da 888casino： A sensational four-wicket burst from Mornè Morkel and a devastatingdisplay of power-hitting from Justin Kemp took South Africa to asix-wicket victory over New Zealand, a result that saw England eliminatedfrom the tournament
da apostebet： The Bulletin by Dileep Premachandran19-Sep-2007
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Ballistic: Justin Kemp’s assured hitting ensured that South Africa were throughout in control © Getty Images
A sensational four-wicket burst from Mornè Morkel and a devastatingdisplay of power-hitting from Justin Kemp took South Africa to asix-wicket victory over New Zealand, a result that saw England eliminatedfrom the tournament. Both South Africa and New Zealand will take theirplaces in the last four if India lose to England later on Wednesday.Kemp thumped six sixes and half a dozen fours in as brutal a display ofshotmaking as you could hope to see, and his partnership of 65 with MarkBoucher transformed the game after New Zealand had grabbed three earlywickets in defence of 153. In truth though, South Africa’s victory was setup by their bowlers, who fought back ferociously after Brendan McCullumand Lou Vincent had given New Zealand the perfect start.South Africa were in real strife early on with the bat, as Graeme Smithedged Shane Bond behind, and AB de Villiers followed suit with a lazy waftat Mark Gillespie. Herschelle Gibbs played a couple of handsome strokesbut when Jeetan Patel took a tidy catch in the deep off Chris Martin’sbowling, the scoreboard showed 45 for 3.As is his wont, Kemp took his time to find his range, but once he did, hewas unstoppable. Jacob Oram was the first to feel the heat, lofted for ahuge six over long-on and then flicked through midwicket for four. Therewas finesse too, a cut for four off Daniel Vettori, but he was at his mostintimidating when muscling the ball straight or over midwicket for sixes.Martin went for two, and even Boucher’s exit, caught behind, didn’t stemthe momentum.After getting to 50 in 42 balls, Kemp struck massive sixes off Oram andVettori, before finishing the match with a mighty swing over long-on.Shaun Pollock played his part with a brisk 16, as South Africa saunteredhome with five balls remaining.They should have been chasing far more than 154 though. McCullum hadexploded into life in Pollock’s second over, lofting one over extra-coverfor four and then sending another soaring on to the roof of the stand atmidwicket. Pollock’s punishment didn’t end there, with his next overfeaturing another slog over midwicket and two thumps past mid-on. AndrèNel, who replaced Makhaya Ntini, was much more economical, but withVincent working the ball around cleverly and clubbing the odd fourhimself, New Zealand had the perfect start.
Morne Morkel put South Africa in a dominant position with figures of 4 for 17 that helped restrict New Zealand to 153 © Getty Images
It took a superb over from Mornè Morkel to bring South Africa back intocontention. McCullum’s extravagant drive flew off the edge to Boucher, andfour balls later, Ross Taylor’s attempt at a cut also nestled in Boucher’sgloves. When Johan van der Wath cleaned up Vincent going for the bigheave, South Africa were right back in it.Craig McMillan came in and lofted a huge six over cover off VernonPhilander, but with Albie Morkel showcasing his ability to bowl accuratelyas well, New Zealand were being reined back in. Reward for Morkel’saccuracy came in the form of Scott Styris’s wicket, caught in the deep byde Villiers.McMillan, who batted beautifully for 48, hinted at a furious lateinslaught, taking 24 in Albie Morkel’s third over, including a massive sixover midwicket, but when Mornè Morkel came back to bowl the dangerousOram, New Zealand ran out of momentum. Albie Morkel took a stunning catchto send back Vettori and his younger brother could have had the firstfive-for in this format but for Billy Doctrove calling no-ball after hehad bowled Gillespie. By then, New Zealand’s sparkling start had longreceded into the distance, leaving South Africa and Kemp to complete theformalities. They did so in some style.
