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Untitled Document
 Morkel stars in South African win over England
17th Sep 2007 09:00 IST
Agencies
Exquisite all-round performance by Albie Morkel helped South Africa record a 19-run win over England in a Super Eight match of the Twenty20 World Cup at Newlands in Cape Town on Sunday.
Morkel swung his bat to slam a 20-ball 43 and then scalped two wickets as the hosts successfully defended their 154/8 to brighten their chances for a semifinal berth.
England lost wickets in regular intervals and managed to score only 135/7 as the Protea bowlers displayed a disciplined performance.
Coming late in the batting order, Morkel's cameo innings instilled some life into the comatose South African innings, which had faltered to score decently because of the disciplined bowling performance by England bowlers.
Morkel struck three fours and four spectacular sixes, including the biggest ones in the tournament so far, to bring the stadium alive before falling to Andrew Flintoff.
After England put the hosts in, Stuart Broad gave his team an early breakthrough as Jean-Paul Duminy, before opening his account, offered a thin edge to wicketkeeper Matt Prior and he accepted it gladly to send the South African opener back.
Two overs later, Broad struck again to remove South African skipper Graeme Smith (19), who top-edged a delivery while trying to pull and Dimitry Mascarenhas took a simple catch at long leg.
Sooner than later, Flintoff got rid of a dangerous looking AB de Villiers (18).
Mark Boucher (29 off 29) and Justin Kemp (21 off 27) steadied the South African innings by adding 49 runs for the fourth wicket before Morkel unleashed his fireworks to see his side cross the 150 mark.
When the home team came out to defend their total, Pollock banked on his experience to not only pick wickets, but also apply brakes on the England scoring rate.
The seasoned seamer first scalped both Luke Wright and England captain Paul Collingwood for ducks to push them to backfoot.
In between, England received another setback as the destructive Kevin Pietersen (15) got run out before making any significant contribution.
When England were tottering at 27/3, Prior (32 off 31 balls) played a useful knock and put on a 55-run partnership with Owais Shah for the fourth wicket before hitting a skier to Vernon Philander off Morkel.
Morkel tasted success again with the ball as Shah went for a wild swipe and missed the ball to find his stumps in disarray. Shah's 31-ball 36 was more flamboyant and had one four and two huge sixes.
England's star all-rounder Flintoff (17) also failed miserably to leave any impact as his side surrendered much before the last ball was bowled. |
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