Iceman’s Realm

The first ODI between South Africa and Australia was but fantastic. Having chose to bat first on a pitch conducive for batting, the home team was destined to put up a fighting total on the scoreboard. The ploy to let middle-order batsman Micheal Hussey to open the innings didn’t work at all for the Aussies as he was dismissed cheaply early in the innings. With the unavailability of Ntini, Morne Morkel was given a chance in the playing eleven. Though he took a couple of crucial wickets, he went for a lot of runs in his full quota of 10 overs. Finally, the home team put up 271 on the board, though not a formidable total, it was but a challenging one. In return, South Africa’s reply was no different from the Australian innings. Although, valuable contributions came from a couple of players, it was Albie Morkel’s blistering cameo that made a certain difference. His 18-ball-40 was a remarkable one to the end of the innings and with the captain at the other end, he made sure his team was through in the first encounter. Definitely, a cliff hanger, this.