AUS VS SA 1st T20I: Marsh, David, Sangha shin as Australia post 111-run victory over South Africa

AUS VS SA 1st T20I: Marsh’s 92* and Sangha’s four-for were the highlights as Australia posted 111-run victory. Australia defeated South Africa by their largest margin ever to take a 1-0 series lead in the first game.

In his debut match as Australia’s captain, Mitchell Marsh set the tone with a career-best 92* off 49 balls, which helped Australia beat South Africa with their highest T20I score and sixth-highest total ever.

In the Powerplay, Marsh and Matthew Short effectively set up the game. Later, Marsh and Tim David added 97 runs off just 52 balls in the fifth wicket to make sure Australia’s total was unbeatable.

In the absence of Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, and Keshav Maharaj, South Africa’s offensive strategy was experimental, and it was clear that they lacked experience. In this game, they only deployed five pricey bowlers, and they were all used. The lines and lengths of the entire attack were erratic, and Lungi Ngidi conceded at a rate of more than 12 runs per over.

The score was still chaseable thanks to a solid Kingsmead pitch, but South Africa was never in contention. Despite Reeza Hendricks’ eighth fifty in nine T20Is, they were 69 for 5 after nine overs and were unable to recover. The honors fell to debutant legspinner Tanveer Sangha, whose middle-order hits rendered the outcome incontrovertible. Marcus Stoinis shone with the new ball and grabbed 3 for 18 in three overs.

AUS VS SA 1st T20I: Tanveer Sangha gets the best of the South African batting lineup

The 21-year-old legspinner wasn’t even scheduled to participate in this game, but Sangha seized the chance presented by Adam Zampa’s illness. He appeared to be bowling too short when he was brought into the attack right after the Powerplay, but Aiden Markram, the skipper, had to face him because South Africa was under pressure. Makram attempted to cut an out-of-bounds delivery over the point, but Stoinis was unable to be stopped and made a good overhead catch.

Dewald Brevis, a fellow debutant, attempted to drive Sangha down the wicket in his subsequent delivery but Sean Abbott was on the boundary. Both of those wickets were not the result of poor delivery; rather, they were the result of the match’s circumstances, but Sangha had more to say.

He lured Tristan Stubbs forward with his subsequent ball using a leg-break on off stump. Stubbs was well outside of his crease when the ball spun away and beat him. Inglis took care of the rest to execute a magnificent dismissal of a legspinner. And he continued after that. With just two more runs allowed than Michael Kasprowicz, who took 4 for 29 in the first T20I, he bowled Marco Jansen with a false number to finish his spell with 4 for 31, the second-best figure for an Australian making their debut.

Thank you for reading.