South Africa v Australia, 5th ODI, Johannesburg Highlights

It may have been a dead rubber at the end of a long summer, but a resolute Australia scrapped hard in the field to secure a consolation win in Johannesburg and move up to No. 2 in the ODI rankings. Both innings followed a similar pattern: significant contributions from the top four before the middle order collapsed. Michael Hussey remained unbeaten to make sure Australia capitalised on the batting Powerplay and shepherded them past 300, but none of the South African batsmen played that role, leaving the tail too much to do.

South Africa appeared to be coasting towards a victory when they had reached 186 for 2 after 34 overs, with Jacques Kallis and Man-of-the-Series AB de Villiers looking solid. Nathan Bracken then lured Kallis into a loose away-from-the-body waft which ended in Brad Haddin’s gloves. Mitchell Johnson turned up the pressure a notch when he ended JP Duminy’s short, shaky stay in the next over. It was still anybody’s game when Mark Boucher swatted James Hopes straight to Nathan Hauritz at midwicket.

Aus Bat

SA Bat