Published: Sep 07, 2014, 11:20 AM (IST)
Edited: Sep 07, 2014, 11:24 AM (IST)
South Africa defeated Australia by six wickets in the finals of the Triangular series to win an ODI tournament after 12 long years, the last occasion being their victory in the VB series in 2002. Bharath Seervi presents some stats and numbers about this victory.
South Africa comfortably won the final of the Triangular series in Zimbabwe which involved Australia and Zimbabwe as the other two teams. Their opponent in the finals was Australia. After winning the toss and elected to bowl first, South African bowlers showed a fine bowing display as Dale Steyn dismissed Philip Hughes and Steve Smith within first nine overs. Except Aaron Finch (54 runs) none of the top order batsmen crossed 30 run mark. The wickets kept falling and at the end of 38 overs the scoreboard read eight for 144 runs. The ninth wicket pair of James Faulkner and Mitchell Starc added 71 runs to take Australia’s total above 200. The partnership was broken only two balls before the end of the innings. Faulkner was out on 39 while Starc remained not out on 29. Australia ended on nine for 217 runs at end of 50 overs.
South Africa – chasing an easy target – lost Quinton de Kock in the fourth over. But a 98-run partnership between Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis made easy going for the Proteas team. Amla was out in 22nd over after scoring 51 runs. Du Plessis missed on his fourth century of the series as he was out on 96 when just one run was required to win. AB de Villiers who scored 57 hit the winning runs.
The tournament victory for South Africa is their first in the last 12 years in ODIs. They last won an ODI tournament (involving 3 or more teams) was in 2002. They defeated New Zealand in the first two finals of the VB series in Australia in February 2002. Since then they have participated in 13 ODI tournaments involving three or more teams and this tournament was their first victory. In 21 ODI tournaments between December 1994 and January 2002, South Africa won 12.
ODI tournaments involving South Africa from August 2002
| Year | Tournament | Participants | Host | Winner | SA’s position |
| Aug-02 | Triangular | Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa | Morocco | Sri Lanka | Runner-ups |
| Sep-02 | ICC Champions Trophy | – | Sri Lanka | Shared by India & Sri Lanka | Semi-Finalists |
| Feb-03 | ICC World Cup | – | South Africa/Kenya/Zimbabwe | Australia | 1st Round |
| Apr-03 | Triangular | Bangladesh, India, South Africa | Bangladesh | Shared by India & South Africa | Shared title |
| Jun-03 | Triangular | England, South Africa, Zimbabwe | England | England | Runner-ups |
| Sep-04 | ICC Champions Trophy | – | England | West Indies | 1st Round |
| Jan-06 | Triangular | Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka | Australia | Australia | 1st Round |
| Oct-06 | ICC Champions Trophy | – | India | Australia | Semi-Finalists |
| Mar-07 | ICC World Cup | – | West Indies | Australia | Semi-Finalists |
| Sep-09 | ICC Champions Trophy | – | South Africa | Australia | 1st Round |
| Feb-11 | ICC World Cup | – | Bangladesh/India/Sri Lanka | India | Quarter-Finalists |
| Jun-13 | ICC Champions Trophy | – | England | India | Semi-Finalists |
| Aug-14 | Triangular | Australia, South Africa, Zimbabwe | Zimbabwe | South Africa | Winners |
All the top eight teams participate in ICC World Cup and Champion Trophy
List of ODI tournaments won by South Africa
| Year | Tournament Type | Involving teams | Host | SA’s Captain |
| Dec-94 | Quadrangular | New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka | South Africa | Hansie Cronje |
| Apr-96 | Triangular | India, Pakistan, South Africa | UAE | Hansie Cronje |
| Sep-96 | Quadrangular | Kenya, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka | Kenya | Hansie Cronje |
| Jan-97 | Triangular | India, South Africa, Zimbabwe | South Africa | Hansie Cronje |
| Nov-97 | Quadrangular | India, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies | Pakistan | Hansie Cronje |
| Apr-98 | Triangular | Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka | South Africa | Hansie Cronje |
| Oct-98 | Champions Trophy | – | Bangladesh | Hansie Cronje |
| Sep-99 | Quadrangular | India, Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe | Kenya | Hansie Cronje |
| Jan-00 | Triangular | England, South Africa, Zimbabwe | South Africa | Hansie Cronje |
| Aug-00 | Triangular | New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa | Singapore | Shaun Pollock |
| Oct-01 | Triangular | India, Kenya, South Africa | South Africa | Shaun Pollock |
| Jan-02 | Triangular | Australia, New Zealand, South Africa | Australia | Shaun Pollock |
| Aug-14 | Triangular | Australia, South Africa, Zimbabwe | Zimbabwe | AB de Villiers |
South Africa won most of their ODI tournaments under Hansie Cronje in late 1990s.
Number of ODI tournaments won by each team
Australia have won 33 ODI tournaments out of the the 71 they participated in. Sri Lanka is next with 25 tournament wins. New Zealand has the least tournament victories. New Zealand won just five of the 51 they participated in.
| Team | Total | Won |
| Australia | 71 | 33 |
| Sri Lanka | 86 | 25 |
| India | 90 | 24 |
| Pakistan | 85 | 23 |
| West Indies | 56 | 18 |
| South Africa | 39 | 13 |
| England | 41 | 8 |
| New Zealand | 51 | 5 |
Tournament is termed to be the series involving three or more teams.
The shared titles are not included in the wins for the teams in above table.
(Bharath Seervi is a cricket statistician who is obsessed with digging numbers, facts and records related to the game. An active member of Society of Cricket Statisticians of India, he blogs at www.cricketseervistats.blogspot.com. He can be followed on Twitter atwww.twitter.com/SeerviBharath and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SeerviCricket)
