Warm-Up Matches: South Africa Beats Zimbabwe By 8 Wickets

South Africa thrashed Zimbabwe by 8 wickets in its first warm-up match at Chennai on Saturday. Favorite Protease achieved the target of 153 easily.

Zimbabwe won the toss and decided to bat first. Brendan Taylor and C. Coventry provide a good start of 49 runs to their side. Coventry went back to pavilion after scoring 21 runs. His catch was taken by Imran Tahir on the ball of Morkel. Taibu could not score any run and caught by Smith, this time bowler was Morkel again. G. Lamb can score 11 runs, his catch was taken by de Villiers on the ball of Peterson. Captain E. Chigumbura could not opened his score account and went back in the result of a strong LBW appeal made by Peterson, he faced 4 balls. When the total of weak African side was 82 the resistance of Taylor ended and he gave the catch to de Villiers on the ball of Imran Tahir.

C. Ervine could not enter into double-figures and went back on the strong appeal of lbw made by Botha. He added 8 runs to his team’s total. R. Chakabva played faced 33 balls and scored 18. S. Williams shown a little bit resistance and scored 35 runs. He became run out on the direct threw of Plessis. P. Utseya can score 5 runs, he was bowled out by Tahir. S. Masakadza became the last wicket for South Africa; he went back with scoring any run. Imran Tahir was the wicket taker again. At the end Zimbabwe score was 152 with the run rate of 3.63.

M Morkel and Imran Tahir were prominent bowlers by taking 3, 3 wickets. Peterson took 2 wickets.

The target of 153 was easily chased by South Africa in 24^th over. Hashim Amla scored 45 runs he was caught by Taibu on the ball of Price. Captain Gram Smith went back after scoring 41. Kallis and de Villiers were not out 49 and 12 runs respectively when they got their target. Price and Lamb took one, one wicket.

Cricket-South Africa set Pakistan 354 to win final test

ABU DHABI: South Africa declared their second innings on 203 for five wickets, setting Pakistan 354 runs to win the second and final test on Wednesday.

Scores: South Africa 584-9 declared (J. Kallis 105, A. de Villiers 278 not out; Tanvir Ahmed 6-120) and 203-5 declared (H. Amla 62) v Pakistan 434 all out (A. Ali 90, Misbah-ul-haq 77, A. Shafiq 61, A. Rehman 60). AGENCIES

De Villiers record puts S.Africa in charge

ABU DHABI: AB de Villiers posted South Africa’s highest individual score to give them firm control of the second test on the second day against Pakistan at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Sunday.

De Villiers scored 278 not out to pass Graeme Smith’s landmark of 277 against England in Birmingham in 2003, with captain Smith declaring their first innings closed on 584 for nine shortly afterwards.

Taufeeq Umar (16) and Azhar Ali (34) then took Pakistan to 59 for one before bad light stopped play and stumps were drawn with seven overs remaining in the day.

Mohammad Hafeez was the batsman out, playing across his front pad and being trapped lbw for two in the first over of the innings.

De Villiers came to the wicket with the score a parlous 33 for three on the first morning but immediately looked settled and occupied the crease for more than 11 hours, taking 418

Pakistan secure another adventure

Staff Report

DUBAI: Pakistan level five-One Day International (ODI) series against South Africa by securing 4th and decisive ODI Friday.

SOUTH AFRICA CAPTAIN SMITH PUMMELS PAKISTANI BOWLERS

South African captain Graeme Smith capped his return after suffering injury with a solid 92 to help his team reach 274-6 against Pakistan in the fourth day-night international here on Friday.

Smith missed his ninth one-day century by just eight runs after winning the toss and electing to bat, lifting South African innings with a 94-run stand with AB de Villiers (49) on a flat Duba Stadium pitch.

Smith, who injured his left hand during South Africa’s eight wicket win in the first one-day in Abu Dhabi last week, hit nine boundaries during his 105-ball innings, before he was trapped leg-before in the 31st over.

De Villiers then took charge along

South Africa beat Zimbabwe by eight wickets, second ODI

POTCHEFSTROOM: South Africa beat Zimbabwe by eight wickets in the second one-day international at Senwes Park on Sunday.

Scores: Zimbabwe 268 all out in 48.2 overs (Tatenda Taibu 78; Juan Theron 5-44) v South Africa 273-2 in 39 overs (Hashim Amla 110, AB de Villiers 101 not out)

AGENCIES

Man-eunuch remanded in one-day police custody

A man and a eunuch have given in police custody on one-day physical remand on Tuesday. Police arrested Malik Iqbal for marrying a eunuch Kashif in Peshawar along with 40 wedding guests.
Following complaints from locals we raided the place and found that the wedding party was in full swing, police officer Shahid Khan told.
They were dancing, dinner was ready to be served, and a special wedding bed was prepared for the couple. We also recovered some pictures of the couple.
Among the arrested were 15 eunuchs and 35 male friends and family members of Iqbal, who according to police is already married to a woman.
Under Pakistani law gay marriage or a man’s marriage to a eunuch is a criminal offence and carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence.
We have charged the couple with adultery and 40 participants with collaboration in the offence, Khan said.
A Pakistani court in December ordered the government to accept hijras’ identity as a distinct gender to ensure their rights, in a verdict that has been hailed by activists as a landmark development. Some 30,000 eunuchs were previously denied national identity cards since the applicant was allowed to pronounce their gender only as male or female.

Proteas beat West Indies to take 2-0 lead

All-rounder Darren Sammy hit 58 not out off 24 balls Monday but South Africa held off a late West Indies surge to score a 17-run victory in the second one-day cricket international at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
Sammy blasted six sixes and two fours to belatedly energize the hosts’ pursuit of South Africa’s formidable total of 300-5 off 50 overs. But West Indies eventually fell short at 283 all out off 48.1 overs.
Dwayne Bravo topscored for the West Indies with 74 off 70 deliveries before Sammy’s assault. Opener Dale Richards struck 51 off 85 balls. Pacer Morne Morkel led the visitors with 3-58.
South Africa’s total had been built around Hashim Amla’s 92 off 95 balls. Jacques Kallis, in his 300th one-dayer, contributed a solid 85 off 89 deliveries. A.B. de Villiers (41) and captain Graeme Smith (37) also supported well. Kieron Pollard, with 2-39, was the best of the West Indian bowlers.
The West Indies chase failed to gather momentum early on despite captain Chris Gayle (26) sharing a 40-run opening stand with Richards.Gayle, who hit three fours and a six, eventually slapped a drive straight to extra cover off Morkel.The experienced Ramnaresh Sarwan retired hurt soon afterwards to further stall the hosts.
The dismissal of Narsingh Deonarine (7) and Richards left the West Indies struggling at 119-3 in the 28th over. But Bravo and fellow Trinidadian shared an enterprising fourth wicket stand of 63 to lift home spirits. Morkel returned to tilt the balance to the visitors with the wickets Pollard and Jerome Taylor in one over.
Pollard holed out to long-off where Johan Botha held a fantastic low catch while Taylor lost his off stump.The run out of Denesh Ramdin further dented the West Indians, who slipped to 200-6 in the 41st over. Bravo and Sammy restored some hope in a stand of 36 off 20 balls. But when Bravo departed, slapping Dale Steyn straight to deep cover, the result seemed a foregone conclusion.
Sarwan’s return lasted just one delivery as he edged Botha to the wicket-keeper at 236-8 and leave Sammy with just Ravi Rampaul and Nikita Miller for company. But Sammy had other ideas during a brutal assault that rattled the South Africans. With 78 runs needed from 42 balls, he blasted pace ace Steyn for two sixes and continued his remarkable hitting against Johan Botha and Morkel.
He arrived at his fifty off 20 balls, the fastest ever by a West Indian, beating Brian Lara’s 23-ball effort against Canada at the 2003 World Cup at Centurion. Sammy, who was dropped on two by Alviro Petersen at backward point off Morkel, ultimately fell just short as both his partners were run out in the frantic final stages.
Earlier, Smith and Amla set the platform for South Africa’s formidable total with an opening stand of 89 in 16 overs. Left-hander Smith, dropped when 29, was eventually bowled behind his back sweeping at left-arm spinner Nikita Miller. But Amla found another solid ally in Kallis and the pair added a further 79 for the second wicket. Amla, who hit 102 in the opening match victory at the same venue on Saturday, was closing in on his third one-day ton when he clipped Taylor to midwicket.
But South Africa continued to coast along as Kallis and de Villiers put on 71. Pollard removed both in the final ten overs and Taylor added the cheap scalp of Alviro Petersen. De Villiers holed out to long off while Kallis, who struck four fours, miscued into the off side.

Amla, de Villiers hit tons as South Africa beat Windies

NORTH SOUND: Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers scored hundreds as South Africa defeated West Indies by 66 runs in their rain-affected one-day international on Saturday.

Amla anchored the top half of the South African batting with 102 from 109 balls, and de Villiers kept the momentum going with the same score from 101 balls, as the Proteas, put in to bat, reached 280 for seven from their rain-reduced 48 overs on a slow Vivian Richards Cricket Ground pitch.

South Africa then dismissed West Indies, who had been set a Duckworth/Lewis target of 288, for 215 in 44.1 overs to clinch a 1-0 lead in the five-match series, which continues on Monday at this venue.

Morne Morkel was the most successful South African bowler with three wickets for 40 runs from eight overs, while Dale Steyn, Ryan McLaren, and Johan Botha collected two wickets apiece.

“We want to play well, and we want to win this series,” said South Africa captain Graeme Smith.

“We want to have a very successful tour of the Caribbean. I have said this a number of times. We have a lot of bouncing back to do, following the Twenty20 World Cup, and we want to do it well.”

“This is just the first match, and the matches are very close together, so recovery is going to be important to us being successful.”

West Indies captain Chris Gayle, whose 45 from 39 balls was the home team”s top score, felt let down by the batting again.

“It”s one of those things that we can”t seem to catch a break with our batting, so we will have to go back to the drawing board,” said Gayle.

“We are not going to give-up. We know that we are not playing good cricket now.”
Steyn set West Indies back early, when he had Andre Fletcher caught at slip for four in the third over.

South Africa were put on the defensive, however, when Gayle gave West Indies a typically flourishing start.

Ryan McLaren had Dwayne Bravo caught behind for 15, and Morkel had Gayle caught in the deep to leave West Indies 69 for three in the 13th over.

The South Africans then saw Ramnaresh Sarwan make 38, and left-handed compatriot Narsingh Deonarine get 26 to stage a recovery with a stand of 61 for the fourth wicket.
Botha made the breakthrough in the 27th over, when Deonarine top-edged a sweep, and was caught at backward square leg, and Morkel bowled Sarwan, as West Indies slipped to 140 for five.

Kieron Pollard joined Denesh Ramdin, and they put on 52 for the sixth wicket.

Steyn returned for another spell, and bowled Ramdin for 17, when the batsman chopped on, and West Indies lost their last five wickets for 23 runs from 35 deliveries.

Amla, later named man-of-the-match, reached his second ODI hundred from 106 balls, when he steered a short, rising delivery from Pollard to third man for a single in the 33rd over.

De Villiers later reached his seventh ODI hundred from 99 balls, when he dragged a delivery from Ravi Rampaul through mid-on for a single in the 44th over.

They added 129 for the third wicket, after play started half-hour later than scheduled, and a near half-hour stoppage for rain further marred the match.

Amla put on 53 for the first wicket with Smith either side of the rain break before the Proteas” captain edged a flat-footed drive, and was caught behind for 18 in the seventh over off Bravo, who also had Jacques Kallis caught at third man for one to leave South Africa 57 for two.

After de Villiers added 54 for the fourth wicket with left-hander JP Duminy, South Africa lost four wickets for 40 runs from the last 41 deliveries of their innings.

Bravo was the most successful West Indies bowler with three wickets for 40 runs.

Albie Morkel inspires South Africa win over Kiwis

BRIDGETOWN: Albie Morkel”s quickfire 40 helped take South Africa to a comfortable 13 run win in their opening Super Eights match against New Zealand at the World Twenty20 here on Thursday.

His innings at the Kensington Oval lasted just 18 balls but still featured five sixes and helped South Africa pile up a total of 170 for four.

Together with AB de Villiers, who finished on 47 not out, he shared a stand of 72 in six overs as they built on a solid foundation laid by the top order.

De Villiers faced 39 balls with two sixes and a four. New Zealand rarely looked like threatening South Africa”s score, finishing on 157 for seven.

“The key for me is to keep my shape, it was a short boundary down the ground and also with the wind, so it worked in my favour,” man-of-the-match Albie Morkel explained at the post-match presentation.

South Africa captain Graeme Smith added: “We played smart cricket, Albie made the most of his opportunity, and his partnership with AB could have been the turning point.” His New Zealand counterpart, Daniel Vettori, was in no doubt though.

“De Villiers and Morkel played well, we missed a couple of chances but let them get too much,” Vettori said.

“You needed to be inch-perfect with guys like Morkel hitting at the death, but we were a little off. We need guys at the top to play 40-50 balls to have a chance of chasing down this target.”

South Africa off-spinner Johan Botha justified his recall in place of left-armer Roeof van der Merwe with a tight spell of two wickets for 23 runs in three overs which saw him dismiss Martin Guptill (18) and innings top scorer Jesse Ryder (33).

Herschelle Gibbs also contributed on his return to the side, after coming in for Loots Bosman, with an attractive 30 and two superb catches to get rid of New Zealand dangerman Brendon McCullum, in the first over, and Ross Taylor.

New Zealand required 36 from 12 balls and then 27 from six.

Smith then brought on Albie Morkel for his only over of the match and he was promptly hoisted over deep square leg by Vettori for four.

However, Albie Morkel kept his head and the target became an impossible 22 off three balls.

Earlier, the all-rounder was equally adept at striking left-arm spinner Vettori over long-off for six or depositing paceman Tim Southee for three sixes in an over.

South Africa, who won the toss, saw Smith open alongside Jacques Kallis.

The pair shared a first wicket stand of 40 before Smith holed out to deep midwicket for 14.

And 40 for one became 55 for two when Kallis, who made 31, was brilliantly caught by a diving Southee at third man after uppercutting Jacob Oram.

Both Group E rivals continue their bid for a semi-final spot here on Saturday when New Zealand face defending champions Pakistan and South Africa play England, who beat Pakistan by six wickets earlier on Thursday.

South Africa 284-8 on Day 2 in Test 2 vs England

DURBAN, South Africa: South Africa 284-8 on Day 2 in Test 2 vs England, Graeme Swann took two of England’s three wickets in the first session Sunday on the second day of the second test as South Africa reached 284 for eight wickets with A.B. de Villiers hitting his 19th half-century.

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Swann dismissed Mark Boucher for 39 and Paul Harris for 2 after South Africa had resumed on 175-5 in cool, overcast conditions at Kingsmead aa session that started half an hour earlier due to several overs being lost to bad light on Saturday.

De Villiers made 50 with six boundaries in almost 2½ hours and put on 63 with Boucher, who was out lbw to Swann bowling around the wicket after initially being given not out to make the score 233-6 in the 17th over of the day.

Swann took his third wicket of the innings by trapping Harris lbw. The dismissal was upheld after being referred to the third umpire.

Swann had 3-72 at lunch and Stuart Broad claimed 2-41 after having De Villiers caught by wicketkeeper Matt Prior he drove away from his body to leave South Africa on 280-8.

Morne Morkel was 23 not out at the break and Dale Steyn was unbeaten on 3.

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South Africa 284-8 on Day 2 in Test 2 vs England was first posted on December 27, 2009 at 6:29 pm.

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