Marcus Stoinis gave a salute to Temba Bavuma after dismissing him in the first South Africa-Australia T20I clash, after he had been at the receiving end of a similar send-off by Lizaad Williams in the first innings

Stoinis failed to get going with the bat in the first T20I against the Proteas on August 30 (Wednesday) and fell to Williams in the seventh over of Australia’s innings. The batter looked to pull a short ball but ended up mistiming it to Marco Jansen. As he was walking back for a nine-ball six, Williams turned towards the dressing room and celebrated with a salute before embracing his teammates.

The Australia all-rounder, who took the new ball when South Africa came out to bat, replicated the celebration when he got Bavuma out on the fifth ball of his opening over. The diminutive opener looked to drive a delivery that seamed back in, but he remained stuck in his crease as the ball crashed onto the stumps.

It was time for Stoinis to whip out the salute this time, an incident that led to much amusement among his teammates. Stoinis had further revenge later on, dismissing Williams as Australia surged towards a big win.

Australia scored 226-6 in their innings, with skipper Mitchell Marsh making 92 in 49 at a strike rate of 187.76.

This is not the first time that two players have been involved in a “celebration revenge”. West Indies bowler Sheldon Cottrell, who was famous for saluting the batter he had dismissed when they were walking back, was on the other side of the celebration when Mohammed Shami imitated his march and salute after he was dismissed by Yuzvendra Chahal in 2019.