Albie Morkel hit three massive sixes off successive balls and then took two wickets as South Africa beat England by 19 runs in a Twenty20 World Championship Super Eight match at Newlands on Sunday.
Morkel’s lower-order hitting enabled South Africa to score 154-8 after a stuttering top order performance. He followed up by dismissing England’s top scorers, Matt Prior and Owais Shah, as England were restricted to 135-7.
A key turning point, though, was the dismissal of Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood, England’s key batsmen, in the space of three balls.
Pietersen was run out by a direct hit from Makhaya Ntini at backward square leg after he collided with bowler Shaun Pollock as he raced to the bowler’s end.
Pietersen lost his balance and his bat went flying but he was only centimetres short of making his ground. Pietersen fell heavily on his left elbow.
Two balls later England captain Collingwood was caught at slip off Pollock off the first ball he faced and England were 27-3.
Prior (32) and Shah (36) put on 55 off 47 balls for the fourth wicket before Morkel had Prior caught at backward point. He bowled Shah in his next over.
Morkel’s big-hitting transformed South Africa’s innings. They had struggled after being sent in and were on 112-5 when leg-spinner Chris Schofield came on to bowl the 18th over.
In an over that cost 21 runs, Morkel hit his first two sixes over midwicket and out of the ground on to a railway line that runs close to the perimeter fence. Television technology estimated one of the hits to have travelled 106m — the biggest hit of the tournament so far. The other went 102m.
Morkel’s third six was hit straighter to wide midwicket off a full toss. The left-hander made 43 off 19 balls with four sixes and three fours before being caught off the last ball of the innings.
Stuart Broad claimed two early wickets as South Africa slipped to 42-3. Until Morkel’s assault, South Africa were unable to get on top as England captain Paul Collingwood made a bewildering 15 bowling changes in the space of 20 overs. — AFP
