SA A too good for England in T20

THANKS to a fine all- round performance the South African A cricket side have beaten the touring English side by four wickets in their Twenty20 match, which was played in Bloemfontein yesterday. England could only manage 89 in their allotted 20 overs.

Despite losing the wicket of Heino Kuhn in the third over of the innings, Loots Bosman (18), Rilee Rossouw and Vaughn van Jaarsveld with 23 runs apiece, held the innings together. Justin Ontong and Rory Kleinveldt went cheaply, leaving it to CJ de Villiers to strike the winning run off the first ball he faced, with 2.3 overs still to be completed.

The best of the bowlers was Graham Swann with two for nine of his four overs.

Earlier, the visitors who had been invited to take first strike after South African captain Ontong had won the toss, were soon in trouble losing the wicket of Joseph Denly in the fourth over of the innings, caught behind by Kuhn of the bowling of de Villiers.

Two overs later Jonathan Trott was on his way back to the hut, lofting de Villiers straight into the hands of Loots Bosman at mid-wicket.

Captain Paul Collingwood and Eoin Morgan tried to add a touch of sanity with a fourth wicket partnership of 22, but it was to no avail as both batsmen fell to Thandi Tshabalala.

That was the beginning of the end as England capitulated losing their last seven wickets for 19 runs off 28 deliveries.

De Villiers, Tshabalala and Ontong weighed in with two wickets apiece.
l And in their ODI match at SuperSport Park yesterday, JP Duminy’s maiden one-day-international (ODI) century laid the platform for the Proteas to secure a comfortable 212-run victory over Zimbabwe.

Duminy scored 111 not out to take South Africa to a formidable 331 for five and earned the Proteas a 2-0 series whitewash.

In reply, Zimbabwe were bowled out for 119 in 34.3 overs, as the Proteas completed a two-nil series win. The left-handed Duminy’s sparkling innings came off a mere 87 deliveries with his knock including nine fours and two sixes.

Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis put on 108 runs for the first wicket after being sent into bat.

Smith was stumped attempting a sweep shot off the bowling of off-spinner Prosper Utseya in making 53 off 465 balls.

Kallis, scored 81 off 105 balls before he tried to smash a delivery from Utseya out of the ground, only to send a thick outside edge to Elton Chigumbura at short third-man.

Duminy and Mark Boucher provided their team’s innings with some late impetus, as the pair plundered an unbroken sixth-wicket stand of 58 runs off just 28 balls.

Left-arm spinner Raymond Price ended with figures of three for 55 for Zimbabwe. The Proteas’ next match is against England in a Pro20 international on Friday. — Sapa-SuperSport.com