Australia vs South Africa: Records broken as Proteas thrash Aussies
The Australian ODI team suffered another blow, as they lost the first home match of the summer, against South Africa in Perth. Australia managed a paltry score of 152 before the visitors chased it down with ease. Aaron Finch's side fell short with both bat and ball as their misery continued, with 7 months to go for the World Cup. Here're the records broken.
Aussies had a rocky start
Aussies had a rocky start with veteran pacer, Dale Steyn picking up a brace in his second over. The hosts never managed to make a comeback and scored their first boundary in the 12th over of the innings. Alex Carey (33) and Nathan Coulter-Nile (34) were the only ones who showed application. South African pacers shared 7 wickets between them at the Perth Stadium.
SA batsmen do enough
29-year-old SA opener Reeza Hendricks played a crucial knock (44). He shared a commanding 94 run-partnership for the first wicket with Quinton de Kock (47). The right-handed batsman added another 28 with Markram to get the side close to the target. Markram and Faf du Plessis guided the team home to win the match by 6 wickets.
Numbers tell only half the story
This was Australia's 17th ODI loss in the last 21 matches. During this period, they have managed only two wins with two matches ending as no-result. This was also their seventh loss in a row in this format. This was just the second international match at the new Perth Stadium. Australia have lost both these matches. England had beat them earlier here.
Australia's misery continues to pile up
Australia were bowled out in 38.1 overs. Only once, they have been bowled out faster, batting first, in a home ODI. Their worst record was 26.4 overs versus Sri Lanka, in Brisbane in the year 2013. Since the second Abu Dhabi Test match against Pakistan last month, no Australian has scored more runs in international cricket than Nathan Coulter-Nile (95 runs).
A surprising decision?
This was the first time since July 2015 that Mitchell Starc did not open the bowling for Australia in any international match he has played. Finch handed the new ball to Coulter-Nile instead.
