SA beat Kiwis by one run in World T20 game

Categorized | Sports

Posted on 09 June 2009 by ashok

Kallis take a catch to dismiss Broom. SA beat Kiwis by 1 run

T20 cricket lived up to its unpredictable character at Lords on Tuesday, as South Africa pulled off a dramatic one-run win over New Zealand. It was Roelof van der Merwe’s tight spell (2/14) that engineered a late South African comeback, as he picked up the crucial wickets of Ross Taylor (22 off 31) and Brendon McCullum (57 off 54). Needing 15 off the last over, the Kiwis could only end up with 127/5.

Until about the 15th over, the Kiwis were in cruise control. However, when Taylor was dismissed playing a rash stroke, New Zealand lost the momentum, bringing to an end a well-constructed 50-run partnership. McCullum followed Taylor back, stumped off van der Merwe. And then, things just got tougher for the Kiwis. Needing around 10 an over from then on till the end, they felt the heat, before eventually falling short by one run. It was McCullum’s wicket that turned the match for South Africa, as the Kiwi skipper was on course to take his side home.

The Kiwis got off to a rather shaky start, losing the wickets of Martin Guptill and Neil Broom in quick succession.

Earlier, after being sent in to bat, South Africa managed a modest score of 128/7 off 20 overs. While Graeme Smith starred for the Proteas with a 35-ball 33, New Zealand’s superb fielding, along with Ian Butler’s spell of 2/13 kept the South Africans in check.

Brief Score:

SA 128-7 in 20 overs (Smith 33, Duminy 29, Kallis 24; Butler 2-13) bt NZ 127-5 in 20 overs (McCullum 57, Oram 24, Taylor 22; van der Merwe 2-14) by one run

Australia knocked out: Last year’s semi-finalists Australia were knocked out of the World T20 cup after suffering a six-wicket loss to Sri Lanka in Trent Bridge. The win also meant that the West Indies are through to the Super Eights.

Chasing 160 to start their World Cup campaign on a winning note, Sri Lanka overhauled the target in 19 overs. Kumar Sangakkara, who was captaining Sri Lanka for the first time, saw his team through with an unbeaten 55 off 42 balls. Australia never really looked like winning the game at any stage, though they did seem to have creaked the door open with the two wickets of Tillakaratne Dilshan (53 off 32) and Mahela Jayawardene (9 off 12). Sri Lanka’s run-rate dropped a little, but with Sangakkara out in the middle, still seemed to have the game under control. The game was as good as gone for the Aussies in the 15th over when Sangakkara took 16 runs off Nathan Hauritz.

While Sangakkara finished the job, the successful run-chase was set up the impressive Dilshan. Another one of those players who seem to have improved leaps and bounds after playing the Indian Premier League, Dilshan played just about every shot in the book, and some out of it too, in his 32-ball blitzkrieg. A remarkable 40 off his 53 runs came through hits to the fence.

Earlier, it was Ajantha Mendis’s trickery that stopped Australia from scoring a big total. The spinner scalped three wickets for 20 in his four overs, applying the brakes on the Aussie innings.

Brief Score: Australia 159-9 in 20 overs (Johnson 28*, David Hussey 28, Ponting 25; Mendis 3/20, Malinga 3/36) lost to Sri Lanka 160-4 in 19 overs (Dilshan 53, Sangakkara 55*; Lee 2/39) by 6 wkts.