Following a loss against South Africa by 164 runs in the fourth ODI match, Australia's stand-in skipper Mitchell Marsh said that this was a "tough day" for their team.
An all-round South Africa crushed Australia by 164 runs in the fourth ODI following a batting masterclass by Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller and an excellent performance by the pace duo of Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi on Friday.
In the post-match presentation, Marsh said, "That's the definition of a tough day at the office. Klaasen was just amazing today. It was a tough day. We were put under a lot of pressure towards the back end there."
Marsh also praised Klaasen for playing a blistering knock of 174 off 83 balls.
"Hats off to Heinrich. We were one or two wickets away from putting pressure on them. We couldn't get that breakthrough. We didn't have too many options to go to. We would have been happy with 300-350. The ball just travels here and the outfield was lightning. We needed a couple of big partnerships, lost few wickets early and the game was done. It was great to see Carey get some runs. It's great for our team, he's really important for us," he added.
Coming to the match, Proteas was put to bat first by Australia. Quinton de Kock (45 in 64 balls with five fours) and Reeza Hendricks (28 in 34 balls with five fours) put on a 64-run opening partnership. After two quick wickets, a 74-run opening stand between Heinrich Klaasen and Rassie van der Dussen (62 in 65 balls with seven fours and two sixes).
Josh Hazlewood (2/79) was the pick of the bowlers for the Aussies. Nathan Ellis, Marcus Stoinis and Michael Neser took a wicket each.
In the chase of 417, Australia was never really a threat. A 72-run partnership between Alex Carey and Tim David (35 in 25 balls) was the highest point of the Australian innings. Carey was the lone warrior for the visitors, scoring 99 in 77 balls, consisting of nine fours and four sixes. Australia was bundled out for 252 runs in 34.5 overs and lost by 164 runs.
Lungi Ngidi (4/51) and Kagiso Rabada (3/41) were the pick of the bowlers for Proteas.
Klaasen took home the 'Player of the Match' award and the series is level at 2-2, with one more game to go.
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