SA vs AUS: Sean Abbott Not Surprised After Mitchell Marsh's 79-Run Knock Against South Africa, Says 'He Hasn't Changed At All Since...'

Aussie bowling all-rounder, Sean Abbott heaped praise on Mitchell Marsh after the second T20I match on Friday (September 1st) at Kingsmead in Durban and said that Marsh held his top form after becoming the captain of the team. Mitchell Marsh has been leading the team since Pat Cummins suffered a thumb injury during the fifth match of the Ashes 2023 against England.

In the second T20I match, Australia won the toss and opted to bowl first. In the first inning, Sean Abbott led the Australia bowling attack and held South Africa at 164 runs.

Abbott picked up three wickets in his four-over spell and gave away 22 runs. Nathan Ellis too had a three-wicket haul in his four-over spell and gave away 25 runs. Other than that, Jason Behrendorff took two wickets in his four-over spell and gave away 25 runs.

In the second inning, Aussie skipper Mitchell Marsh played a 79-run knock from 39 balls with a strike rate of 202.56 and helped Australia in the run chase. Matthew Short too played a stupendous inning and scored 66 runs from 33 balls with a strike rate of 220.00 to clinch an eight-wicket win in the second T20I match.

Mitchell Marsh is quite a level personality, certainly amongst the group: Sean Abbott

Sean Abbott praised Mitchell Marsh and said that he has a great personality and is certain among the group. Abbott also added that Marsh did not change after taking over the captaincy and maintained his form.

Abbott said that he is not surprised by the way Mitchell Marsh has been playing in the first two games against South Africa in the T20I series as a captain.

“I think the way he’s playing on the park is just the way he’s been playing for such a long time now. To Mitch’s credit, he’s quite a level personality, certainly amongst the group. He hasn’t changed at all since stepping into the captaincy, albeit only two games and having only been on tour for a week. Not surprised at all that he’s doing really well and flourishing in his first two games as captain,” Sean Abbot said.

Mitchell Marsh-led Australia will take on Aiden Markram’s South Africa in the third and final match of the series on Sunday (September 3rd) at Kingsmead in Durban.