END OF OVER:50 | 12 Runs | AUS: 264/7 (26 runs required, RR: 5.28)
- James Hopes63 (60b)
- Brett Geeves10 (11b)
- Wayne Parnell9-0-47-0
- Dale Steyn10-0-44-0
The players shake hands with each other and walk off. The crowd slowly start to clear away. Australia got off to a slow start in the chase with their openers Haddin and Clarke suffocated by some tight bowling from Steyn and Parnell. Then the spinners took over on this dry track and Australia lost their way further. Ferguson and Hopes revived the innings in the lower middle-order but they were left with too much to do.
Ponting: It was (too many to chase in the end). de villiers and kallis played well and kept wickets in the hand for the end. That's what we didn't have. We got to lift our games ...
Man of the Match: Kallis: "We felt the wicket was quite slow. We were looking for 250 260 initially but when we give platform to guys like Albie, they can push it futher. The new guys coming in are contributing and it's nice. There is a world cup coming up and there is still lot of cricket left in this body."
Smith: "We have learned to back our spinners and they have stepped up. Today we played the game clinically well. AB and Jacques showed they were prepared to do hard work and played very skilfully,. The wicket was slow throughout; we just wanted to get to the end with wickets in hand. It was a professional evening and very happy for the guys. 2 -1 up now, we would like to be clinical and finish on Monday. I have said to the guys that lets finish the season on a high."
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