very disciplined and sharp bowling and fielding unit. Nevertheless, Ferguson’s and Hopes’ brave performance (63 and 63* respectively) lifted the visitors to 264-7, a feat that itself had looked impossible at one point. Ferguson is fast developing into a busy lower order rescue worker for Australia, and comparisons with Bevan himself might not take very long coming.
For the hosts, Van Der Merwe, with 37-3 from his ten overs, was the pick of the bowlers. Kallis was declared the man of the match.