AUS vs SA: South Africa hands Australia its biggest ODI World Cup loss
The HinduAustralia skipper Pat Cummins had said that both teams were ‘very similar’ on match eve, but there were few parallels between them on Thursday as South Africa mauled the five-time champion by 134 runs in a World Cup match at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium here. Inserted, South Africa was off to a watchful start, which included de Kock’s and Temba Bavuma’s nervy play and misses, as Starc swung the ball both ways. He showcased his range by sweeping and then reverse-sweeping Adam Zampa for consecutive fours before fatally attempting a cheeky reverse pull off Glenn Maxwell, whose bowling was the silver lining to Australia’s scrappy day on the field that was summed by five dropped catches. While Australia’s pacers, Starc in particular, did well to wrest the initiative at the death by pitching it short and bowling the slower ones, South Africa had enough on the board.