Australia vs South Africa 4th ODI Match 2014

267/8
50 Overs
AB de Villiers
91(88)
David Miller
45(61)
James Faulkner
45/2
Pat Cummins
61/2
268/7
49 Overs
Steve Smith
104(112)
Matthew Wade
52(59)
Dale Steyn
47/2
Wayne Parnell
52/2

Steven Smith drives Australia to a series win against South Africa - The Australians were in lead till the 4th ODI of the series with 2-1. They required one more win in the series to seal the series against South Africa and this was their chance of sealing the series before going into the last and the final ODI. The 4th ODI was played in the Melbourne Cricket Ground and here after winning the toss the South Africans decided to bat first.

This decision was not a well-made one as the openers failed to provide a good start to the team. Hashim Amla lost his wicket after scoring only 18 runs. Quinton de Kock and Faf du Plessis had a partnership going and took the team score to 70 before Kock lost his wicket after reaching a score of 17. Faf too didn’t last long as he lost his wicket in the 17th over when the team managed to reach a total of 77 only. AB de Villiers and David Miller came into rescue the South Africans and together took their team to a score of 199 in 37 overs. Miller after scoring 45 runs lost his wicket but AB de Villiers continued his run and scored 91 runs to take his team to a total of 267 runs. Mitchell Starc was the best bowler of the night giving away runs at 4 per over and he also took a wicket.

The Australian innings was also not that well-built as the openers failed to give them a start. They lost wickets quite early and were reduced to 98/5 in 25 overs. The South Africans were at the top of the game and a comeback in the series was evident. Steven Smith and Mathew Wade had other things in mind and they stuck together scoring runs cautiously. Smith scored 104 runs while Wade scored 52 runs to take his team closer to the total and at the end it was James Faulkner who worked as the finisher scoring 34 runs of 19 balls to take Australia cross the required target with an over in hand. Smith was named as the man of the match as Australia now leads the series by 3-1.

Series Name

Australia vs South Africa ODI Series 2014 Schedule

Date

21/11/2014

Start Time

14:20 (Local Time)

Match Day

Friday

Stadium

Melbourne Cricket Ground

Playing Teams

Australia, South Africa

Australia Team Squad

David Warner,	Matthew Wade,	Steve Smith,
Mitchell Starc,	Glenn Maxwell,	Shane Watson,
Nathan Coulter-Nile,	James Faulkner,	Aaron Finch,
George Bailey,	Pat Cummins,

South Africa Team Squad

Hashim Amla,	AB de Villiers,	Faf du Plessis,
Robin Peterson,	Dale Steyn,	Kyle John Abbott,
Farhaan Behardien,	Quinton de Kock,	Ryan McLaren,
David Miller,	Wayne Parnell,

Australia vs South Africa 4th ODI Match 2014

Most Runs

Most Wickets

Most Catches