Australia v South Africa, 2014-15

	The victorious Australian team with the series trophy © Getty Images Enlarge
Related Links Series/Tournaments: South Africa tour of Australia [November 2014] Teams: Australia | South Africa

Twenty20 internationals (3): Australia 2, South Africa 1
One-day internationals (5): Australia 4, South Africa 1

In contrast to the gladiatorial scenes of their Test meeting in February and March, South Africa's visit to Australia for limited-overs engagements was more like a fistfight. Both Twenty20 teams were works in progress, some time away from the next global event, while the one-day series felt more like a dress rehearsal for the World Cup than the opening night of Australia's international season.

Crowds were sparse, despite such innovations as four adult tickets for the price of three, leaving Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland to speculate that families were saving their cash for the World Cup. The extremes of the schedule were underlined by the fact that Australia's squad for the first Twenty20 international could feature not a single Test player, nor the head coach. As play began in Adelaide, Darren Lehmann, Michael Clarke and the rest of the Test party were in transit from the UAE, following a 2-0 drubbing by Pakistan. Trevor Bayliss, coach of New South Wales, was Lehmann's uncomplicated substitute; in the aftermath of George Bailey's resignation as Twenty20 captain, Aaron Finch led his first home series.

Australia found enough in those three games to suggest some improvement following a dire World Twenty20 in Bangladesh. The jam of batsmen had been such that Steven Smith ran the drinks in the first one-day international, before another hamstring strain for Clarke freed up a place. Smith seized his opportunity, winning the series award after a pair of memorable innings in Canberra and Melbourne. Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson all had useful moments with the ball, and James Faulkner excelled in both formats.

Having beaten Australia with some room to spare on slow pitches in Zimbabwe two months earlier, South Africa found their steadiness disrupted by Smith's verve. A. B. de Villiers unfurled some typically astounding strokes, but was unable to press on to a hundred, while those compiled by Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock were each outstripped by their opponents.

J-P. Duminy led South Africa for the first time during the Twenty20 series, but aggravated a knee injury before the one-dayers - and it was clear de Villiers missed his steady hand in the middle order, leaving too much even for his strong shoulders. South Africa's proud one-day record in Australia took a dent at an inopportune time, and de Villiers wondered aloud if he had over thought his plans: "Maybe I must stop talking about the little things we mustn't do, and start talking about the things we should."

Match reports for

Tour Match: Cricket Australia XI v South Africans at North Sydney, Nov 2, 2014
Scorecard

1st T20I: Australia v South Africa at Adelaide, Nov 5, 2014
Report | Scorecard

2nd T20I: Australia v South Africa at Melbourne, Nov 7, 2014
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3rd T20I: Australia v South Africa at Sydney, Nov 9, 2014
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1st ODI: Australia v South Africa at Perth, Nov 14, 2014
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2nd ODI: Australia v South Africa at Perth, Nov 16, 2014
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3rd ODI: Australia v South Africa at Canberra, Nov 19, 2014
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4th ODI: Australia v South Africa at Melbourne, Nov 21, 2014
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5th ODI: Australia v South Africa at Sydney, Nov 23, 2014
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