da betcris： After withstanding a ferocious early onslaught from Bangladesh, SouthAfrica eased to a comfortable seven-wicket victory in the final leaguematch of the ICC World Twenty20
The Bulletin by Dileep Premachandran15-Sep-2007
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Morne Morkel got rid of Aftab Ahmed as Bangladesh lost wickets in a rush after a frenzied start © AFP
After withstanding a ferocious early onslaught from Bangladesh, SouthAfrica eased to a comfortable seven-wicket victory in the final leaguematch of the ICC World Twenty20. Needing just 145 for victory, GraemeSmith and Albie Morkel made 41 apiece after JP Duminy had set the tonewith an aggressive 36. A huge six from Justin Kemp finished it with sevenballs to spare, but not before Bangladesh had given more glimpses of justwhat a dangerous side they are in this format.Smith and Duminy started fairly sedately, knowing that no great heroicswere needed to keep up with the asking rate. Smith charged MashrafeMortaza and struck two splendid shots down the ground, while Duminyconcentrated on the gaps in the leg-side field. He played the pull withimmense power, while a paddle for four off Syed Rasel showed that he couldfinesse the ball as well.Predictably, Mohammad Ashraful turned to spin as soon as the fieldingrestrictions were lifted, and Abdur Razzaq immediately had a very goodappeal against Smith turned down. Ashraful’s own legspin wasn’t aseffective, and it was Razzaq that delivered the breakthrough, trappingDuminy in front after being clubbed to long-on for a six.Bangladesh couldn’t build on that though, as Morkel, promoted to No.3,smashed the first ball he faced straight back down the ground. Through thecourse of his innings, Morkel revealed just why he’s such a fearedTwenty20 hitter, clearing the midwicket fielder and the rope withridiculous ease. One massive loft off Shakib Al Hasan travelled nearly100 metres into the stands.The target was within reach, when Smith – who had bludgeoned and nudged intypical fashion for his runs – went for a slog-sweep against Shakib. Theball looped off the top edge and Mushfiqur Rahim took a great catchrunning towards square leg. A similarly unnecessary shot from Morkel,thumping Razzaq to Farhad Reza at deep cover, gave Bangladesh a glimmer ofhope, but AB de Villiers and Kemp shut the door with a couple of bigheaves.Bangladesh had started like a runaway train, scoring their first 38 runsin boundaries, but then careered off track. Aftab Ahmed smashed athrilling 36 from just 14 balls, but the overly gung-ho attitude cost themdearly as wickets fell regularly. South Africa’s new-ball pairing of ShaunPollock and Makhaya Ntini came in for a real pasting early on and it wasleft to the likes of Mornè Morkel, Johan van der Wath and Vernon Philanderto rein in the rampant batsmen.The tone was set in Pollock’s very first over with Tamim Iqbal crashingthe first ball through the covers for four. An audacious loft overmidwicket followed, as Bangladesh appeared intent on showing that they hadno respect for lofty reputations.At the other end, Ntini trapped Nazimuddin first ball, but was thenstunned as Aftab nonchalantly thumped sixes over midwicket and mid-off. Aflick for four ended the over, but right after, Bangladesh were two downas Tamim’s charge at Pollock found Smith at mid-off.Ashraful, the architect of that famous World Cup win over South Africa in Guyana, came to the crease and promptly clouted Pollock over square legfor six, before moving across his stumps and flipping him down to fine leg for four. There wasn’t to be any luck the third time though, as a miscued loft straight down the ground was taken by Smith running across from mid-on.The fall of wickets had no effect whatsoever on Aftab though, with Ntinipulled, flicked and driven for fours. In desperation, Smith turned toMornè Morkel, only to see Aftab play a coruscating drive through cover forfour. That was as good as it got though. The next delivery was a beauty,timed at 146.9 km/hr and it took Aftab’s off stump on a long journey.Shakib played some lovely strokes behind point, but then paid the pricefor misjudging a single, caught inches short by Duminy’s brilliant pick-upand throw from mid-off. Consolidation was the need of the hour then, butyou wouldn’t have thought it from the way Mortaza took massive swipes atthe first four balls he faced.The fifth and six he faced, both off Philander, were clubbed for bigsixes, but another almighty heave was then brilliantly taken on the run byDuminy at deep cover. Alok Kapali struggled to eke out 14 from 35 ballbefore another wild heave spelt his end, and it was left to Reza to slamstraight sixes off Pollock and Philander before a miscue was taken by Kempin the deep.That left South Africa the sort of middling target that could have provedtricky to chase under lights, but with the Guyana humiliation no doubtfresh in their minds, they made few mistakes. England are up next onSunday, and a repeat of the rugby result will go down a treat for whatwill undoubtedly be a capacity crowd.