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South Africa enters semifinals in style

Vijay Lokapally

Makhaya Ntini, Shaun Pollock rip apart Pakistan batting line-up

— Photo: S. Subramanium

WRECKER-IN-CHIEF: Makhaya Ntini, who scythed through the Pakistan top order, celebrates one of his five strikes.

JAIPUR: The South African dressing room almost celebrated a victory even before Pakistan had begun its response. The smiles and the high-fives suggested the team was sure of defending a modest total and it accomplished the job in 25 overs.

The predominant pace attack gave an emphatic demonstration of quality bowling with the pair of `man of the match' Makhaya Ntini and Shaun Pollock looking virtually unplayable. Ntini scalped five of the first six Pakistan wickets to set up his team's sensational victory on Friday.

Collapse

Once again a sub-continent team had come a cropper against pace and bounce and seam too on a refreshingly un-Indian like pitch as South Africa revelled in conditions akin to back home. It could take immense pride in this grand collective show enacted by some wonderfully motivated men. The inspiration for the bowlers came from a match-winning stand between Mark Boucher and Justin Kemp as they lifted South Africa from an acutely embarrassing 42 for five.

The magnificent 124 - run victory that South Africa scored over Pakistan at the PCA Stadium here earned the team a spot in the semifinal of the Champions Trophy. Graeme Smith and his men topped group `B' ahead of New Zealand to travel to Jaipur and await the second-placed team from group `A'.

Batting was a difficult task but not impossible. The ball did dart around but curator Daljit Singh insisted it was "ideal" and required "greater application from the batsmen." This was one element sorely missing from the South African top order too. There was no awkward bounce even if the "carry" was phenomenal on a pitch that may spark off a debate on the contrasting quality of surfaces prepared in this tournament.

Batsmen exposed

Pakistan's batting line-up was exposed and decimated in a sustained spell of fast bowling by Ntini on a helpful surface. He extracted bounce and lethal movement that left the Pakistan innings in a shambles with the top score of 27 coming from the number nine batsman. This was Pakistan's lowest total against South Africa and could not have come at a more inopportune time.

Pakistan's chances lay in a sound start but Ntini scuttled it by snaring the openers. Pollock now joined the demolition job by crashing through the defence of Mohammad Yousuf and enjoying the wicket of Younis Khan to a harmless ball that the Pakistan skipper intended to hoist out of the park.

It was a rank-bad stroke that exemplified Pakistan's performance in this crucial encounter. A while later Boucher reflected the South African spirit with an incredible leg-side pouch to dismiss Shoaib Malik.

Brave decision

Earlier, South Africa bravely chose to bat but came to grief quickly — in 12.5overs to be precise — as Pakistan ripped through the top half, exploiting the conducive conditions to take a firm grip on the contest.

But it all changed with a resilient sixth-wicket partnership of 131 runs in 187 balls, just the kind of association that South Africa needed on a day when its ability to battle was on test. Boucher and Kemp adapted and galvanised the South African innings with a disciplined performance.

Smith, Boeta Dippenaar, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis and A. B. de Villiers failed to read the wily Umar Gul and Rao Iftikhar Anjum, who landed the ball in the right area. Dippenaar was an exception since he fell to a sensational catch by the wicket-keeper.

Kemp and Boucher adopted the wise method to give the team a chance to fight by shedding their natural instinct to attack. Kemp was remarkably composed even though he let loose in the latter part of the innings to smash two robust sixes. His 64 off 110 balls contained four 4s too.

Boucher revels in conditions that demand utmost skills to survive and he emerged the saviour with a well-crafted 69 off 98 balls with seven 4s.

Rarely would have South Africa faced such desperation for runs as on Friday. It was a remarkable team effort by a team that backs itself in all conditions.

Agarkar hurt, Sreesanth in

Kerala speedster S. Sreesanth has been drafted as a replacement for injured fast bowler Ajit Agarkar for the last league match of the Champions Trophy against Australia here on Sunday.

Agarkar had suffered a hairline fracture on his left thumb while trying to stop a drive from West Indian Runako Morton in the last match at Ahmedabad."It's a god-sent opportunity for me really. I am happy to have come back, and would do my best if given the opportunity," said Sreesanth, who has figured in 19 one-day matches so far.

SCOREBOARD

South Africa: G. Smith lbw b Gul 0, B. Dippenaar c Akmal b Iftikhar 13, H. Gibbs c Malik b Gul 0, J. Kallis c Akmal b Iftikhar 17, A.B. deVilliers c Akmal b Arafat 10, M. Boucher c Hafeez b Razzaq 69, J. Kemp c Malik b Gul 64, S. Pollock c Iftikhar b Hafeez 2, A. Nel (not out) 12, M. Ntini (not out) 0; Extras (lb-15, w-11): 26; Total (for eight wkts. in 50 overs): 213.

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-1, 3-27, 4-36, 5-42, 6-173, 7-182, 8-199.

Pakistan bowling: Gul 8-0-36-3, Iftikhar 10-4-26-2, Arafat 5-0-33-1, Razzaq 10-0-33-1, Hafeez 8-1-23-1, Afridi 6-0-26-0, Malik 3-0-21-0.

Pakistan: M. Hafeez c Smith b Ntini 1, I. Farhat c Pollock b Ntini 4, Younis c Langeveldt b Ntini 7, M. Yousuf b Pollock 5, S. Malik c Boucher b Ntini 0, K. Akmal lbw b Ntini 1, A. Razzaq b Langeveldt 5, S. Afridi lbw b Pollock 14, Y. Arafat c Ntini b Langeveldt 27, U. Gul c Boucher b Langeveldt 7, R. Iftikhar (not out) 2; Extras (lb-5, nb-2, w-9): 16; Total (in 25 overs): 89.

Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-9, 3-17, 4-21, 5-21, 6-27, 7-42, 8-47, 9-77.

South Africa bowling: Pollock 7-0-20-2, Ntini 6-2-21-5, Nel 6-0-23-0, Langeveldt 6-2-20-3.

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