Australia trounced South Africa by seven wickets yesterday to move smoothly into the final of the World Cup, chasing down a paltry target of 150 with 18.3 overs to spare. Australia bowlers blew away South Africa, reducing it to 27-5 before the Proteas rallied to reach 149 all out, Justin Kemp top scoring with 49 not out.
In reply, Australia set up a repeat of the 1996 World Cup final with Sri Lanka with innings of 41 from Matthew Hayden and an attractive 60 not out from Michael Clarke. Australia has reached its fourth successive World Cup final and is seeking an unprecedented third consecutive title.“It’s a fantastic feeling. A great day for us today,” said Australia captain Ricky Ponting. “Full credit to our bowlers, they did a terrific job early on. They executed everything really well and once they were five for 27 which says a lot about our bowling group and the batters came out to do what they had to do later on.
“All the bowlers have been fantastic. All four of them are probably in the top five or six wicket takers in the tournament. We’re in really good shape and we’re looking forward to Saturday coming round pretty quickly.”
Hayden hit four fours before he skied Shaun Pollock’s delivery for captain Graeme Smith to catch. With the score on 110, however, the damage was already done.
Clarke and Andrew Symonds finished the task off with ease and Australia heads to Barbados for Saturday’s final, looking unbeatable.
South Africa has now played in three semifinals since 1992, but has never reached the final.
“It’s been one of those tournaments for us,” Smith said. “We’ve been a little bit up and down. At times we haven’t played our best cricket but they’ve really given 100 per cent for South Africa.”
Yesterday’s victory at the Beausejour Stadium was set up by magnificent work from pace bowlers Shaun Tait and Glenn McGrath. Tait roared in to take 4-29 with his thundering deliveries, while 37-year-old McGrath took 3-18 from eight overs.
McGrath is the leading World Cup wicket taker and will retire from one-day international cricket after Saturday’s final. He has already retired from test cricket.
