SA vs AUS | Australia lacked kick towards end of chase, admits Aaron Finch
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Aaron Finch, post his side's 12-run defeat on Sunday, admitted that the batsman lost their way towards the end, faltering to finish things off after having the chase under control. The Aussie skipper further applauded the South African bowling line-up for their brilliant effort with the ball.
South Africa, coming on the back of a 107-run drubbing, defeated Australia in the second T20I and leveled the three-match series, taking the series all the way to the decider at the Newlands on Wednesday. The Kangaroos were asked to bowl first on a slow Georgeās Park wicket by South Africa, who managed to put a total of 158 at the end of their 20 overs, with Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen playing important innings for the hosts.
In return, what looked like an easily gettable target, the visitors could just manage 146 in the end for their 20 overs, despite David Warner bizarrely remaining unbeaten on 67.Ā The visitors were strangled by the pace trio of Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje, who choked the Aussie batsmen with some skillful bowling, and Aussie skipper Aaron Finch, in the post-match presentation, expressed that his team were unfortunate to be on the wrong end of things, but credited the Proteas bowlers for their immaculate display.
āIt's always exciting on a surface like that. Unfortunately we were on the wrong side of it today. They bowled to a simple and effective plan. David didn't get much strike, but South Africa bowled beautifully despite the larger margin for error on such a surface,ā said Finch in the post-match presentation, reported Cricbuzz.
At one stage, with Warner and Alex Carey at the middle and with the score 124/2, the visitors seemed to have the win sealed, but post Carey's dismissal, a collapse of sorts followed, meaning that Australia fell short by 12 runs, managing just 22 runs off their final 28 balls. Skipper Finch admitted that his side lacked the bite towards the end of the chase and admitted that games like these are important heading into the WT20 that will commence eight months from now.Ā
āI think we just lacked the kick at the end of the chase. Pace off was the way to go, and we tried running hard, but Miller and co make it hard to take twos. If you don't get the balls where you want to in the powerplay, it's about making sure we rotate the strike, but we managed to get off to a flier. They bowled to a simple and effective plan. David didn't get much strike. I think getting the winning feeling in the middle-order is important and I think this is an important game building up to the World Cup,ā expressed Finch.Ā
The series decider will be played at Newlands, Cape Town, on Wednesday.Ā
