South Africa too strong for Windies
Jacques Kallis got South Africa off to a great start
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Saturday, 13, Jun 2009 05:26
Early wickets meant a spirited West Indies were never able to catch South Africa's 183-7 in their World Twenty20 Super Eights clash at the Oval.
Graeme Smith's South Africa continued to look impressive as they racked up a total which the Windies were never quite able to emulate.
And despite a 50-ball 77 from Lendl Simmons, Chris Gayle's team fell 20 runs short, making 163-9 from their 20 overs.
The match started positively enough for the South Africans after they had been put into bat.
Consecutive fours in the second over were followed by a six from Jacques Kallis, whose majestic off-drive was dispatched well beyond the rope.
Smith caught up in the fifth over, hitting three fours in four balls as Dwayne Bravo struggled for accuracy.
But he holed out for a tame catch in the over which followed, giving a keyed-up West Indies side their first wicket.
Four consecutive dot balls in the eighth over by Sulieman Benn was a feat not to be repeated again in the match, but apart from this blip Herschelle Gibbs was happy to take the fight to the Windies attack.
An impressive pull by Kallis, bouncing just short of the rope, took South Africa to 86-1 at the end of the first half of their innings.
He was heading towards a strong 50 but perished two overs later, holing out in the deep to Kieron Pollard for 45 off 31 balls.
Gibbs took over the big-hitting mantle, smashing another six in the 14th over. He raced ahead to reach his half-century with a delicate paddle-sweep and a flick off his legs for two boundaries, but perished for 55 soon afterwards.
The steady fall of wickets throughout the remainder of the South African innings impeded their progress somewhat, and two wickets in over 17 for Jerome Taylor restricted their progress.
Despite this the runs kept coming as Mark Boucher (17 not out off 12 balls) pressed on. He smashed a further maximum in the final over to set an imposing nine an over for the Windies to chase.
Taylor was the pick of the Windies attack, taking 3-30 from his four overs.
After the short break the West Indies openers appeared uncertain and scratchy, looking distinctly awkward as they took just three runs from the opening over.
Andre Fletcher's dismissal in the second over was a blow but it was nothing compared to the loss of skipper Gayle, again off Wayne Parnell, two overs later.
Only one boundary came from the first four overs. But Kallis, coming on to bowl in the fifth over, was punished with four boundaries as Simmons began his offensive.
The runs kept coming for the West Indies but their hopes suffered a major blow when Bravo sent the ball straight to Dale Steyn at long-off at the end of the ninth over.
At the halfway stage the required run-rate had increased to ten an over as Simmons desperately looked to find a reliable partner.
He reached his 50 in the 11th over as the run-rate continued to mount. The 14th over summed the innings up: JP Duminy conceded two boundaries and a two off the first three balls before restricting the remainder to a bye and a single.
Wickets fell in the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th overs as any remaining hopes evaporated in the sunny Oval air.