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Du Plessis century underpins crushing South Africa win
- Updated: October 2, 2016
South Africa 361 for 6 (du Plessis 111, Duminy 82, Rossouw 75) beat Australia 219 (Head 51, Warner 50, Parnell 3-40) by 142 runsScorecard and ball-by-ball details
A decade after the most high-scoring ODI in history, the Wanderers witnessed something far less competitive. South Africa’s batsmen overwhelmed Australia for the second time in as many matches, despite the visiting captain winning the toss and choosing to chase on a Wanderers pitch brimful of runs. The final margin of 142 runs was South Africa’s second-biggest over Australia.
Where at Centurion it had been Quinton de Kock handing out the punishment, here it was the captain Faf du Plessis who prospered, helped either side of his innings by strong contributions by Rilee Rossouw and JP Duminy. Their innings ensured a difficult day for the Australian pace debutants Joe Mennie and Chris Tremain, who were taken for 160 runs between them in 20 overs.
In reply to a steep target of 362, the tourists were never able to mount a decent challenge from the moment Aaron Finch skied an attempt to pull Kagiso Rabada in the second over. From there, regular wickets stymied progress to make it a more or less stress-free afternoon for the Proteas, who always had plenty of runs in reserve even as Travis Head posted his highest ODI score.
On a pristine day for batting and a friendly pitch, Australia’s bowlers struggled again in the absence of Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. Du Plessis’ 111 was a fine example of high tempo and good placement, not requiring a single six despite striking at nearly 120 runs per 100 balls. Duminy’s was a bigger-hitting innings, after Rossouw had produced a flurry of boundaries against the new ball to set South Africa on the …
