ICC T20 World Cup 2012: Australia vs South Africa- As it happened...

Zeenews Sports Bureau

SCORECARD» | COMMENTARY» WT20 in PICS» A brilliant all-round performance by Shane Watson helped Australia convincingly beat South Africa by 8 wickets. After taking 2 wickets, Watson hammered the South African bowlers all over the park to score a whirlwind 70 off just 47 runs with 8 fours and two sixes. Chasing a moderate 148 to win, Australia reached the target with 14 ball to spare. Australia Innings Australia beat South Africa by 8 wickets and almost ensured their place in the semi-finals. Over: 17.4 I Score: 147/2 While heaves one off Botha for a huge six over deep square leg to finish things off Australia. Hussey and White remain unbeaten on 45 and 21 runs, respectively. ....................................................................................................... Over: 17 I Score: 138/2 South Africa probably misses the last chance to come back into the match when skipper de Villiers fails to stump Hussey who then, off the very next ball, comes down again to heave one for a six. White also gets a boundary to finish the over. 13 from the over. Australia require another 9 runs with 8 wickets and 18 balls remaining. It seems match is very much in the pocket of the Australians. Over: 16 I Score: 125/2 Parnell seems to have a very bad day in the field. He misses another shot hit by White in the boundary to allow the ball cross for a four. 7 runs from Botha's over. ....................................................................................................... Over: 15 I Score: 118/2 Steyn cames back to bowl. But it seems that de Villiers gets a little late in bringing his main strike bowler. Steyn was hit for a four off the very first ball by Hussey. New man Cameron White also edges a full toss for a four to take 9 runs from the over. ....................................................................................................... Over: 14 I Score: 109/2 Watson hits two fours off Petersen. But the bowler comes back well to get rid of the dangerous Watson who almost seems to seal the match in Australia's favour with a quick-fire 70 off 47 ball. 11 from the over. ....................................................................................................... Over: 13 I Score: 98/1 Just 4 runs off Duminy's over. ....................................................................................................... Over: 12 I Score: 94/1 Mike Hussey now tries to match Watson, hits a four and a six off Parnell. 13 runs from the over. ....................................................................................................... Over: 11 I Score: 81/1 Watson is dropped by Parnell off Petersen. It may prove to be a very costly miss. 5 runs from the over. ....................................................................................................... Over: 10 I Score: 76/1 Wayne Parnell came into the attack and Watson smacked a short delivery over the midwicket fence for a six. 11 runs came of the over. ....................................................................................................... Over: 9 I Score: 65/1 Botha bowls a tight over. No boundary in this overs. 5 from it. ....................................................................................................... Over: 8 I Score: 60/1 Petersen comes into the attack and came close to getting an LBW against Watson. But no impact on the batsman who hits two scorching fours. 12 from the over. Australia now seem to be on a roll here. ....................................................................................................... Over: 7 I Score: 48/1 Watson hits another four. This time off off-spinner Johan Botha.10 runs from the over. ....................................................................................................... Over: 6 I Score: 38/1 Australia finally break free as they hit 3 fours. Watson slams all the three fours as Oz take 15 runs from the over. It seems that Bailey goes for one over too many with Morkel. ....................................................................................................... Over: 5 I Score: 23/1 Kallis introduced into the attack. Watson hits a four off his very first over. First boundary for the Australian team. 8 runs from the over. ....................................................................................................... Over: 4 I Score: 15/1 Some very good bowling leads to Dave Warner's dismissal. Warner tries to break the shackles, making room for himself but Morkel was up to the task, clean bowling him for 5. Just 5 runs and a wicket for Morkel. ....................................................................................................... Over: 3 I Score: 10/0 Another good over from Steyn. Four singles and a wide. 5 runs from the over. No boundary so far for the Australians. ....................................................................................................... Over: 2 I Score: 5/0 Morkel also bowls well as his first over costs just 3 runs. Run-making is not an easy task against the two quality pacers like Steyn and Morkel. ....................................................................................................... Over: 1 I Score: 2/0 Good start by Dale Steyn. Both the openers- Dave Warner and Shane Watson- take a single run each. Just 2 runs from his first over. ....................................................................................................... South Africa Innings Some innovative, typical T20 batting by Robin Petersen (32*) and Farhaan Behardien (31*) during the death overs helped South Africa post a respectable 146/5 in the allotted 20 overs despite having a very poor start early in their innings. Over: 20 I Score: 146/5 Petersen continues to impress. He hits two consecutive fours off the first two balls of the last over from Starc. The fourth ball was also hit for a four through deep long-leg with a cheeky shot. 14 runs from the over. South Africa do really well to post 146/5 considering the fact the poor start they got. Petersen remains unbeaten on 32 (off 19 balls) while talented Behardien is not out on 31 (off 27 balls). ....................................................................................................... Over: 19 I Score: 132/5 Behardien pulls one off Cummins for a four. And then hits a six over long-off off the last ball. 14 runs from the penultimate over. ....................................................................................................... Over: 18 I Score: 118/5 Petersen hist a four. Watson little expensive. 11 off his over. ....................................................................................................... Over: 17 I Score: 107/5 Very good over from Cummins. Batsmen had to satisfy with three singles only. ....................................................................................................... Over: 16 I Score: 104/5 Robin Petersen reverse swept for two fours off Hogg. hundred comes of for South Africa. 12 from this over. 4 more overs left. South Africa would surely like to put somewhere close to 140 in 20 overs. ....................................................................................................... Over: 15 I Score: 92/5 Watson strikes again!! This time he removes dangerous de Villiers for 21. The batsman tried to hit one over the extra-cover but hit straight to Oz skipper George Bailey who was standing inside the circle. Behardien, though, hit one for a four almost exactly where his skipper vainly wanted to hit through. He fetches a boundary. 6 from the over. ....................................................................................................... Over: 14 I Score: 86/4 Two doubles and three singles for the Proteas in this over from Doherty. Behardien and de Villiers happy to milk the Australian bowling. 8 runs from the over. ....................................................................................................... Over: 13 I Score: 78/4 5 runs off the Mitchell Starc as de Villiers and Behardien run 3 singles and a double. ....................................................................................................... Over: 12 I Score: 73/4 Behardien and de Villiers take singles and doubles as 7 runs scored from Hogg's over. Over: 11 I Score: 66/4 Doherty's continues to trouble South Africa. This time he bowls in-form Duminy for a well-made 30 off 25 balls. Duminy tried to come down the wicket but failed to connect the ball which went though his legs to be stumped by the wicketkeeper Wade. Superb over, just 2 runs and a wicket for the left-arm spinner. ....................................................................................................... Over: 9 I Score: 64/3 7 runs from Maxwell's over. South Africa were 64/3. ....................................................................................................... Over: 9 I Score: 57/3 De Villiers and Duminy milk Glenn Maxwell all over the wickets throughout the entire over to bring 7 runs from the over. This is a good rebuilding job by both the batsmen. ....................................................................................................... Over: 9 I Score: 57/3 Duminy pulls one off Watson to hits a four of square leg. He looks to be in very good touch. 8 from the over. ....................................................................................................... Over: 8 I Score: 49/3 Brad Hogg bowls one short which was hit for a four through the leg side. Hogg's first over costs 7 runs. ....................................................................................................... Over: 7 I Score: 42/3 Duminy again hits one through extra-cover for a four off Cummins. 8 runs from the over. ....................................................................................................... Over: 6 I Score: 34/3 In-form Shane Watson consumes Hashim Amla (17) immediately in his first over. Amla, who looked to be in good touch, tried to pull but failed to connect well which was simply taken by wicketkeeper Mathew Wade. 4 runs and a wicket from this Watson over. ....................................................................................................... Over: 5 I Score: 30/2 Amla hits a four off Pat Cummins. 8 off the over. ....................................................................................................... Over: 4 I Score: 22/2 Duminy hits an excellent cover drive to fetch a four for South Africa. Starc goes for 6 runs in the 4th over. ....................................................................................................... Over: 3 I Score: 16/2 Big big blow for South Africa. Xavier Doherty induces an edge from Kallis to be caught by wicketkeeper Mathew Wade 6. Amla, however, tries to beak the shackles by hitting the bowler a six over deep extra cover. 8 runs from this over. ....................................................................................................... Over: 2 I Score: 8/1 Jacques Kallis hits the first boundary for the South Africans. Left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc's first over costs six runs. ....................................................................................................... Over: 1 I Score: 2/1 Richard Levi's misery continues as he was clean bowled by left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty off the third ball of the very first over for a duck. Excellent start for Australia. Just 2 runs and a wicket in the first over of the match. ....................................................................................................... Toss: Australia have won the toss and have decided to bowl first against South Africa. Left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty has been included in the Australian team in place of Dan Christian to add an extra spin option for them. For South Africa have brought in pace man Wayne Parnell for all-rounder Albie Morkel. Welcome to our live coverage of the ICC T20 World Cup (Super-8) encounter between Australia and South Africa. Australia are in supreme touch at the moment after thrashing former champion India in their opening game of the Super-8. On the other hand, South Africa will be looking to bring their campaign back on track after losing to Pakistan from a winning position. READ THE COMPLETE PREVIEW HERE » SEE OUR PHOTO GALLERY ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Teams: Australia (Playing XI): Shane Watson, David Warner, Michael Hussey, George Bailey(c), Cameron White, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Wade(w), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Brad Hogg, Xavier Doherty South Africa (Playing XI): Richard Levi, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers(w/c), Jean-Paul Duminy, Farhaan Behardien, Wayne Parnell, Johan Botha, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel