By Fathima Zanaida
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (TheSportsNext) September 17, 2012: An impressive spell of fast bowling by Dale Steyn and a captain’s knock by AB de Villiers helped South Africa defeat a high-flying New Zealand side by only nine runs in their ICC World Twenty20 Warm-Up match played at Colts Cricket Club Ground in Colombo on Monday.
South Africa survived a late scare when New Zealand captain Ross Taylor freed his arms and hit seven sixes as well as two boundaries to make it tough for the bowlers but as soon as he perished, the match belonged to the Proteas.
New Zealand skipper Ross Taylor won the toss and asked South Africa to bat first and they scored an impressive total of 186 for six from their 20 overs.
South Africa started in a positive manner with openers Richard Levi (24 from 20 – 2 fours, 1 six) and Faf du Plessis (24 from 20 – 2 fours, 1 six) gave them a rollicking start.
However, Adam Milne pegged South Africans back with a double blow as he got rid of both the openers while Rob Nicol got rid of dangerous Hashim Amla (9 from 9 – 1 six) as South Africa looked rattled at three down for 61 from 8.2 overs.
However, skipper AB de Villiers (54 from 30 – 5 fours, 2 sixes) joined forces with JP Duminy (30 from 24 – 2 fours, 1 six) for a 62-run fourth wicket partnership that resurrected the innings.
Justin Ontong (Duck) failed to open his account but Farhaan Behardien (24 not out from 12 – 2 sixes) and Albie Morkel (15 not out from 4 – 2 fours, 1 six) provided a late flurry of boundaries that lifted South Africa to a formidable total of 186 runs.
Adam Milne was the pick of the bowlers for New Zealand as he captured two wickets for 26 runs while James Franklin also picked up two wickets for 31 runs.
New Zealand never looked comfortable chasing the hefty target as James Franklin (12 from 11 – 2 fours), Martin Guptill (8 from 5 – 1 six), and Brendon McCullum (9 from 6 – 2 fours) perished within the powerplay overs.
However, skipper Ross Taylor (75 from 42 – 2 fours, 7 sixes) played exceptionally well and not only kept one end intact but with Rob Nicol (37 from 36 – 1 four, 1 six) was able to develop a strong 94-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
With the asking run-rate climbing all the time, New Zealand remained under stern pressure to keep up with it and kept losing wickets as Ross Taylor was grabbed Lonwabo Tsotsobe and once his wicket fell things looked pretty certain in favor of South Africans.
However, New Zealand’s late-middle-order batsmen kept up the fight and Nathan McCullum (14 from 12 – 1 six) and Kane Williamson (7 not out from 5) kept hitting the ball till the last over but the target had already gone out of their reach.
In the end, BlackCaps could only manage 177 for eight from 20 overs and South Africans recorded an impressive 9-run victory for ICCWT20.
Dale Steyn was the star of the show for the Proteas who took four wickets for only 25 runs while Lonwabo Tsotsobe also bowled well for a wicket for 24 runs.
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