Cricket

'Ye tha ek badhiyaa match' - Fans react as South Africa beat Australia in must-win 4th ODI courtesy of Heinrich Klassen's historic knock

South Africa have now levelled the series by 2-2 against Australia with this massive win of 164 runs in the penultimate ODI of the series.

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Daniel S
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South Africa

South Africa and Australia locked horns in the fourth ODI of the five-match series at the SuperSport Park in Centurion on Friday, September 15. The visiting skipper Mitchell Marsh won the flip of the coin and asked the hosts to bat first, which later proved to be a wrong decision by the destructive Proteas duo of Heinrich Klassen and David Miller.

South Africa got a stable start of 64 runs for the first wicket in 12.5 overs by the opening pair of Reeza Hendricks and Quinton de Kock as the skipper Temba Bauvma was rested in this match. Hendricks got bowled out by Nathan Ellis on the individual score of 28 runs, including five boundaries. His dismissal was followed by De Kock’s departure (45 runs, five fours) just after the addition of 31 runs in the team’s total.

An unforgettable batting show by the Klassen-Miller duo for South Africa

Australia got the stand-in Aiden Markram’s wicket early and the hosts lost their third wicket in quick succession on the score of 120 runs. Then the pair of Rassie Van Der Dussen and Heinrich Klassen stitched a stabilizing partnership of 74 runs for the fourth wicket in SA’s favour before the former got caught behind the wickets by Alex Carey off Josh Hazlewood. It was also the time when the entire cricketing world was about to witness the storm of the pair of Klassen and number six batter David Miller.

The duo stitched an unbeaten 222-run partnership for the 5th wicket off just 94 balls which happened to be the fastest double-century partnership in the history of ODIs. Klassen ended up scoring a blistering century with an individual score of 174 runs off just 83 balls, including 13 fours and 13 sixes, alongside Miller’s 82 runs off just 45 balls with 6 fours and 5 sixes.

On the back of these knocks, the Proteas posted a big total of 416 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in the allotted 50 overs.

While chasing the target, the Aussies got bundled up on the score of 252 runs, including an only fighting knock from Alex Carey who was unfortunate to get dismissed on the individual score of 99 runs off 77 balls, including 9 fours and 4 sixes, missed his century just by a run.

Eventually, the hosts won by a massive margin of 164 runs and levelled the five-match series by 2-2 from getting trailed by 0-2 after two losses in the first two ODIs. Klassen won the ‘Player of the Match award for his historic and match-defining knock.

Here’s how fans reacted to South Africa’s remarkable win over Australia:

 

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