Courtesy of a strong all-round showing from both the experienced and new players, Australia have surged ahead in the T20I series with a dominant victory.

Aiden Markram won the toss and chose to bowl first, and soon enough, the Proteas bowlers were under the pump despite the early wicket of Travis Head.

Matt Short and skipper Mitchell Marsh added 63 runs in the next 4 overs, until Lizaad Williams and Gerald Coetzee took 3 wickets between them. Just when it looked like SA reentered the contest, Tim David arrived and counterattacked with his brute force.

The 97-run stand between Marsh and David rapidly took the game away from the hosts, with all the bowlers getting their share of punishment from both batters. By the time Tabraiz Shamsi struck to remove David, significant damage was already dealt. A brief cameo from Aaron Hardie airbrushed an already strong score into a more imposing total.

Finally, Marsh registered his personal-best in this format with a superb, unbeaten 92. The allrounder was in charge of the T20I side for the first time and led by example.

The Proteas had their backs against the wall, and things would only go from bad to worse when Temba Bavuma was bowled in the first over. Rassie van der Dussen entertained momentarily, but a soft dismissal brought his exciting innings to a swift end. Reeza Hendricks batted through much of the innings, as the ship began to sink quickly upon the introduction of debutant leg spinner Tanveer Sangha.  

Fresh off a stint in the Hundred, Sangha immediately got to work and sent back the SA captain, as well as the dangerous big-hitters in Dewald Brevis and Tristan Stubbs.

Marco Jansen provided handy company for Hendricks, but by that time, it was all but out of reach. He would become Sangha’s fourth victim in this game, as Australia went from strength to strength.

In the end, the visitors rounded off a tremendous win to kick things off. The second T20I will be on Friday at the same venue – Kingsmead. Tune in to see if the Proteas can bounce back after the early drubbing.

AUS 226/6 in 20 overs (Marsh 92*, David 64 – Williams 4-0-44-3)

SA 115 in 15.3 overs (Hendricks 56 – Sangha 4-0-31-4, Stoinis 3-0-18-3)