Klaasen powers South Africa to ruthless victory

South Africa demolished Australia at Supersport Park, Centurion by 164 runs to make a stunning comeback into the series, equalising 2-2 after being 0-2 down after the first two matches. The win came on the back of Heinrich Klaasen’s brutal 174, featuring an equally fiery 82* by David Miller, both of whom were due a big knock in this series. The two put on a double-century stand, which came off just 87 balls, and essentially batted Australia out of the game by setting them a target of 417.

Chasing 417, Australia lost David Warner early trying to get going in a big chase, caught at cover point by David Miller off Lungi Ngidi. Mitchell Marsh followed soon after, caught in front by Lungi Ngidi, and reviewed unsuccessfully, which wasn’t a complete waste, given that it was only clipping leg stump. Travis Head, who had already been struck on the arm once, received another blow on his left hand trying to cut a Gerald Coetzee delivery, and retired hurt in agonising pain.

Carey, the next man in, wasn’t mucking around and got on with things, top-edging a fortuitous six off his third ball. However, while Carey kept the boundaries flowing on one end, Marnus Labuschagne soon nicked off to Marco Jansen, and as did Marcus Stoinis to Rabada, 26 runs later, leaving Australia’s chase in tatters. Tim David and Alex Carey gave Australia a glimmer of hope with a stand of 72 runs off 49 balls, and there was an air of panic when Tim David hit Gerald Coetzee for consecutive sixes. However, a stunning catch from Markram sent David on his way, after which the tail was exposed.