A tremendous game of Twenty20 cricket. It was all Australia when Kuhn went, but South Africa kept believing. There were doubts as to whether they had the depth in the batting, but Theron and Parnell showed otherwise with a stunning partnership. Australia inexperienced counted against them at the end, but South Africa's matchwinners aren't exactly senior figures.
"It's a little like the 438 game," says Firdose, "crazy scenes here." Not quite sure the chase is quite on a par with that, but locals will certainly enjoy it.
Wayne Parnell "We needed a lot, but I thought if could take it to the last over we'd have a chance. Rusty kept me calm."
"Get Liam out of the closet boys," writes Vikram. "Parny shows who's boss!" Eh?
Stay with us for the presentations. Plenty for Australia to take from these two matches, however, especially Cummins' and Pattinson's bowling and Mitchell Marsh's debut innings. Cameron White will rue getting his sums wrong a little with his bowlers, but they missed Shane Watson because the spinners weren't very effective.
Rusty Theron has been named Man of the Match. "It's not quite sunk in yet. It's one of the rare occasions where I'm quite speechless. My main objective was to bounce back after Cape Town the other day. I've had some time in the nets, and thanks to the coaching staff, and it's great to stand here now but Wayne was fantastic as well. I even felt a little teary-eyed towards the end but tried to keep it in." Hmm, yes, indeed.
Cameron White. "We didn't execute our skills at the end." Yes, sorry, he really did say that. "We were very confident we could win when Nos 8 and 9 came in but we didn't. It's a hard ground to come and win at. It's been two more games for us and there have been some encouraging performances from the youngsters who got to feel the heat and pressure of Twenty20 cricket."
Hashim Amla "Wayne and Rusty hit really well but they were very sensible too. It's about reading the game and those two showed how it can be done. It's a tribute to their skills. Games like this are exciting, I was biting a few nails here and there. The team enjoyed it and the atmosphere was fantastic. We have great games here."
That just about wraps things up for today as Cameron White and Hashim Amla each hold the trophy. Brydon will have his report ready shortly which will sum up all the action. It's been a good start to this tour and we now head towards the one-day series which starts on Wednesday. We'll be back to bring you all the action and also join us tomorrow for the second ODI between India and England. But, for now, it's goodbye from Andrew McGlashan and Liam Brickhill.
So it's six to win off the final over. As we said two days ago, games between these teams are rarely dull. South Africa looked gone in this one five overs ago. White has used up his main bowlers, so it's David Hussey with the last over
END OF OVER:19 | 13 Runs | SA: 142/7 (6 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 7.47, RRR: 6.00)
- Rusty Theron24 (15b)
- Wayne Parnell29 (11b)
- Pat Cummins4-1-26-2
- Steve O'Keefe4-0-35-1
Australia desperate for a dot ball to end the over. A lot of field adjustments going on. Tension builds
Brilliant recovery from South Africa
"C'mon Parnell, do it for Liam," writes Karn Mamgain. "He's the one who called you an allrounder."
Great atmosphere in the Bullring. It's buzzing
Cummins back. Can he win it for Australia?
END OF OVER:18 | 18 Runs | SA: 129/7 (19 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 7.16, RRR: 9.50)
- Wayne Parnell24 (9b)
- Rusty Theron19 (11b)
- Steve O'Keefe4-0-35-1
- Doug Bollinger4-0-36-1
South Africa needed to match Marsh's late onslaught. These two might just do it
How does Rusty play this?
This is still on for South Africa
O'Keefe back. Bit of a gamble?
END OF OVER:17 | 12 Runs | SA: 111/7 (37 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 6.52, RRR: 12.33)
- Wayne Parnell7 (4b)
- Rusty Theron18 (10b)
- Doug Bollinger4-0-36-1
- Pat Cummins3-1-14-2
Good over for South Africa. They need three more just like it
Bollinger under pressure
Bollinger back