South Africa to meet India in semis
Nairobi, Oct 10: South Africa beat England convincingly by eight wickets, with 10.5 overs to spare in the ICC Cup quarter final here today. South Africa will play India in the second semifinal on Oct 13.
They made 184 for two in clinical fashion with the England bowlers wilting under the steady onslaught.
Jacques Kallis and young talent Boeta Dippenaar put on 132 runs for the third wicket to take South Africa to a comfortable win. While Kallis' contribution was expected, the South Africans were delighted with the way Dippenaar shaped. He played some lovely shots with an absolutely straight bat, particularly on the leg side. His 50 came in 92 balls with seven fours and a six. After that, his strokes took on an extra flourish and he brought up the win with a straight six. Dippenaar made 65 N.O in 86 balls.
Kallis contribution was 78 in 110 deliveries. He got the Man of the Match award for his all round performance. He had earlier taken two wickets for 26 runs.
The English bowling was below par today. Andy Caddick in particular did not get into his rhythm at all. Gough bowled passingly well but never looked like he was going to rip through the batting. As for White, Ealham and Grayson, the less said the better.
England lost the match when they put on such a low total. Much of the blame for that must go to Alec Stewart. He has the technique to play the South African pacers and should have played the sheet anchor role for England today. But then perhaps, it is unfair to expect Stewart to click in every match.
By the time South Africa meets India in the second semifinal, one finalist will already be known. One hopes that the recent off the field happenings do not vitiate the atmosphere in the India-South Africa match. There is a strong feeling in that country that Indians (not players but bookies and their ilk) are responsible for their former captain Hansie Cronje's downfall. Today, when umpire S Venkataraghavan called Kallis for a no ball for overstepping, Kallis spent a good few minutes staring at him and staring at the ground. Finally captain Shaun Pollock came up, patted him on the back and took him away. Perhaps the incident is unrelated to anything outside the no ball, but Kallis behaviour did look a bit antagonistic.
