Player of the Match
Player of the Match
2098dThe Bulletin by Siddarth Ravindran

Consolation win lifts Australia to No. 2

It may have been a dead rubber, but a resolute Australia scrapped hard in the field to secure a consolation win in Johannesburg and move up to No. 2 in the ODI rankings

Match Centre

Statistics

Best performances - Batsmen

HH Gibbs
82(101) 10x4 - 1x6
Control %86%
  • Productive Shot
  • off side drive on front foot
  • 31 runs
  • 5x4 - 0x6
1 3 18 4 19 15 6 16
MJ Clarke
MJ Clarke
66(60) 10x4 - 0x6
Control %76%
  • Productive Shot
  • leg glance
  • 15 runs
  • 2x4 - 0x6
0 8 11 8 16 7 10 6

Best performances - Bowlers

JP Duminy
JP Duminy
O10
M0
R48
W3
Eco4.80
RHB
OFFLEG
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH
LHB
LEGOFF
MG Johnson
MG Johnson
O8.5
M0
R58
W3
Eco6.56
RHB
OFFLEG
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH
LHB
LEGOFF

Match Details

Toss

South Africa , elected to field first

Player Of The Match

Player Of The Series

Series result

South Africa won the 5-match series 3-2

Match number

Season

Hours of play (local time)

14.30 start, First Session 14.30-18.00 Interval 18.00-18.45, Second Session 18.45-22.15

Match days

17 April 2009 - day/night match (50-over match)

TV Umpires

Reserve Umpire

Match Referee

Australia have taken the No.2 spot with that win. They won it comfortably in the end, given the margin, but there was a time when Gibbs and Kallis were going strong, when it seemed South Africa could pull it off.

Barring the top four, who all got starts, there were hardly any contributions from the batsmen who followed. Duminy, Boucher and Morkel all failed to put the match firmly back in Australia's control.

Spin had done the trick for South Africa when they bowled, but it was Bracken who turned things Australia's way with the wicket of Kallis. Not that the Australia spinners were ineffective; Hauritz chipped in with 2 for 34, including the important wicket of Albie towards the end, who was caught stunningly by Laughlin, a wicket that proved critical in the outcome.

Stay put for a couple of minutes and we'll get you the details from the presentation shortly.

Ponting: "It's a good way for us to finish the tour, and to bounce back tonight is good for the group, Hopefully, the guys who will tour the UAE will have a good series against Pakistan. We lost a bit of momentum after a good start, but 303 was always going to be pretty daunting. We have a lot of other guys (Symonds, Lee, Clark) coming back in so the absence of some players will not affect us too much as they go to the UAE. On behalf of the Australian cricket team, I hope the crowd have enjoyed the way we have played. They've been great throughout the series."

Hauritz is the Man of the Match for his allround effort: "It was good to come back and play well today. It is good to finish the series on a high, and it's going to be pretty hot in the UAE so I'm looking forward to playing there."

AB de Villiers is the Man of the Series for his 240 runs in this series at an average of 60.

AB: "It's going pretty well this season. I've been focusing on my batting, and I'm enjoying my cricket at the moment. 303 was gettable but unfortunately, we got bowled out in the end. It's been a long tough season, but that's our job."

Smith: "We would have taken 7-3. It's been a terrific summer, and both teams deserve credit for the way they've played. It's been an interesting summer for me, there have been some highs and lows, but it's been exciting. I'm proud of what this team has achieved over the last 18 months, there have been many firsts. The IPL is going to be exciting and hopefully it will live up to its hype."

Well, that brings to an end an enthralling series of matches between these two teams. South Africa came up trumps in the ODI's in both countries, while the Test honours were shared 3-3. Australia needed this win going into the ODI series in UAE, and some of their younger players, like Hauritz and Laughlin will take hear from their performance as they take on Pakistan fairly soon. Thanks for joining us throughout the summer, and sending us all your feedback. Do join us for the IPL extravaganza that begins tomorrow. Until then, it's goodbye from all of us here at Cricinfo. Take care.

45.5
W
Johnson to M Morkel, OUT, it's all over! Length ball on the off stump, tries to clear the long-on boundary but mistimes it completely, David Hussey runs back a few steps from mid-on to complete a simple catch

M Morkel c DJ Hussey b Johnson 15 (20m 12b 2x4 0x6) SR: 125.00

45.4
1
Johnson to Ntini, 1 run, cramps him on the crease with a good length ball on middle, plays it well, dropping it into the vacant leg-side field for a single

Coming round the wicket now

45.4
1w
Johnson to Ntini, 1 wide, too wide, well outside off and Ntini wisely lets it go
45.3
6
Johnson to Ntini, SIX, superb stuff, what a reply after that bouncer, full and wide, just chipped it hard, timed it beautifully over the ropes wide of long-off, the crowd breaks out into a massive cheer
45.2
0
Johnson to Ntini, no run, follows up with one that's bowled on a good length outside leg, raps him on the pads as he tries to play it on the leg side
45.1
0
Johnson to Ntini, no run, bouncer banged in on middle, Ntini ducks and the crowd boos at the aggression shown by the Australian bowler
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  • Consolation win lifts Australia to No. 2

    It may have been a dead rubber, but a resolute Australia scrapped hard in the field to secure a consolation win in Johannesburg and move up to No. 2 in the ODI rankings

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South Africa 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st46HH GibbsGC Smith
2nd104JH KallisHH Gibbs
3rd38JH KallisAB de Villiers
4th3JP DuminyAB de Villiers
5th22MV BoucherAB de Villiers
6th13JA MorkelAB de Villiers
7th3AB de VilliersRE van der Merwe
8th9M MorkelRE van der Merwe
9th0DW SteynM Morkel
10th18M NtiniM Morkel