We need to stop Morkel in Twenty20 game: Ponting

Pretoria, March 28: Australia captain Ricky Ponting has identified big-hitting South Africa allrounder Albie Morkel as the player to stop in the Twenty20 international on Sunday.Morkel smashed four boundaries and two sixes to score 37 off 19 balls as South Africa beat Australia by four wickets yesterday to win the first Twenty20 match at Wanderers.

He also starred with similar late-innings hitting as the Proteas won a one-day international series 4-1 in Australia in January. "He probably won a couple of games single-handedly with his batting in Australia," Ponting said. "His power hitting (Friday) probably got them over the line again.” "So he is a very, very dangerous hitter. They use him very well. They hold him off as late as they possibly can and let him go in for the final onslaught really." South Africa has other big hitters in Herschelle Gibbs, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy and Mark Boucher, who cracked 36 not out off 22 balls yesterday. But batsman Justin Ontong and bowling allrounders Yusuf Abdulla and Roelof van der Merwe have been included for the match at Centurion. Australia could bring in left-arm seamer Nathan Bracken and off spinner Nathan Hauritz. But Ponting could prove to be a danger man as he`s the fourth most prolific scorer in the Twenty20 format, with 375 runs in 14 internationals and a high score of 98 not out. Twenty20 squads: South Africa: Johan Botha (captain), Yusuf Abdulla, Hashim Amla, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Johan Louw, Albie Morkel, Justin Ontong, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Roelof van der Merwe, Vaughn van Jaarsveld. Australia: Ricky Ponting (captain), Michael Clarke, Nathan Bracken, Callum Ferguson, Brett Geeves, Brad Haddin, Shane Harwood, Nathan Hauritz, James Hopes, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Ben Laughlin, Marcus North, David Warner, Cameron White. Bureau Report