Australia v South Africa: Tim David stars in T20 win

The Australian

6 hours ago

Australia was made to work for its first victory of the 2025–26 summer, defeating South Africa by 17 runs in front of a capacity crowd in Darwin.
In the first clash of the five-match white-ball series, the Aussies achieved a historic milestone as they won a record-breaking ninth T20I in a row.
After a promising start — including a first-ball six from captain Mitch Marsh and a cameo 35 off 13 balls from Cam Green — the hosts collapsed under their own volition.
Tim David was the shining light of the Australian's batting unit, putting together one of his most impressive performances in a T20I jumper, blasting 83 as his teammates fell around him.
David was forced to bat with the tail, namely Ben Dwarshuis, the duo managing to put together a 59-run partnership that dragged the Australians towards a competitive total - 178.
'It felt a bit two-paced to be honest,' David said when speaking to Fox Sports on the boundary at the innings break.
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Tim David lifts his bat to the crowd after being dismissed for 83. Picture: Getty Images
'That was definitely a lot more balls than I was hoping I would face.
'I've batted with the tail a lot throughout my career, in the position I play. That probably just happened a lot longer tonight.
'Any opportunity to bat, once you get in, that's the best part. The first 10 balls are a bit nervy… once you're going it's good fun.'
South African teenage weapon Kwena Maphaka was the visitors best with the Kookaburra, finishing with figures of 4-20 and taking the crucial poles of Mitch Owen and David.
Chasing 179, the South Africans fell short at the hands of the Aussie bowlers who once again saved the day.
Josh Hazlewood (3-27) snagged the prized wicket of South African captain Aiden Markram, who was unable to repeat his World Test Championship heroics, falling for 12 on the sixth ball of the inning.
The paceman then bowled the over of the match in his third taking out a well set Tristan Stubbs, who had built a significant partnership with Ryan Rickelton.
The wicket of George Linde soon followed and then the ever-reliable Adam Zampa (2-33) delivered the knockout blow the following over dismissing Corbin Bosch and Senuran Muthusamy in two balls.
After the defeat, South Africa's Ryan Rickelton did not believe his side let the Aussie's out of jail, but admitted they have a fair bit to work on.
'I thought we bowled really well,' he said.
'We took them on.
'I think the exciting thing is we came out all guns blazing, managed to create a lot of chances.
'There's probably one or two things to tweak in the batting.
Rickelton also praised the performance of his nation's young quick Kwena Maphaka.
'He's quite a fiery character,' he said.
'He's very competitive, he backs his ability.
'It's good to see young guys stand up to Australia in their own backyard.'
BATTING WOES
Tim David was forced to right the ship after a poor performance from his fellow batters who threw away their wickets in critical moments.
Cam Green (35), while Aussies second best, fell foul of erratic shot selection when he and David were starting to find some rhythm, and walked before the ball had even landed in South African hands.
Travis Head (2), Josh Inglis (0), Mitchell Owen (2) and Glenn Maxwell (1) however all went cheaply and at one stage it appeared the Aussies would fall well short of a competitive total.
Twice the Aussies were dropped and given a chance to fight back, but they failed to punish falling the immediate ball after both times.
While acknowledging his teammates struggles out in the middle, David said he trusts his teammates.
'There's not a great deal of instruction from coaches, they trust the players,' he said.
'We trust ourselves to go out there and we understand the situation.
'We make decisions on the fly.
'It sucks when your team is four down after six overs, that happens at times.
'The Australian team is close to all guns blazing. You'll probably expect to see that a little bit from our team but that's how we think we play best.'
MAXY DOES IT AGAIN
What can't this guy do?
The veteran pulled off another of his signature boundary screamers in the final over of the match.
Searching for the maximum, South Africa's opener Ryan Rickelton (71) smacked Dwarshis over his head to Maxwell at long-on.
The Victorian then caught the ball, jumped over the boundary rope, threw the ball back infield and snared the catch in style.
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Darcy Jennings
Sports reporter
Darcy Jennings is a sports journalist for the NT News and the News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom team, including CODE Sports. From Brisbane, Darcy previously worked at The Chronicle, Toowoomba.
Darcy Jennings