BRISBANE: Aiden Markram hit 45 and Henrich Klaasen a quick-fire 41 as South Africa warmed up for their only Twenty20 International against Australia by sweeping past an unheralded CA XI in Brisbane on Wednesday.

Fresh from their 2-1 one-day series win, the Proteas rested Faf du Plessis, David Miller, and Dale Steyn with wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock taking on the captaincy. He won the toss and elected to bat with South Africa belting 201- off their 20 overs at the Allan Border Field.

The CA XI was captained by Ben McDermott, who featured in four Twenty20s for Australia against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates recently. Teenager Max Bryant was the star in the run chase, hitting 36 off 22 balls, including two sixes and three fours against the likes of Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi.

Summarised scores:

SOUTH AFRICA 201-5 in 20 overs (A.K. Markram 45, H. Klaasen 41, R.R. Hendricks 39, F. Behardien 27 not out; G.S. Sandhu 1-18, M.P. Kuhnemann 1-18, J.P. Behrendorff 1-25); CRICKET AUSTRALIA XI 160-7 (A.J. Ross 40, M. Bryant 36, L.D. Pfeffer 23; C.H. Morris 2-35, Imran Tahir 1-11, K. Rabada 1-13, T. Shamsi 1-27).

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2018