Morkel stars in Proteas win vs Eng

Exquisite all-round performance by Albie Morkel helped South Africa record a 19-run win over England in a Super Eight match.

Exquisite all-round performance by Albie Morkel helped South Africa record a 19-run win over England in a Super Eight match of the Twenty20 cricket World Cup at Newlands here on Sunday night.

Morkel swung his bat to slam a 20-ball 43 and then scalped two wickets as the hosts successfully defended their 154 for 8 to bighten their chances for a semifinal berth.

England lost wickets in regular intervals and managed to score only 135 runs for seven as the Protea bowlers displayed a disciplined performance.

Coming late in the batting order, Morkel8217;s cameo innings instilled some life into the comatose South African innings which had faltered to score decently because of the disciplined bowling performance by England bowlers.

Morkel struck three fours and four spectacular sixes, including the biggest ones in the tournament so far, to bring the stadium alive before falling to Andrew Flintoff.

After England put the hosts in, Stuart Broad gave his team an early breakthrough as Jean-Paul Duminy, before opening his account, offered a thin edge to wicketkeeper Matt Prior and he accepted it gladly to send the South African opener back.

Two overs later, Broad struck again to remove South African skipper Graeme Smith 19, who top-edged a delivery while trying to pull and Dimitry Mascarenhas took a simple catch at long leg.

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Sooner than later, Flintoff got rid of a dangerous looking AB de Villiers 18.

Mark Boucher 29 off 29 and Justin Kemp 21 off 27 steadied the South African innings by adding 49 runs for the fourth wicket before Morkel unleashed his fireworks to see his side cross the 150 mark.

When the home team came out to defend their total, Pollock banked on his experience to not only pick wickets, but also apply brakes on the England scoring rate.

The seasoned seamer first scalped both Luke Wright and England captain Paul Collingwood for ducks to push them to backfoot.

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In between, England received another setback as the destructive Kevin Pietersen 15 got run out before making any significant contribution.

When England were tottering at 27 for three, Prior 32 off 31 balls played a useful knock and put on a 55-run partnership with Owais Shah for the fourth wicket before hitting a skier to Vernon Philander off Morkel.

Morkel tasted success again with the ball as Shah went for a wild swipe and missed the ball to find his stumps in disarray.

Shah8217;s 31-ball 36 was more flamboyant and had one four and two huge sixes.

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England8217;s star all-rounder Flintoff 17 also failed miserably to leave any impact as his side surrendered much before the last ball was bowled.