Filed under AUSvSA MCG JAN 09

Match : Australia vs South Africa, first One day International of Commonwealth bank 5 ODI series.
Venue/Date : Melbourne cricket ground in Melbourne in Australia.. 16 January 2009.
Debuts : Vaughan Van Jaarsveld (South Africa).
Toss : Australia, elected to bat first.
Result : South Africa won by 3 wickets with 3 balls remaining.
Series Result : South Africa lead series 1-0 with 4 game to go.
Man of the match : Albie Morkel.
Umpires : Ian Gould (England) & BN Oxenford (Australia)
Head to head : 68th Aus v SA ODI.. now South Africa have won 29 and 36 for Australia.

South Africa won the Test series earlier on this tour, and then went on to lose 2 twenty20 games.. now this was first one day international of 5 match series and Proteas were up against a healthy target of 271. Early loss of Hashim Amla and then Herschelle Gibbs didn't too prove costly as Jaques Kallis and JO Duminy controlled the chase well.

Left with an asking rate of over 7 - Man of the match Albie Morkel smashed quick runs towards the end and won the match for the african nation.

Australia v South Africa: 1st ODI, Melbourne: 16 January 2009: Scorecard
Australia (elected to bat) = 271 for 8 wickets in 50 overs
Shaun Marsh	c Boucher	b M Morkel	79	97 balls, 4x4, 1x6
Michael Hussey	c Boucher	b Steyn	6	9 balls, 1x4
Ricky Ponting	c Boucher	b Botha	46	54 balls, 5x4
Michael Clarke	c Amla	b A Morkel	19	38 balls, 1x4
David Hussey		b A Morkel	52	50 balls, 5x4
Cameron White		b Botha	21	23 balls, 2x4
Brad Haddin	run out	( A Morkel)	19	12 balls, 2x4
James Hopes	c Jaarsveld	b M Morkel	2	4 balls
Nathan Braken	not out		12	8 balls, 1x4
Ben Hilfenhaus	not out		1	2 balls
Shaun Tait	did not bat
Dale Steyn = 10-2-49-1 (2wd)		Albie Morkel = 9-0-58-2
Jaques Kallis = 10-0-35-0		Morne Morkel = 10-0-68-2 (2wd)
Johan Botha = 10-0-50-2 (1wd)		JP Duminy = 1-0-6-0
South Africa (Target = 272 from 50 overs) =272 for 7 wickets in 49.3 overs
Herschelle Gibbs		b Hilfenhaus	22	28 balls, 3x4
Hashim Amla		b Tait	1	3 balls
Jaques Kallis		c Clarke	41	49 balls, 4x4
JP Duminy	c White	b Bracken	71	93 balls
Neil McKenzie	c Ponting	b Hilfenhaus	63	80 balls, 6x4
Mark Boucher		b Tait	0	1 ball
Vaughn Van Jaarsveld	run out	(Ponting)	4	7 balls
Albie Morkel	not out		40	18 balls, 4x4, 1x6
Johan Botha	not out		12	18 balls, 1x4
Morne Morkel
Dale Steyn
Nathan Bracken = 10-2-49-1		Shaun Tait = 10-0-43-2 (3wd)
Ben Hilfenhaus = 9.3-1-55-2 (3wd)		James Hopes = 10-0-51-0
David Hussey = 5-0-35-0		Michael Clarke = 5-0-29-1 (2wd)
South Africa won by 3 wkts, 3 balls remaining.. lead 5 ODI series 1-0 with 4 to play.

Note : This was 6th Australia vs South Africa match at Melbourne cricket ground and would you believe - a 6th win for visitors.. Australia maintained their record of not beating Proteas at the history cricket ground!

Preview : Visitors look for hitters : Home team hungry to hurt.

Scorecard : Australia vs South Africa, 1st ODI, Melbourne : 16 January 2009

1st ODI : JP Duminy & Albie Morkel pull off thriller for visitors