Centurion, September 24: The Kiwi score went past the 150- run mark in the thirty seventh over, adopting the policy of slow and steady campers. The duo of Grant Elliot and Ross Taylor held fort, hoping to up the tempo at the later stages of the game.
A top edge brought about the first wicket to the name of a spinner as Brendon McCullum (44) was caught by Duminy off Botha’s bowling. With the top-order gone and the runs not piling up, South Africa had their strategy executed to the fullest at the half-way mark of the innings.
Martin Guptill (21) was the second man to depart as Wayne Parnell continued with his good form, claiming his second victim of the day.
The first power play was a placid one for the Kiwis as the run-rate never showed any signs of a rise.
Opener Jesse Ryder (9) fell to a brilliant piece of fielding by RE van der Merwe, who plucked the leather out of thin air.
The wicket came in the fourth over of the match, when New Zealand had registered just 12 runs on the scoreboard.
Graeme Smith had won the toss and elected to field first against New Zealand in the crucial Champions Trophy encounter that would very well decide the semi-final berth of the mini-World Cup.
With the situation becoming a do-or-die case for the Proteas after their loss to Sri Lanka in the tournament opener, Smith fielded the same team from the last game. Hershelle Gibbs could still not recover from his injury.
New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori on the other hand, rued losing the toss as his seamers too would have gotten an edge with the morning moisture on the turf.
—Agencies
Youth brigade charms Pak coach Alam
Johannesburg, September 24: Intikhab Alam, coach of Pakistan cricket team, has showered encomiums on his young brigade, which has impressed him in the recent times.
It’s the young Turks who shouldered the responsibility of pulling his team from the slump to see them through against West Indies on Thursday.
First, the rookie pacer Mohammad Aamer bowled a fiery spell to shoot West Indies out for 130-odd runs, and then young Umar Akmal played a sensible knock to help them overtake the total despite having a middle-order collapse that saw Pakistan suffering at 76 for 5 at one stage.
But it’s junior Akmal who impressed him most. “We expect a great deal from this young man,” Alam said. “He`s done a great deal in a short amount of time. I have a lot of time for him and he has a great future ahead of him.”
Alam had some words of praise for Aamer also. “Young Aamer is a very talented player. When we took him to England and we played him straight away in the World Twenty20, you can imagine he bowled the last over against South Africa in the semi-final, you can imagine he must have great ability. He has a great future.”
He is also confident that their regular captain Younis Khan would be back to lead the team in their next match against India on Saturday. “He did practice this afternoon for an hour,” Alam said. “He felt okay and I am sure he will play in the next match,” informed Alam.
—Agencies