South Africa beat Australia by 98 runs in the first ODI of the series
Keshav Maharaj was the star for South Africa with his maiden fifer
He received high praise from both Mitchell Marsh and Temba Bavuma
Keshav Maharaj received high praise from both Mitchell Marsh and Temba Bavuma after he led South Africa to victory against Australia in their ODI series opener.
The spinner ended with figures of 5-33 after sweeping through Australia’s middle-order to claim his maiden ODI five-wicket haul.
Maharaj took all five wickets to fall between the ninth and 17th overs of the Australian innings as the hosts were dropped to 89-6, before Lungi Ngidi and Nandre Burger helped secure a 98-run win in Cairns.
The Proteas now have a positive record in men’s ODIs in Australia, winning 20 of their 40 matches against their rivals and losing 19 (one draw).
Australia captain Marsh conceded he misread the conditions at the toss after choosing to bowl first, but he did not take anything away from Maharaj’s performance.
“Keshav is an outstanding bowler and certainly there was a bit more spin than we expected,” said Marsh.
“But at times you've got to take your hats off to someone like him, and he won them the game.
“I certainly don't think it's a lack of confidence. As a whole, over the last period of time, we've played spin well, but yeah, he bowled well and got some crucial wickets.”
South Africa have had a mixed run of form in ODI matches this year. They lost both matches in a Tri-Series against New Zealand and Pakistan, hosted by the latter, while falling short in the Champions Trophy semi-finals against the Black Caps in March.
Captain Bavuma was pleased with his side’s performance against Australia, but he refused to get carried away.
“Good all-round performance from the boys. I think we did a good job with the bat,” said Bavuma.
“The wicket was a bit slow, a bit two-paced, but we tried to adapt as much as we could. I think we put in a competitive score then the bowlers came in, they had seen how the wicket was and they did their thing.
“Not a bad toss to lose. I wasn't expecting it to turn as much. We felt that maybe the wicket would start to be variable, maybe a bit on the low side, but Keshav again showed his class there. He was well supported by the others as well.
“With the experience of playing against Australia, you know the guys at the top, they like the pace coming on. So after seeing the conditions and adapting, we had our weapons in the spin. Fortunately, today it came through for us.”
