Oz edge out SA in low-scoring thriller

Australia`s Marcus Stoinis plays a shot during the ICC men’s Twenty20 World Cup cricket match between Australia and South Africa at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Pic/AFP

Australia endured some anxious moments before edging out South Africa by five wickets after their bowlers set it up with a clinical display in an ICC T20 World Cup match here on Saturday.

Needing eight runs in the final over, Marcus Stoinis (24 not out) hit Dwaine Pretorius for two vital fours and completed the job with two balls to spare. This was after Australia were reeling at 81-5 in the 16th over. Defending a modest target of 119, South Africa got the start they were looking for when Anrich Nortje (2-21) dismissed opposition skipper Aaron Finch for a duck in the innings' second over. Finch went for a drive, but he could not middle it as the ball took a top edge and flew towards the third man region.

Also Read: T20 World Cup: Aaron Finch backs all-rounders to shine against South Africa

Earlier, Australia's bowlers scythed through South Africa's top and middle-order batting line-up to restrict them to 118 for nine.

Brief scores
SA 118-9 in 20 overs (A Markram 40; J Hazlewood 2-19, A Zampa 2-21, M Starc 2-32) lost to Australia 121-5 in 19.4 overs (S Smith 35, M Stoinis 24'; A Nortje 2-21) by five wickets

Also Read: T20 World Cup: Australia beat South Africa by 5 wickets

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliabilitsy and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the contents in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever