http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 v South Africa: 2nd Twenty20 – Match Recap
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 stunned Australia by winning the second Twenty20 of the two match series by three wickets and five balls remaining at the Wanderers, Johannesburg in South Africa on Sunday, October 16, 2011.
Both sides won a single game each, leveling the series 1-1 in the end. They will now face each other in the three match One Day International series followed by a couple of Test matches.
Australia had won the opening match of the series and would have been confident of winning the series comfortably. However, the team suffered a huge blow before the start of the match, as star all-rounder http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SR-Watson-c2558 was declared unfit to play.
The 30-year-old had a minor hip injury, which ruled him out of competition. He scored a solid half-century in the first Twenty20, guiding his side to a comfortable five-wicket win.
Cameron White, the tourists’ skipper, won the toss and opted to bat first on a good batting pitch. There was some pace and bounce in the wicket as well, but it was not a big concern for the batsmen.
Australia’s innings was opened by two left-handed batsmen http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Watson-c96326 at the top of the order.
However, the start to the innings was not a very good one. Warner, who had struck back to back centuries in the Champions League Twenty20 tournament, failed to open his account and was sent back to the pavilion for a duck.
The flamboyant batsman has had a shocking time in South Africa, as he got out for two ducks in both his outings.
Wade was the next man to follow, as he failed to make an impression at the top of the order. He contributed only 10 runs to the total from 13 deliveries.
First-drop batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Steven-Barry-Smith-c91279, who managed 12 and 9 in respectively.
The innings was given momentum by White and debutant http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mitchell-Marsh-c1974, as both scored some quick fire runs towards the end. They got out for 39 and 36 respectively, guiding the team’s total to 147 in the end.
South Africa’s http://www.senore.com/Cricket/M-Morkel-c73528 bowled well, picking up a couple of wickets in the match.
The hosts would have liked a better start to their innings, but lost a few quick wickets. Opener http://www.senore.com/Cricket/GC-Smith-c1473 contributed 24 runs at the top of the order, but was unable to convert his start into a big one.
All-rounder http://www.senore.com/Cricket/J-Botha-c1610 anchored the innings with 34 runs, but failed to bat until the end and the team was in deep trouble at 84/7.
However, lower-order players http://www.senore.com/Cricket/WD-Parnell-c2787 and Rusty Theron took the game away from the opposition with a solid 64-run partnership for the eighth wicket. They scored unbeaten 29 and 30 runs respectively.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Iftikhar-Ali-Khan-Pataudi-Nawab-of-c64075 Cummins was impressive with the ball, picking up two wickets in the match, but failed to guide his side to a victory.
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