Conrad called for a bolder batting approach after another narrow defeat in a decider ©Getty
First Dewald Brevis was winning the deciding third T20I for South Africa at Cazaly’s Stadium in Cairns on Saturday. Then Mitchell Marsh was winning it for Australia. Then Kwena Maphaka, Kagiso Rabada and Corbin Bosch put South Africa back on top. Then Glenn Maxwell said get the hell out the way – I’m winning this.
And he did. Maxwell completed his 36-ball 62 not out with a top-edged reverse hoik off Lungi Ngidi that scooted to the deep third boundary for four to seal victory by two wickets with a ball to spare.
Maxwell’s confidence shone through in his refusal of singles so that he could keep the strike, believing in himself to land the big hits when the chance came. His bullishness was needed considering South Africa had grabbed six wickets for 56 runs in the space of 32 balls, after Marsh and Travis Head had shared 66 off 48 for the first wicket.
Brevis punctuated his 53 off 26 with six sixes, a breath-taking of elegant hitting that turned thoughts towards his 56-ball 125 not out in Darwin on Tuesday that helped level the series. The tone of South Africa innings on Saturday faded in the 12th, when Brevis was removed by Maxwell’s stunning running, diving catch at long-on. What might have been a total comfortably north of 200 was pinned back to 172/7.
Marsh’s 54 off 37 drove the home side forward. Until Maphaka had him and Cameron Green caught in the deep three balls apart in the 11th. In the 14th, Rabada ridded the stage of the dangerous Tim David and Aaron Hardie with a smart return catch and another at long-on. With Australia requiring a dozen runs off the last dozen deliveries, Bosch bowled Ben Dwarshuis and had Nathan Ellis taken behind by a diving Ryan Rickelton.
But Maxwell made much of that count for nothing as he hammered, handsomely, Australia to their highest successful chase in a home T20I.
It was the first time the Australians had been in a T20I decider in their last 11 bilateral series in the format – they last had to come up with the goods under pressure in Hyderabad in September 2022, when India won by six wickets with a delivery remaining.
Australia’s most recent success in such circumstances came in South Africa in February 2020, when they broke the 1-1 deadlock with a thumping 97-run win at Newlands. How things have changed – of the 22 players who featured in that match, only five were in action in Cairns.
Saturday’s result marked the second time in 22 days that South Africa had lost a crucial match – New Zealand beat them by three runs in the T20I triseries final in Harare on July 26. And the third time in 414 days that they had come up empty-handed in this scenario – India won the T20 World Cup final by seven runs in Bridgetown in June last year. All three of those tussles reached the final over.
What Aiden Markram told a television interviewer on Saturday applied to South Africa’s whole hattrick of hurt: “It was a good game of cricket. We ended up on the wrong side of it. Then you start reflecting on the coulda-beens and woulda-beens and shoulda-beens.”
Marsh didn’t have to think about that: “It’s always nice to win the close ones in T20 cricket.”
There was a contrast, too, for the captains at a personal level. Marsh’s half-century was his first in 18 completed T20I innings. Markram, who flung a drive at the third ball of the match and was caught at slip for one, has been dismissed short of 50 in his last 27 trips to the T20I crease.
To Shukri Conrad fell the duty of facing up to all that at a press conference: “In Zimbabwe as well, against New Zealand in the final, we should have won going into the last over. But I’m happy with the growth of the side.
“We want to see a fight right to the end. We don’t want guys to throw in the towel at any stage. The side mustn’t know when they beat; all of the cliches. But, yes, I’m pleased with the way we stuck at it.
“The result is disappointing, but I sit here confident and comfortable with what’s transpired in these three matches.”
With 10 needed off the last over, Markram might have bowled himself – his two overs went for just six runs, and he had dismissed Head – Maphaka or Senuran Muthusamy. Why did Markram choose Ngidi, who had gone wicketless for 24 runs in three overs?
“Lungi’s an expert at bowling slower balls, but the ball got so wet [with dew] that he couldn’t,” Conrad said. So he went for the [block] hole. It was a case of Maxi doing Maxi things. If you miss by a little bit, he does what he does.
“It might have been slightly different with a drier ball. But that is not an excuse, and this is certainly not taking anything away from the way Maxwell plays. He bosses the game. There’s no doubt who’s in charge. He kept us in the game by turning down singles, but he backs himself.”
Conrad wanted to see his own players do something similar: “I think sometimes we can be too humble. We don’t show off enough to the world what we’re capable of doing.
“Like Brevis does. He’s obviously going to grow older, but I hope he continues to play like a 22-year-old. Sometimes, with experience, guys tend to adjust the way they play. He’s a breath of fresh air.
“This has got nothing to do with the way Australia play. They’ve got a blueprint, and there are times when it looks absolutely brilliant and it’s box office stuff. And there are times where you can have them in trouble, like we did in the first couple of games. But they stay true to it.
“What does that mean for us? On the batting front, guys like [Tristan] Stubbs and [Rickelton] and Aiden himself, there’s so much they can do. But I feel they’ve maybe boxed themselves in too much.
“I know it’s a different format, but the Test final was not so long ago, and Aiden showed exactly what he’s about. I’m sure we’re a couple of games away from unlocking that state of genius.
“It’s not always going to result in winning. But, yeah, I just want us to show off a bit more. I live in Cape Town, and I get to see a lot of it there.”
No doubt you know that Markram’s 136 was key to South Africa beating Australia by five wickets in the WTC final at Lord’s in June.
What you may not know is that Cape Town is among the show-offiest cities in the world. So much so that on the long, gorgeous summer days, when Table Mountain shimmers in the distance, one local will turn to another and say, “Cape Town’s showing off again.”
Brevis is from Pretoria, which isn’t Cape Town in any sense. Fancy moving house, Dewald?
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