South Africa vs Australia: Top performers

Tags: South Africa tour of Australia 2014-15, Australia, South Africa, Abraham Benjamin de Villiers, Steven Peter Devereux Smith, Aaron James Finch, Quinton de Kock, Morne Morkel, Josh Reginald Hazlewood

Published on: Nov 24, 2014

Australia easily overcame the South Africans in the five-match one-day series at home, defeating them comprehensively, 4-1. Here’s a look at the top performers in the series.

Australia easily overcame the South Africans in the five-match one-day series at home, defeating them comprehensively, 4-1. Here’s a look at the top performers in the series.


AB de Villiers: TheSouth African captain sat out of the final ODI, but was still the top run-getter in the series. In four matches, he made 271 runs at an average of 67.7 with three fifties at a strike rate of 113.3. He hit 80 at Perth, 52 at Canberra and 91 at Melbourne. Overall, de Villiers faced 239 balls, and hit 24 fours and 2 sixes.


Steven Smith: The Aussie batsman was the man of the series for his incredible performances. In four games, he scored 254 runs at an average of 84.6 with one hundred and two fifties and a strike rate of 97. He had scores of 73 not out, 104 and 67 in the series. With the ball, he managed only one wicket. Smith faced 261 balls, and hit 23 fours and one six during the series.


Aaron Finch: The burly Aussie opener finished with 250 runs at an average of exactly 50 with one century and one half-century. Finch had a strike rate of 87.7 in the series. He made 109 at Canberra and 76 at Sydney in the final ODI. Finch faced 285 balls in the series, during which he hit 26 fours and five sixes.


Quinton de Kock: de Kock did not have a great series, but he finished on a high scoring a rollicking hundred in the final one-dayer at Sydney. Thanks to his sublime 107, he finished the series with 177 runs at a decent average of 35.40, at a strike rate of 77. He faced 229 balls during the series and hit 19 fours and one six.


Morne Morkel: The South African pacer played four games, and still ended up as the highest wicket-taker in the series. He picked up 10 wickets at an average of 23, an economy rate of 6 and a strike rate of 23. He had best figures of 5 for 21 in the only ODI that South Africa won during the series at Perth. Morkel however proved expensive at Canberra and Sydney with figures of 2 for 84 and 2 for 69.


Josh Hazlewood: The Aussie speedster has done a lot of good to his chances of a pacer’s spot for the series against India. In four games, he claimed nine wickets at an average of 20.4, an economy rate of 4.8 and a strike rate of 25. Hazlewood claimed career-best figures of 5 for 31 at Perth and 3 for 51 at Canberra.


--By A Cricket Analyst

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