SA VS AUS ODI

Right then, that is it from this one-sided affair where South Africa dismantles Australia and gets their first win in the series to stay in it as well. The action will now move to Centurion where the fourth ODI will be played on 15th September, Friday at 4.30 pm IST (11 am GMT), but as you know, you can always join us early for all the build-up to that game. Until then, cheers and goodbye!

Temba Bavuma, the victorious skipper of South Africa says that he is happy with the result and they needed this victory to keep the series alive. He adds that there were a lot of good performances from the team and credits Aiden Markram and the bowlers for sticking to the plan. He mentions that he feels their score was at par and the wicket nibbled a bit but forming partnerships was a key moment for them. He says that the youngsters have got a good experience of what to expect by playing these matches and says that it is all about learning. He also says that the powerplay wasn't how they expected but their bowlers pulled back to run rate in the middle phases. He appreciates the spinners for bowling brilliantly and keeping the pressure on the batters. He ends by saying that they will keep improving as a team and that is a big positive for them and he hopes to keep raising the bar.

Aiden Markram is the PLAYER OF THE MATCH for his excellent century. He says that it is nice to contribute when the team needs it and they needed to win this one to stay in the series. Adds that this performance will give them a massive boost in confidence going into the next match. Tells that the wicket was challenging and was turning a lot, but it is always about learning in conditions like this and applying yourself in the middle, Mentions that it was important to build partnerships in the middle as initially, he was not feeling that fluent. Says that he is pleased that he stayed till the end and in the last over his plan was to hit a six, so he swung hard. Ends by saying he is quite happy with how things turned out and he got to his hundred.

Mitchell Marsh, the captain of Australia says that he is disappointed as there are areas they can improve in and credits South Africa for playing too well. He mentions that the target was a bit high and appreciates Aiden Markram for batting brilliantly. He hopes they will learn from this match especially with the World Cup coming up and says that playing spin has been a topic of discussion. He ends by saying that they will come back strongly in the next game

Presentation Time ...

Earlier in the game, after being forced to bat first, South Africa posted a huge total on the board thanks to a fine century from Aiden Markram and a couple of brilliant fifties from skipper Temba Bavuma, and QDK. For Australia, Travis Head got a couple of wickets while Marcus Stoinis, Nathan Ellis, and Tanveer Sangha picked up one each. While chasing, they started with a bang, but a huge collapse in the middle meant that it is all to play for in the next game.

South Africa, on the other hand, should be extremely proud of themselves for this excellent bowling effort. They were taken to the cleaners in the first ten overs, but the way Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj brought them back into the game was really good. Both of them shared four wickets equally among themselves and broke the core of Australian batting. The fantastic piece of fielding from Maharaj to get rid of Warner was the turning point in this game. They even dropped a few catches earlier in the game, but that hasn't cost them much. After the spinners, it was Gerald Coetzee who took his opportunity and ran through the lower middle order of the Aussies and ended with four wickets while Sisanda Magala chipped in with one to confirm the victory for the hosts.

Australia got off to a flier with both Travis Head and David Warner started smashing it all around the park from the word go. They added 79 runs together before Head got dismissed on 38. Aussies were 104/1 at the end of the first Powerplay and were looking on course to gun this total down with ease. However, once Mitchell Marsh got out, it went downhill for the visitors. Warner looked in fine touch and was scoring runs at a good rate, but a costly slip from him after a well-made 78 which resulted in a run-out started a monumental collapse for them. They went from 140-1 to 200-9 as their middle order had no answers to the spin arsenal of the hosts.  Except for the top three, no batter could even cross the 20-run mark which has ultimately cost them this match.

THE SERIES IS STILL ALIVE! A remarkable win for South Africa as they registered a massive 111-run win over Australia here. It was a great comeback from their bowlers especially the spinners after a nervy start. The hosts have put on an all-round show in this game and the home fans have finally got their money's worth in this series.

OUT! CAUGHT! Gerald Coetzee has cleaned things up. He bowls a short ball outside off. Nathan Ellis gives himself some room and lofts it over the infield towards deep cover. He doesn't get the distance needed and Reeza Hendricks takes a fine running catch to complete the last wicket. What a spell from Gerald Coetzee as South Africa win by 111 runs.

Slow and full outside off. Nathan Ellis slaps it to mid off.

FOUR! Nathan Ellis is dealing some damage too! Gerald Coetzee bowls this short and over off. Nathan Ellis swings hard but gets an outside edge past the keeper and slip. The ball has enough pace on it to runa way to the thrid man fence for four runs.

Very full on off. Josh Hazlewood digs it out back to the bowler. A fantastic spell from Keshav Maharaj comes to an end.

Beaten! Flat and quick from around the wicket. Josh Hazlewood swings and misses.

Fullish and on leg. Nathan Ellis hacks it to long on for one.

FOUR AGAIN! Keshav Maharaj with a wrong un, full on off. Nathan Ellis reverse sweeps it wide of the fielder at point. The ball races away to the fence for another boundary.

Shorter and on middle. Nathan Ellis pulls it wide of deep mid-wicket for a couple of runs.