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Journalism of Courage
MELBOURNE, AUGUST 16: Steve Waugh and Michael Bevan plundered centuries and Australia kept South Africa’s batsmen in a scoring strait-jacket to win the first one-day cricket international played indoors here Wednesday. Watched by 25,000 fans inside Melbourne’s new Colonial Stadium on a bitterly cold winter’s night, Waugh’s World Cup champions romped home by 94 runs to go one-up in the series with two games to play on Friday and Sunday.
Man-of-the-match Waugh smashed his third one-day century off 91 balls to finish unbeaten on 114 and Bevan swept to his fifth hundred with 102 off 120 balls. Australia, sent into bat by South African captain Shaun Pollock, roared along to score 295 for five off their 50 overs before restricting the Proteas to 201 for seven.
Waugh and Bevan recovered their team’s position from a precarious 37 for three with a thumping 222-run stand for the fourth wicket. Needing almost six runs an over, Pollock’s men were never up to the chase with Australia’s star bowlers Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Shane Lee and Ian Harvey keeping the visitors’ scoring well in check. Allrounder Harvey snared 3-41 and Warne, playing his first match since being deposed as team vice-captain, grabbed 2-39.
Waugh, determined to put on a good show to help the game recover from the Hansie Cronje match-fixing crisis, was at his pugnacious best and brought up his century the ball after Bevan had beat him to his hundred in the 45th over.
Bevan, who was the first to reach 1,000 runs in this year’s English county season playing for Sussex, carried on his rich vein of form and regularly converted ones into twos with his running between wickets. Bevan was out in the 47th over when he holed out to a spectacular diving catch in the deep by Jacques Kallis off Pollock for 102 off 120 balls. Allrounder Shane Lee turned in a 15-ball cameo, smacking Pollock for two consecutive sixes on his way to 28.
South Africa could not escape the shackles imposed by the tight Australian bowling and were 99 for two after 28 overs. Harvey removed Andrew Hall for 11 and then Warne bamboozled opener Gary Kirsten with a delivery that spun wide of his off-stump to be smartly stumped by Adam Gilchrist for 43.
Kirsten, man-of-the-match in South Africa’s six-wicket win over Australia in Durban last April with 97 off 126 balls, hit three fours in his 69-ball knock Wednesday. A useful 54-run partnership with Kallis was broken when Daryll Cullinan was bowled by Harvey’s first ball after the final drinks break for 29 leaving the Proteas 124 for three and still 172 runs from victory in the 34th over.
Harvey struck again two overs later trapping Kallis lbw for 42 off 66 balls, bringing big-hitting Lance Klusener to the crease. Jonty Rhodes went for one reverse sweep too many off Warne and spooned to Damien Martyn at backward point for 16 and South Africa were 148 for five in the 38th over.
Neil McKenzie cracked 22 before he was bowled by Shane Lee as the South African innings fizzled out. Wicketkeeper Mark Boucher holed out to Bevan near the boundary rope for six to give Shane Lee his second wicket.
Cricket’s first indoors match went off without any significant hitch although several players lost their footing on the greasy outfield where Australian football was played a week earlier. The game was held up several times as bowlers and batsmen scraped mud off their boot spikes to secure their footing. (AFP)
AUSTRALIA
A Gilchrist run out 1
M Waugh c Hayward b Telemachus 17
R Ponting c Rhodes b Telemachus 16
M Bevan c Kallis b Pollock 106
S Waugh not out 114
S Lee c Cullinan b Kallis 28
I Harvey not out 1
Extras (b2, lb2, w3, nb5) 12
Total (5 wkts, 50 overs) 295
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-32, 3-37, 4-259
Bowling:Pollock 10-0-46-1, Telemachus 10-1-54-2 (3nb), Kallis 10-0-74-1 (2w), Hayward 6-0-45-0 (1w), Klusener 8-0-43-0 (1nb), Hall 6-0-29-0 (1nb)
SOUTH AFRICA
G Kirsten st Gilchrist b Warne 43
A Hall c Gilchrist b Harvey 11
J Kallis lbw Harvey 42
D Cullinan b Harvey 29
J Rhodes c Martyn b Warne 16
L Klusener not out 25
N McKenzie b S Lee 22
M Boucher c Bevan b S Lee 6
S Pollock not out 4
Extras (lb2, w1) 3
Total (7 wkts, 50 overs) 201
Fall of wkts:1-37, 2-70, 3-124, 4-137, 5-148, 6-179, 7-189
Bowling:McGrath 10-2-28-0, B Lee 10-0-51-0 (1w), Harvey 10-0-41-3, S Lee 10-0-41-2, Warne 10-0-38-2
Results:Australia won by 94 runs
