Third Test: South Africa A v Cricket Web A
at City Oval, Pietermaritzburg
Scorecard
Ball By Ball
Despite a pair of half-centuries from David Kearsley, Cricket Web A lacked the required resilience on a slow-paced pitch, and fell to a ten-wicket defeat in a disappointing last performance. Gritty knocks from Duminy, Dippenaar and McKenzie put the game well beyond the hands of the tourists, while de Wet appeared to have worked-out the secret of tail-end dismissals that eluded the Webheads in the last match.
Neil McKenzie correctly had faith in his bowlers after the first day began with heavy clouds surrounding Pietermaritzburg; despite it being near noon, the light was not good enough to play cricket, and the start was delayed by a quarter of an hour before the umpire agreed to let the players out. Morne Morkel took full advantage, bowling regulation outswingers and having Arnold and Scott caught near the wicket; Garven fought back, but hobbled after a yorker hit his foot, and was given out shortly afterwards to another yorker closer to the stumps.
After the initial breakthroughs, South Africa continued to bowl with pace and swing, and even though occasionally lacking in accuracy, they provided enough quality deliveries to take apart the Webheads. David Kearsley lasted the longest, keeping out 93 balls before he was hit outside the line by Friedel de Wet, and incorrectly given out on 75. That was the end of the resistance, as de Wet pitched it up and swung it away from the tail, who succumbed meekly. The innings had taken just 45 overs to clean up, and the Pietermaritzburg crowd might have been forgiven for thinking they were watching a one-day game.
The South African batting, however, quickly dispelled such notions. After Goolam Bodi had decided grit on a wearing pitch was not for him and quietly succumbed for two, youngsters Elgar and Duminy began employing the leave with maturity well beyond their years. Cricket Web bowled well on the first evening, but had little to show for it, as the South Africans knew they had a meagre total to contend with and played accordingly. The occasional expansive stroke was usually swallowed up by the boundary instead of the twenty-two waiting hands, and two patient partnerships set the hosts up nicely for the second day.
After Thomas was milked for runs early on, the day settled into the sedate pace that was to mark most of the play. Richards kept beating the bat, but only had reward when a quicker ball took Duminy by surprise, and he nibbled a return catch. The new ball was taken after lunch, but only resulted in an increased pace of runs as Borcich and Thomas wasted it; Richards came back to take his second wicket with the arm ball in the second over of his spell, but the lead crept up to 100 as McKenzie kept gritting out runs. After tea, Richards worked out van Wyk, but failed to come up with the wicket-taking deliveries against the tail; Collins' medium pace on the stumps did the trick, and if Fuller had held the final catch they would only have trailed by 180. As it were, McKenzie managed the hundred, and Steyn ended with an unbeaten 16 out of the final partnership worth 42.
Trailing by 223 on a pitch rapidly losing all consistency was never easy, but the Webheads decided to make a fist of it by rapid counterattacking. Arnold battered boundaries as he reached fifty before lunch, but Kemp's inswinger which took out Scott's off stump before lunch turned the tide. Arnold followed shortly afterwards, and despite more fighting fifties, there was always a South African bowler waiting to procure an unplayable delivery. Resuming on 214 for four after tea, the Webheads crashed feebly to Morkel and de Wet, and when Kearsley managed to get himself run out on 50, the bottom was reached. The final four partnerships brought about six runs, setting a meagre target of 19; this was achieved with the help of seven extras.
Cricket Web 'A' 233 all out (45 overs)
DA Kearsley 75; F de Wet 5-59, M Morkel 3-77
South Africa 'A' 456 all out (153.3 overs)
JP Duminy 115, ND McKenzie 105, HH Dippenaar 71; DP Richards 3-54, AAA Collins 3-56
Cricket Web 'A' 241 all out (58.4 overs)
AR Arnold 54, AJ Garven 53, DA Kearsley 50; F de Wet 3-55, M Morkel 3-64
South Africa 'A' 19 for nought (3.4 overs)
South Africa 'A' won by ten wickets
Man of the Match: F. de Wet (South Africa 'A')
Cricket Web 'A' first class record