Australia has been dominant in their current tour of South Africa, winning all three Twenty20 Internationals and the first One-Day International thanks to a quickfire opening stand from Travis Head and David Warner.
Australia’s current tour of South Africa has been a resounding success, with the Aussies thoroughly dominating their opponents. After sweeping the T20I series 3-0, the Mitchell Marsh-led ODI squad needed a miracle from Cameron Green’s concussion replacement, Marnus Labuschagne, to win the first match. Australian openers David Warner and Travis Head came out swinging in the second ODI in Bloemfontein after being put in to bat by South African captain Temba Bavuma.
Warner was on the lookout, but Travis Head was the one with the fiery words. Travis Head was excellent in his role as the partnership’s aggressor, as he never gave the South African bowlers a chance to get comfortable. On the morning of September 9th, Head behaved like a guy obsessed, seemingly only wanting to attack and attack.
After facing only 26 balls to reach 50, the left-hander kept going. Warner, who was averaging a boundary an over, and his partner had already reached 100 runs after 10 overs. After the powerplay, Australia had 102. Australia scored the first century in the powerplay during one-day internationals in South Africa.
Warner and Head seemed like they would keep attacking the bowlers as their partnership progressed. Tabraiz Shamsi’s brilliant over of bowling brought a brief lull in the carnage as he dismissed both Head and Australian captain Mitchell Marsh. Travis Head was dismissed for 64 runs off of 36 balls, and Labuschagne then continued on from where he had left off.
Labuschagne took a backseat to Warner, who took charge and is closing in on his 20th ODI century while striking the right blend of aggression and caution to help Australia average over 7.5 runs per over.