CT 09: Match 3: SA v. NZ: Parnell and de Villers win Crucial Match for Proteas!

In a must win match for South Africa, Parnell helped his team by bagging 5 of the Kiwis wicket which restricted them to 214.

Smith defined the loss against Sri Lanka in the earlier match as a wake-up call as the entire team felt that they are the best. The defeat in the opening match of the CT has warned them against any complacency.

Taylor's fighting 72 gave Kiwis a decent total on the board. Chasing 215, Smith went early for 7. Amla and Kallis added 52 for 2nd wicket but it was AB de Villiers who showed his class through his responsible innings of unbeatn 70. This fetched them the crucial 2 points and has retained them in the competition.

Scoreboard:

Match # 3, Group B
Date: Thursday Sep 25, 2009
Teams: South Africa v. New Zealand
Captains: Smith and Vettori
Toss: South Africa, decided to field
Venue: SuperSport Park, Centurion
Result: South Africa won by 5 wickets with 53 balls remaining
Points: South Africa 2; new Zealand 0
Man of the Match: W Parnell off South Africa

New Zealand Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
B McCullum	c Duminy b Botha	44	68	3	2
J Ryder	c Merwe b Parnell	8	12	1	0
M Guptill	c Amla b Parnell	21	26	4	0
LRPL Taylor	lbw b Parnell	72	106	6	2
G Elliott	b Merwe	39	48	4	0
N Broom	lbw b Merwe	1	4	0	0
G Hopkins	c Duminy b Parnell	13	13	2	0
K Mills	c de Villiers b Steyn	0	3	0	0
Vettori	not out	1	2	0	0
D Tuffey	c Duminy b Parnell	4	2	1	0
S Bond	c de Villiers b Steyn	0	4	0	0
Extras	(b 4, lb 5, w 1, nb 1)	11	-	-	-
Total	all out in 47.5 overs	214	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-12 (Ryder, 3.6 ov), 2-58 (Guptill, 12.6 ov), 3-92 (McCullum, 23.1 ov), 4-163 (Elliott, 38.6 ov), 5-171 (Broom, 40.5 ov), 6-203 (Hopkins, 44.6 ov), 7-204 (Mills, 45.5 ov), 8-209 (Taylor, 46.3 ov), 9-213 (Tuffey, 46.5 ov), 10-214 (Bond, 47.5 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Steyn	9.5	1	32	2
Parnell	8	0	57	5
Kallis	8	0	24	0
A Morkel	3	0	13	0
J Botha	9	1	44	1
Merwe	10	1	35	2

South Africa Innings: (215 to win in 50 overs)

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
G Smith	c Vettori b Tuffey	7	14	1	0
Amla	lbw b Vettori	38	65	3	0
J Kallis	c B McCullum b Bond	36	39	6	0
AB de Villiers	not out	70	76	9	0
Duminy	c B McCullum b Mills	11	13	2	0
Boucher	c B McCullum b Tuffey	28	28	4	0
A Morkel	not out	19	14	3	0
Extras	(lb 2, w 4, nb 2)	8	-	-	-
Total	for 5 wkts in 41.1 overs	217	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-22 (Smith, 5.6 ov), 2-74 (Kallis, 16.3 ov), 3-108 (Amla, 23.2 ov), 4-138 (Duminy, 26.5 ov), 5-180 (Boucher, 35.5 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
K Mills	8.1	0	45	1
S Bond	10	0	51	1
D Tuffey	9	1	52	2
Vettori	10	1	34	1
J Ryder	2	0	15	0
M Guptill	1	0	13	0
Elliott	1	0	5	0

No need to prove to anybody: Akhtar

After ripping apart the Delhi Dardevils top-order with a tornado-like opening spell in his maiden Indian Premier League outing, Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar said he had put everything into his bowling and had 'no points to make to anybody'.

"I just wanted to win the game. I have no points to make to anybody," he said.

Facing quite a few controversies for the last few months, Shoaib said "I was stressed but put everything behind me".

The Rawalpindi Express thanked his teammates, coach John Buchanan, captain Sourav Ganguly and team owner Shah Rukh Khan.

"Sharing the dressing room with SRK and Sourav was fantastic. They backed me. And I am really happy to perform. They put faith in me. And I am happy to deliver".

On his performance, Akhtar said "For me, my team is the most important thing. Kolkata is my home team. Eden Gardens is my home ground".

Akhtar said "Whenever I play I give hundred per cent". On whether he had expected success on his first IPL match, he said "I gave my best, thankfully the wickets came".

"It has been four months since I played my last game".

"Things were going the right way. It was a team effort, even the fielding was great."

Ganguly said "He came to the country with lots (of things) happening behind him. But he showed lot of character".

Delhi captain Virender Sehwag, who became Akhtar's first victim, also paid tributes to the fast bowler.

"This is the best spell of Twenty20 bowling I have seen. He is a great bowler".

He, however, denied that the Delhi side was done in by Shoaib's pace. "We are used to pace. We are all international players. I, Gautam (Gambhir), and (Manoj) Tiwary".

Sehwag said "Actually we batted too positively against Shoaib".

Meanwhile, asked bout his youthful exuberance in the field during the day, Akhtar replied tongue-in-cheek "I hope the national selectors are watching".

South Africa won by an Innings and 90 Runs!

South Africa beat India in the 2nd test of the three match series by an innings and 90 runs. The match was completed in just less than 3 days of play. India meekly surrendered in the first innings for mere 76 and in the 2nd innings were all out for 328 runs.

In the South African 1st innings, de Villiers scored a beautiful double century and Kallis a wonderful 132 which gave South Afrian a very big lead.

It's also India's first innings defeat since the 2001 Colombo (SSC) Test against Sri Lanka.

de Villiers wasd declared man of the match for his unbeaten 217.

South Africa delcared their innings at the end of the second day, but they announced it in the morning at 494 for 7. The overnight rain should have given Smith a thought that it may rain in future and would have triggered the decison to declare.

Started the 2nd innings with a deficit of 418, either had to play out the 3 days with 270 overs or score 418 at least to make South African bat again. The chances of India recovering one more time like they did with Australia. But, that required few top guns to play a marathon innings like Dravid and Laxman.

How did we depend on Shewaga? He is not a consistent player in test cricket though he is a dashing player. But, does not play any sensible cricket and play according to the situation.

Shewag was the first to go, leg before wicket for 17 off Nitni. Dravid was trying to push the ball which was in the chest height went straight to slips off Morkel. He was out for 17.

It was crucial for Jaffer to prove his credibility, but not able to play an important innings. He had all the time in the world to play his innings, but trying to drive the ball pitched up to him, edged it to slips.

Though Laxman and Ganguly tried to build the innings with first 50 runs partnership in this test for India, Laxman played at the ball pitched away from the off stump, which edged to wicket keeper. The key batsman was out for 35.

It was left to Ganguly and Dhoni to bring back the pride to India, the last recognized pair of batsmen. Gaungly crossed his fifty, focussing every ball and had a tough time in the crease.

He crossed his 50 in 86 balls with 5 fours. He was declared caught behind though the decision was not a good one. The partnership between Dhoni and Ganguly was the first 100 run partership of the Indian innings. He was out for 87 off 149 balls with 8 fours.

Dhoni, who also scored fifty, which had no value in this innings because it did not help India save the game. He scored his 50 off 122 balls with 5 fours. I think he has some attitude issue in playing the test matches, especially in other's captaincy. His attitude during keeping the wickets, collecting balls from the fielders, the way he batted in Chennai, all leading to the doubt whether he is capable of playing test match cricket.

Pathan, as usual, an upcoming all rounder was alone in the crease fighting the losing battle. He was not out on 43 when the remaining batsman fell cheaply--Kumble bowled by Harris for 5, Harbhajan, once again leg before for Steyn, RP Singh caught at slips of Steyn and Sreesanth bowled by Nitni for 17. RP Singh was hit on the helmet by Steyn and the next ball went at shoulder level which he edged to slips.

Sreesanth hit a six of Steyn, stepping out and hitting a baseball shot over mid wicket, but that didn't have any value as far as saving the match is concerned.

For South Africa, Steyn and Nitni picked 3 wickets each, Morkel 2, Kallis and Harris one each.

During the post match presentation, Kumble said: "It was difficult to come back after getting bowled out for 76. They took the game away from us. We have been in this situation before. I thought the effort from our bowlers was 100%. We will bounce back."

Graeme Smith: "This was the perfect Test match for us. We dominated from the start. It was hard work for the bowlers today on a heavy outfield. It's been fantastic for AB and Kallis. The guys know we've got one more game to go. They've been focussed throughout the series."

de villiers is the Man of the Match: "I'm just over the moon. Having Kallis around was a good calming effect, especially when I was in the 90s. I enjoyed playing here, and the Ahmedabad fans have been great. Just the perfect Test for us."

Complete Score:

Match: 2nd Test, India v. South Africa
Venue: Ahmedabad (India)
Captains: Kumble (India), Smith (South Africa)
Toss: India and decided to bat
Result: South Africa won by an innings and 90 runs
Man of the Match: de Villiers

Score:
India 1st Innings 76 all out in 20 overs (Steyn 5 for 23, Nitni 3 for 18, Morkel 2 for 20)
South Africa 1st Innings 494 for 7 declared in 141.2 overs (Smith 34, McKenzie 42, Kallis 132, de Villiers 217 not out, Sreesanth 2 for 87, Harbhajan Singh 4 for 135)
India 2nd Innings 328 all out in 94.2 overs (VVS Laxman 35, Ganguly 87, Dhoni 52, Pathan 43 not out, Steyn 3 for 91, Nitni 3 for 44, Morkel 2 for 87)

Day 2 of the first test in Chennai belonged to South Africa. They scored 236 runs and lost 6 wickets in little over 2 sessions.

Resuming the day at 304 for 4, Amla scored the first century of the series. The four through extra cover brought his 4th century in 173 balls with 14 fours. de Villiers was struggling at one end though he scored few quick fours of Kumble, but didn't last long. He was caught behind when tried to drive through off side. The new ball gave the break-through that India wanted.
Amla and Boucher continued the domination, but Boucher's poor call put a break to Amla's good innings. He crossed 150 in 248 balls and was timing the ball well. The cut to cover off Kumble seem to be a run, but good fielding by Sreesanth created the mess between stricker Boucher and Amla. Boucher was few steps down in the pitch, but Amla was almost through the run. The throw by Sreesanth to the wrong end didn't stop Dhoni to pass the ball to Kumble in the bowling end to run out Amla, who was too far away from the crease. This was his first century against India.

Boucher who scored his 28th half-century in Test Cricket, was hitting the ball well. He hit 9 fours in his 70. When he tried hit the ball across over long-on, it took the edge and flew high towards slip where Dravid grabbed it humbly. The score was 510 for 7 and Morkel joined.

The pitch was not helping the bowlers much. Morkel scored an useful 35 and was caught and bowled off Harbhajan. It was a straight and simple catch to the bowler.

The last two wickets added 20 runs to the board. Harris didn't pick the straight ball from Bhajji and edged the ball to first slip. Last batsman to be dismissed was Steyn. He hit the ball high in the air, RP Sing ran across from long-on and took a good catch to finish the South African innings at 540.

Harbhajan was the pick of the bowlers. He picked 5 wickets giving away 164 runs and Kumble picked 2 wickets, Sreesanth and Shewag picked 1 each.

The Indian chase started with 21 overs to play in the day. Shewag and Jaffer opened the innings positively. They were playing shots through gully and driving and cutting the ball to the fence. Shewag hit Nitni for a six over third man. It was a short ball and upper cut over the boundary. Similar shot was played by Jaffier off Nitni for a six.

Shewag scored his 50 off 59 balls with 6 fours and a six.

At the end of day 2, India are 82 for no wicket in 21 overs. Jaffer batting on 25 and Shewag is on 52.

Score:

Toss: South Africa

Venue: Chennai, India

Date: March 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 2008

Captain: Smith (SA), Kumble (India)

Score:

South Africa 540 all out in 152.5 overs (Smith 74, McKenzie 94, Amla 159, deVilliers 44, Boucher 70, Morkel 35, Kumble 2 for 106, Harbhajan 5 for 164)

India 82 for no loss in 21 overs (Shewag 52 batting, Jaffer 25 batting)