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South Africa square T20I Series 1-1

BV Swagath — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:03:16 +0000

After a 1-run defeat in the first T20I at the Wanderers, South Africa fought back with a crushing 84-run win in the second match today at Centurion. South Africa batting first plundered 241 for 6 with openers Graeme Smith (88 from 44 balls with 8 fours and 6 sixes) and Loots Bosman (94 from 45 balls with 5 fours and 9 sixes) putting up 170 in 13.1 overs.

England in their chase could just come up with 157 for 8 with only Jonathan Trott (51 from 40 balls with 1 four and 3 sixes) scoring anything significant. Loots Bosman got the Man of the Match for his second successive fifty.

Rain helps England to squeeze a 1-run win

BV Swagath — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:43:33 +0000

England just managed to win the first T20I at the Wanderers in Johannesburg by a narrow margin of one run. South Africa needed to be at 128 for 3 in 13 overs when rain stopped any further action. The Proteas despite knowing the target of 8 from the over of James Anderson could manage only six runs to lose the match.

Earlier Graeme Smith put England in and his bowlers were at the receiving end from a sparkling knock of 85 from 45 balls (with 7 fours and 5 sixes) from left hander Eoin Morgan. The Irish man got the Man of the Match award. Skipper Paul Collingwood batted superbly as well to get 57 from 32 balls with 3 fours and 4 sixes while one down bat Jonatthan Trott struck 5 fours in a crisp knock of 33 from 25 balls.

England smashed their way to 202 for 6 in 20 overs but the target looked under threat when Loots Bossman showed his true potential. Along with Graeme Smith, Bossman sent shivers in the English bowlers with some outstanding shots. Both Smith and Bossman were dismissed in quick succession in the space of 5 balls to reduce SA to 101 for 2 in the 10th over. Bossman smacked 58 from 31 balls with 5 fours and 4 sixes and Smith was equally effective with his 41 from 23 balls with 3 fours and 4 sixes.

South Africa finished at 127 for 3 in 13 overs when rain had the last laugh. For the visitors, Graeme Swann did the turn around giving 15 runs off his last two overs at a time when the Proteas were looking at plenty of runs for a win. Anderson was also another crucial bowler as he could keep the pair of AB de Villiers and Albie Morkel down to just the singles in what turned out to be the last over.

South Africa takes on England at Wanderers in the first T20I tonight

BV Swagath — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:17:23 +0000

The South Africa-England Series kickstarts today with a T20I at the New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg tonight. The two teams will clash again tomorrow in a simlar format before heading into the more serious business of the ODI and the Test Series.

England go into the first T20I with the embarassment of losing a warm-up match against South Africa A at Bloemfontein. The visitors were bundled out for a paltry 89 on Tuesday. The batsmen seem to be low in confidence but the bowlers did well for them by stretching that match till the 18th over and taking six wickets of a decent South Africa A side.

Here are the two squads for tonight’s Twenty20 International :

South Africa : Graeme Smith (Captain), 2 Loots Bosman, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Jacques Kallis, Albie Morkel, Heino Kuhn, Mark Boucher (Wicket Keeper), Ryan McLaren, Roelof van der Merwe, Wayne Parnell, Johan Botha, Yusuf Abdulla, Dale Steyn, Charl Langeveldt

England : Paul Collingwood (Captain), Joe Denly, Luke Wright, Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior (Wicket Keeper), Tim Bresnan, Adil Rashid, Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad, Sajid Mahmood, James Anderson, Graham Onions

South Africa thrash Zimbabwe by 212 runs

BV Swagath — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:03:00 +0000

JP Duminy’s unbeaten 111 from 87 balls (with 9 fours and 2 sixes) set up a massive 212-run win for South Africa against Zimbabwe in the second and final ODI. At the SuperSport Park in Centurion yesterday, South Africa who were put into bat first piled up 331 for 5. Contributions also came from Skipper Graeme Smith (53 from 46) and Jacques Kallis (86 from 105 balls) who put on a century stand for the first wicket.

Zimbabwe in reply were bundled out for 119 in 34.3 overs with Charl Langeveldt, Albie Morkel and Roelof van der Merwe capturing three wickets each. For the visitors, Tatenda Taibu again kept his head up in pride, this scoring 52 from 71 balls following the first ODI century.

SA win 1st ODI by 45 runs; Taibu century in vain

BV Swagath — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:27:58 +0000

South Africa won the 1st ODI of the 2-Match Series against Zimbabwe by 45 runs at the Willowmoore Park in Benoni yesterday. Zimbabwe who had put the homeside to bat first were taken for 295/6 in the allotted 50 overs.

For South Africa, Opener Hashim Amla struck 80 from 96 balls while AB de Villiers came up with 51 from 51 balls and Albie Morkel scored a breezy 50 not out from 39 balls.

Zimbabwe got to 250 for 6 in reply which was a feat considering that they were reduced to 48 for 5 in 17 overs. Tatenda Taibu returned back into the Zimbabwe team to score an unbeaten 103 from 112 balls (with 6 fours and 3 sixes). He was well supported by Stuart Matsikenyeri who made 86 from 87 balls (with 8 fours and a six). Taibu got the Man of the Match.