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4th ODI : Flawless Proteas make last onedayer meaninglessFiled under
SA in AUS ODI Series 2009
AUSvSA Adelaide 2009
Imagine a young boy of 3 competing with his father in a run. can you see the ease with which father would run ALONG with his son and not AHEAD of him.. knowing he can always win!Similar was the case today in this Adelaide Oval one day international where South African team remained in total control right through 48 + 38.1 = 86.1 overs whereas home team Australia hoped against hope for a miracle that never happened. (4th ODI scorecard). Abraham Benjamin de Villiers, AB de Villiers in short, played innings of his life at Perth in 1st Test Match (where Proteas chased down 414 batting 4th) but his batting deteriorated as this South Africa tour of Australia continued. Now when tour is about to finish, AB is finding his touch once again. His unbroken partnership of 144 with Hashim Amla that sealed the match & the ODI series for visitors, made him man of the match in this game. AB de Villiers was make shift wicket keeper too today, taking 2 catches behind the wickets (plus 0 byes). This was first time since 14 March 2008 (against Bangaldesh) when AB last wore gloves to do what he has a master degree on = fielding! Set a target of 223, South Africans started at brisk pace with Herschelle Gibbs hitting over covers & cutting square of the wicket. Gibbs took his taking chances and most of them came off, until he threw his wicket to Michael Hussey at first slip off Mitchell Johnson. Jaques Kallis too mis-timed one leg glance to short mid-wicket 3 overs later. But since then, Amla-AB partnership never looked in any trouble what so ever against mediocre Aussie bowling. South Africa didn't even take their batting powerplay! Earlier, as usual, Ricky Ponting won the toss and elected to bat. Shaun Marsh & David Warner fell early but captain Ponting (63 off 70) timed every delivery perfectly. Michael Hussey, who once had ODI batting average of over 70 runs per 65 odd innings he had played, has had terrible time in last 10 games but he too rotated strike with Ricky Ponting nicely. Hussey also got two free hits out of which he scored 1 and a 6. By the 17th over, Australian score got past 100 runs & looked good for a total touching 300 mark. But as I said, South Africans had the game in control right through the game. Captain Johan Botha made smart bowling changes and fielders kept it tight to take wickets at regular interval & limit Aussie total to only 222 all out.
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AUSvSA Adelaide 2009
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