PERTH: Australian captain Michael Clarke suffered a worrying recurrence of a hamstring injury as his side beat South Africa by 32 runs in the opening one-day international at WACA Ground here on Friday.

After being sent in to bat in the opening encounter of the five-match series, the home team posted 300 for eight from their 50 overs.

In reply, South Africa threatened a record run chase at the venue when their skipper, AB de Villiers (80) and David Miller (65) put on 126 for the fifth wicket, but ultimately fell 32 runs short and were dismissed for 268.

Despite the efforts of de Villers and Miller, the South Africans were always on the back foot after losing early wickets, with paceman Mitchell Johnson (2-38) celebrating his announcement as the ICC Cricketer of the Year by claiming both Proteas openers, Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla, in quick succession.

Recalled wicketkeeper Matthew Wade claimed five catches in the South African innings, while man-of-the-match Nathan Coulter-Nile claimed 4-48.

The 33-year-old Clarke reinjured his troublesome left hamstring as he made just 11 from 20 balls in the Australian innings and was immediately ruled out of taking any further part in the match.

Clarke has battled a degenerative back condition in recent years and hamstring troubles have plagued him, including missing matches on Australia’s past two overseas tours, to Zimbabwe and the United Arab Emirates.

The injury will be assessed on Saturday and Clarke conceded it was a major concern for his playing future.

“I’ve got my fingers crossed that it’s not that bad but the fact is that I have had this injury three times in the last six weeks,” he said.

“I’ve had a long stint of rehab trying to get it strong and unfortunately it’s come back again, so that is not positive.

“But I know I’ve got experts looking at it, I’m in good hands, and I will just have to listen to them.

“I think we’re in for a great summer. I just hope I can be a part of it.”

Clarke is unlikely to play in the remainder of the one-day series, and the first Test against India is just three weeks away.

The World Cup, which is being co-hosted by Australia, starts in February.

Johnson said vice-captain George Bailey would fill the void capably during Clarke’s absence.

The home side made the most of some good fortune with the bat, the Proteas dropping several catches, including grassing four chances to remove Bailey, who top-scored with 70 from 75 balls as Australia rode their luck to recover from 144-5.

The Australian vice-captain should never have reached double figures.

Hit on the back by the first ball he faced from Dale Steyn, Bailey was dropped twice in successive deliveries he faced when he was on just two, as South Africa stuck back with a vengeance following an opening stand of 94 by David Warner (46) and Aaron Finch (35).

David Miller dropped a sitter at point from the bowling of Morne Morkel, and then in the next over spinner Imran Tahir grassed a simple caught-and-bowled chance.

Bailey had two more lives on 38 and 47, the latter also resulting in South African fielder Farhaan Behardien being forced from the field with a minor shoulder injury sustained in a diving attempt to complete the catch.

Bailey’s luck came to an end when he skied a drive off the bowling of Steyn and was brilliantly caught by a back-pedalling Faf du Plessis at mid-off.

Seamer Vernon Philander led the way for the Proteas, claiming both the openers on his way to figures of 4-45 from his 10 overs.

De Villiers was disappointed with his side’s performance, but vowed they would bounce back strongly in Sunday’s second match of the series.

Scoreboard AUSTRALIA:

D. Warner c McLaren b Philander 46A. Finch c de Kock b Philander 35S. Watson c Morkel b Tahir 13M. Clarke c de Kock b Steyn 11G. Bailey c du Plessis b Steyn 70M. Marsh b Philander 10M. Wade c Rossouw (sub) b Philander 35G. Maxwell c du Plessis b Morkel 29M. Johnson not out 13N. Coulter-Nile not out 9

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-14, W-13, NB-1) 29

TOTAL (eight wickets; 50 overs) 300

FALL OF WKS: 1-94 (Warner), 2-94 (Finch), 3-112 (Clarke), 4-130 (Watson), 5-144 (Marsh), 6-236 (Bailey), 7-256 (Wade), 8-276 (Maxwell).

BOWLING: D. Steyn 10-0-62-2 (2w), V. Philander 10-0-45-4 (1nb, 3w), M. Morkel 10-1-56-1 (2w), R McLaren 9-0-63-0 (6w), I. Tahir 10-0-54-1, F. Behardien 1-0-5-0.

SOUTH AFRICA:

H. Amla c Wade b Johnson8Q. de Kock c Wade b Johnson 2F. du Plessis c Marsh b Watson 31H. Behardien c Finch b Coulter-Nile 20A.B. de Villiers run out 80D. Miller c Marsh b Coulter-Nile 65R. McLaren c Wade b Coulter-Nile 0V. Philander c Wade b Hazlewood 1D. Steyn c Wade b Coulter-Nile 6M. Morkel not out 22I. Tahir c Warner b Maxwell 22

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-1, W-9) 11

TOTAL (all out; 48.1 overs) 268

FALL OF WKTS: 1-6 (de Kock), 2-18 (Amla), 3-53 (Behardien), 4-76 (du Plessis), 5-202 (Miller), 6-202 (McLaren), 7-207 (Philander), 8-215 (de Villiers), 9-222 (Steyn).

BOWLING: M. Johnson 10-1-38-2 (5w), J. Hazlewood 10-0-50-1 (2w), N. Coulter-Nile 10-0-48-4, M. Marsh 7-0-50-0 (1w), S. Watson 6-0-48-1 (1w), G. Maxwell 5.1-0-32-1.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Nathan Coulter-Nile

UMPIRES: Simon Fry (AUS) and Nigel Llong (ENG)

TV UMPIRE: Brent Bowden (AUS)

MATCH REFEREE: Javagal Srinath (IND)

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2014