Tsotsobe helps South Africa grab No. 1 ranking
South Africa's near-perfect tour began with a Test win in Perth and fittingly it finished with a one-day triumph at the same venue as Australia conceded the No. 1 ranking to Johan Botha's men
South Africa's near-perfect tour began with a Test win in Perth and fittingly it finished with a one-day triumph at the same venue as Australia conceded the No. 1 ranking to Johan Botha's men
The South Africans clamber on to the field and celebrate. They have rounded off an epic tour with victory in the final ODI. Australia have been displaced from the top spot. South Africa batted well to post 288 and then reduced Australia to 4 for 53, from which they never really recovered. Hussey and Haddin tried to keep them in the hunt with half-centuries, but the home side always faced a massive salvage operation.
Lonwabo Tsotsobe snapped up his ODI wicket in his first over and came back to finish with four on debut. Botha was, as he has been all series, hard to score off because he fired them in quick and flat.
Lets go over to the post-match conference. The Man of the Match is Hashim Amla for his 97. He jogs up to the podium and chats to Mark Taylor. He is disappointed to miss a century but enjoyed the chance to contribute to victory. The Man of the Series is Albie Morkel for his 105 runs at 52.50, three wickets and two catches. His thigh and hip are a bit sore, he says, but like Amla he's just glad to have been a part of this winning unit.
Ricky Ponting says a few words: "Its been a disappointing way to round off this series. We were competitive in the first two games but were under par in the last two games. We've made a lot of mistakes but I can't put the finger on one reason we lost. Its been a learning curve for a lot of our newer guys. We have to give South Africa all the credit. They have had the better of us on most occasions."
Off he goes and up comes Botha: "The guys placed nicely and everyone contributed. The young players came in and were counted. Things went my way and I'm happy about how it all went. I don't know what will happen next, but Smith will come back."
The South Africans get together for a photo-op with the series silverware. Hats off to them, what a great tour they have had. Series wins in the Tests and ODIs. A great moment for them.
That is the end of the series from all of us at Cricinfo, but we will be back to bring you Australia's next match, the first of five ODIs against New Zealand, starting on this very ground on Sunday, February 1 at 13:30 local time (04:30 GMT). Hope you all have had fun and thanks for following Cricinfo again.
We've been Jamie Alter and Venkat Raghav. Cheers!
NW Bracken c sub (DW Steyn) b M Morkel 5 (13m 8b 0x4 0x6) SR: 62.50
Australia may have lost their No.1 ranking in ODIs to South Africa after their 39-run defeat in Perth, but they have an opportunity to reclaim that position when their five-ODI series against New Zealand gets underway
South Africa's near-perfect tour began with a Test win in Perth and fittingly it finished with a one-day triumph at the same venue as Australia conceded the No. 1 ranking to Johan Botha's men
A preview of the fifth ODI between Australia and South Africa in Perth