Australia v South Africa – Australia win by 93 runs – Match Recap
Australia beat South Africa by 93 runs in the first One Day International (ODI) of the ongoing three-match series on Wednesday, October 19, 2011 at SuperSport Park, Centurion, South Africa.
After winning the toss, South Africa chose to field first to restrict the opposition on a meagre tally.
However, the Australians who are on a verge of redemption batted excellently against the Proteas as the opening pair of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/DA-Warner-c1301 and former skipper Ricky Ponting posted 21 runs in 2.5 over before Warner had his stumps uprooted by South Africa’s strike
pacer http://www.senore.com/Cricket/DW-Steyn-c1409. The batsman found his way back to the pavilion after scoring a hefty knock of 20 runs off 17 deliveries.
Next to come in was the reigning captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MJ-Clarke-c1978, who crafted a stupendous partnership with his mentor as the two batsmen handsomely countered the South African bowlers.
Australia had bulked 96 runs in 19.0 overs for the loss of one wicket when bad light interrupted play which was followed by rain. The crowd at Centurion looked disappointed as the game appeared destined to be postponed, however, luckily for cricket fans
the skies cleared sooner than expected and the outfield also dried in no time for play to resume again.
Putting Duckworth Lewis Method into effect, the match was reduced to a 29-over, meaning that Australia only had ten overs to score massively against the hosts.
With Ponting and Clarke on the crease, the Aussies were well equipped to handle the pressure as the duo started clobbering the South Africans the moment they had a chance to bat again.
However, on 123 runs http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120 was run-out after playing a handy knock of 44 runs off 48 deliveries. The duo played an innings of 102 runs together.
It was then time for Australia’s ace middle-order batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MEK-Hussey-c1942 to bat alongside his former skipper.
The two batsmen posted 36 runs in the third-wicket partnership as they batted splendidly well against the opposition.
Ponting then departed after clobbering an exuberant knock of 63 runs off 77 deliveries before getting caught by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/J-Botha-c1610 at backward point off the bowling of Steyn.
Hussey then played an unbeaten innings of 30 runs off 21 deliveries to help his side post 183 runs on the board.
South Africa then had a revised total of 223 runs to chase in 29 overs. Coming out to bat South African openers/skipper Hashim Alma and former captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/GC-Smith-c1473 knew that they needed to bat exceptionally well to avoid an early loss of wicket.
However, with just four runs on the board http://www.senore.com/Cricket/DE-Bollinger-c1348.
Later, middle-order batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Iftikhar-Ali-Khan-Pataudi-Nawab-of-c64075 Cummins after scoring 15 runs.
The duo of Kallis and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hamisi-Abdallah-c61368 posted 36 runs in the second-wicket partnership.
With two wickets down for 40 runs things were not looking bright for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757. Meanwhile, the Australian bowlers exhibited phenomenal bowling by preventing the South African batsmen from playing freely.
The South African batting gave a lacklustre performance by failing to stand against the Australian bowlers as they could bolster only 129 runs against the required target.
From Australia, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MG-Johnson-c1945 and Cummins stood out from the rest by grabbing three wickets each.
Australia’s http://www.senore.com/Cricket/RT-Ponting-c2377 was named as the Player of the Match for his prolific knock with the bat.
The two sides will now meet each other in the second ODI on Sunday, October 23, 2011.
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