Matthew Hayden, Dale Steyn Slam Australia's Approach Against South Africa In WTC Final: "Little Bit Surprised"

Cricket legends Matthew Hayden and Dale Steyn slammed Pat Cummins and Co. for their defensive approach in the final innings of the ongoing World Test Championship final. A gritty century by Aiden Markram and an equally solid 65 from skipper Temba Bavuma pushed South Africa closer to their maiden world title glory. By the end of play on Day 3, the Proteas were 213 for 2, with Markram (102 not out) and Bavuma (65 not out) at the crease. They need 69 runs to win in their run-chase of 282. On Friday, Australia not only lost their control of the game but also stand on the verge of losing the contest too.

Setting a 282-run target, Australia managed to reduce South Afica to 70 for 2 through Mitchell Starc's twin strikes, but what followed was complete dominance from Markram and Bavuma. As the duo kept going, Australia captain Pat Cummins resorted to defensive fielding, taking out players from some of the important catching areas.

"You know, this defensive effort here from Australia, it was all about how they were going to take wickets and how they were going to do that early," said former Australia opener Matthew Hayden at the end of play on Friday.

"You know, when they got through to Mulder, they got through Rickelton, and they had to put at that point pressure on Bavuma. They had to put those catching cover areas, had to be less defensive, more attacking. Can you imagine if those first couple of balls had been chipped up? South Africa now it's three down. Australia got control of the match. So for me, that was a trick." he added.

The Markram-Bavuma duo stitched unbeaten 143-run partnership to put South Africa really close to the victory line.

"The drifting of the nature of the game just allowed the rotation of strike, allowed that partnership to grow and build in confidence, and it just got away from the Australian bowling lineup. Yes, it's flat conditions, but you must take 10 wickets to defend the World Test Championship. You must take the top three out of play," said Hayden.

South Africa pacer great Dale Steyn too had a similar opinion.

"Yeah, a little bit surprised, I think. You know, you have to adapt with the flow of the game, and obviously today, we've seen the ball has been keeping really low, it hasn't really managed to make it to the slips, even from yesterday. And, you know, whenever we used to play, I would play a place like India, your short cover, short midwicket, it doesn't matter. They're as good as cordon slips in South Africa or Australia or something like that. So on days like this, when the ball is not travelling and it's not making its way to the slips, you have to have those guys in those kinds of catching positions," he said.

Topics mentioned in this article

Cricket Australia Cricket Team South Africa Cricket Team South Africa vs Australia, Final Matthew Hayden Dale Steyn Pat Cummins