Consider it fixed, captain

Times Media

TELFORD VICE, Cape Town

AB de Villiers told his team to “fix it, now” after their patchy performance in the first one-day international against Australia in Perth on Friday. On Sunday they returned to the scene of the crime for the second match and fix it they did in emphatic style.

Australia were rattled out for 154, their sixth lowest total in the 85 ODIs they have played against SA. Although De Villiers’ team did not chase down their target as comfortably as they should have, the result was never in doubt: SA won by three wickets in 27.4 overs.

That completed a hattrick of successes for SA’s three major national teams at the weekend. On Saturday, Bafana Bafana beat Sudan 2-1 triumph in Durban and the Springboks 31-28 winners over England in London.

Morne Morkel claimed a career-best 5/21, only his second five-wicket haul in 85 ODIs, and Dale Steyn fired his brimstone for figures of 3/35.

De Villiers quietened the clatter of wickets by batting through two chunky partnerships for his 48, while David Miller followed his 65 on Friday - his first half-century in 11 innings in the format - with a composed unbeaten 22 that steadied the innings.

Australia’s Josh Hazlewood was twice on a hattrick, can put De Villiers’ wicket on his mantlepiece, and claimed 5/31 - also a career-best display. But that did not count for much after an Australian innings in which Mitchell Marsh’s 67 was the only score above 25.

Importantly, SA took their catches. On Friday, they dropped a single batsman four times alone. That man was George Bailey, who admitted that SA’s improved showing in the field was a deciding factor on Sunday: “They caught everything; that made a big difference.”

Vernon Philander, who took 4/45 in the first match, added only one wicket to his quiver on Sunday - but his nine overs cost just 16 runs. Even Farhaan Behardien got away with 1/40 from eight overs, and his wicket was that of no less a batsman than Shane Watson, trapped in front for 11 and on his way without stopping to refer the decision.

Not even an Aussie could fail to admire SA’s bowling prowess.

“They were pretty disciplined,” Bailey said. “They didn’t give heaps to hit. The threat of the bouncer was there, but they didn’t bowl many of them. It was a combination of SA building pressure and our batsmen exploding.”

With that, the series was returned to an even keel going into the last three games, the first of them in Canberra on Wednesday. The fact that the rubber will be complete by Sunday evening means Wednesday’s winners will be strong favourites to claim the series, momentum being what it is.

Even worse news for Australia was that Michael Clarke has been ruled out for the rest of the series after suffering his third hamstring injury in six weeks while batting on Friday.

In fact, the Aussies have narrowed Clarke’s priorities to being fit for the World Cup in February and March and the Ashes in July and August.

“Unfortunately, I’m getting used to it,” Bailey, the stand-in skipper, said of having to step into the captaincy breach more often than he would like.