Scotland v South Africa

South Africa thrashes Scotland
The Warner Park on Tuesday witnessed the Group A match between South Africa and Scotland. It was going to be a formality for the South Africans to surmount the Scottish challenge and enter the Super 8 league. The first team to qualify from this group to the Super 8 round is Australia.

South Africa Win the Toss
The match began on a positive note for the South Africans after skipper Graeme Smith won the toss and invited Scotland to bat first. The pitch at the Warner patch did not have much grass and looked yet another good batting wicket. This was a good opportunity for the minnows to post a total on the scoreboard and then put pressure on the opposition.

Scottish Ordeal
After being sent out to bat, the Scottish innings began on a somber note. The Scottish openers seemed to be content with seeing off the new ball and just rotate the strike around. This was not a bad idea for Scotland and the openers did not show some resolve by confidently dealing with the South African opening bowlers, the stalwart Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini. The Scottish openers, David Watts and Rana Haq had a partnership of 35 runs and it looked as if they might capitalize on this base. However, this did not happen and Haq was out to a beauty by Andrew Hall. Immediately after Haq, the other opener, David Watts was also backing in the pavilion on the first ball of CK Langeveldt debut bowling, leaving Scotland tottering at 43 for 2. After the fall of the openers, the Scottish captain Ryan Watson came to the crease and tried to consolidate the Scottish innings and but was back in the pavilion after making 31 runs. The Scottish middle order collapsed and Scotland was in disarray after its score was 113 for 6.

Brown to the Rescue
It looked as if the Scottish innings would fold up within 150 but it was a brilliant streak by DR Brown that gave the Scottish total some respectability. Due to some power hitting in the slog overs by Brown, Scotland scored 186 runs - their highest score (previous highest was 181 for 7 wickets against Australia in 1999. Brown was the top scorer in Scotland with 45 runs and remained unbeaten till the end of the 50 overs. For the Proteas, Andrew Hall was the highest wicket taker with 3 wickets.

Proteas Reply
The total of 186 never seemed daunting for the South Africans and it was a mere formality for the Proteas to reach the paltry target. The South African openers, Captain Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers seemed to be in a great hurry as they smashed the Scottish bowlers to all corners of the stadium.

Belligerent Skipper
The South African skipper especially relished the Scottish bowling as he scored heavily against all the Scottish bowlers. Smith put his foot on the accelerator right from the start of the innings and raced to his half century within 36 balls with ten classic hits to the fence. Even after crossing the half-century mark, Smith did not slow down and continued to torment the Scottish bowlers. South Africa reached their 100 runs in 74 balls. However, Smith was unlucky to miss out on his first century in the World Cup as he was out on a personal score of 91runs off 65 balls. He fell at the end of 23rd over with South Africa needing 9 runs for victory from 27 overs. Smith’s innings of 91 was studded with 13 boundaries and 1 six. Greame Smith and AB de Villiers put on a huge opening partnership of 134runs for the first wicket. Villiers made 62 runs from 45 balls with 9 boundaries and 2 sixes. Justin Kemp came out to finish the innings when Prince got out (South Africa's 2nd wkt to fall) and South Africa romped home with seven wickets in hand. They reached their target in the 24th over itself, when Kemp hit the 1st ball for a boundary and the 2nd ball for a six outside the ground, resulting in South Africa's victory with an impressive run rate of 8.057 runs per over.

South Africa book their place in Super 8
South Africa became the second team from Group A to qualify for the next round after their comprehensive 7-wicket win over minnows, Scotland. The Man of the Match was an easy choice and it was awarded to the South African skipper, Graeme Smith for his explosive innings of 91 runs.