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Australia's stand-in skipper Mitchell Marsh was disappointed with the batting and bowling performance of his team against South Africa in the third ODI match at the Senwes Park in Potchefstroom.
Chasing the target of 339, Australia were bundled out at 227. They lost the game by a huge margin of 111 runs on Wednesday. In the post-match presentation, Marsh said, "Disappointing day for us, areas we can improve with both bat and ball. Credit to South Africa today. Thought the total was above par, 290-300 wouldve been par. Probably misread it a bit, spin did really well today." Australia seemed batters were helpless against spin as South African spinner Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj took two wickets each in the match to dismantle Australias top order. Marsh also warned his team to learn from today's match as they will be exposed to similar conditions in the World Cup. "Hopefully we learn a lot from it, no doubt well be exposed to such conditions a lot in the World Cup. Generally weve played spin really well in the recent past but was a bit of a slip up today. It turned and didnt see that at the start of the day," Marsh added. Coming to the match, South Africa was put to bat first by Australia and had an opening stand of 146 runs between Quinton de Kock (82 in 77 balls, 10 fours and two sixes) and skipper Temba Bavuma (57 in 62 balls with six fours). Following their dismissals, a 76-run stand for third wicket between Reeza Hendricks (39 in 45 balls with three fours) and Aiden Markram and a 63-run stand for the sixth wicket between Markram and Marco Jansen (32 in 16 balls with four boundaries and a six) guided SA to a big score. Markram ended with an unbeaten 102 in 74 with nine fours and four sixes. Travis Head (2/39) was the lead bowler for Aussies. Tanveer Sangha, Nathan Ellis and Marcus Stoinis got one each. In the chase of 339, Australia started well with 79-run opening stand between David Warner and Travis Head (38 in 24 balls with six fours and a six) and a 61-run second wicket stand between Warner and Mitchell Marsh (29). The stand ended with Warner run out for 78 off 56 balls, with 10 fours and three sixes. Following this, Aussies lost the plot with quick wickets and were bundled out for 227 in 34.3 overs. Gerald Coetzee (4/50) was the pick of the bowlers for SA. Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj took two while Sisanda Magala got one. Markram took home the 'Player of the Match' award. (ANI)
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