South Africa captain Graeme Smith insists his quest for a first World Cup title is still on track despite an 83-run defeat to champions Australia.
Both teams had already made sure of their places in the Super Eights second round, but it will be Ricky Ponting's Australians who go into the next stage with a valuable extra 2 points now tucked under their belts.
"A victory would have been terrific, but there is still so much cricket to be played in this tournament. We know how many games we have got to win to make the semi-finals," said Smith, whose team now face Sri Lanka in their second-round opener in Guyana on Wednesday.
"It was a cracking game today and all credit to Australia, they played well," said Smith, whose side tried in vain to chase 378 to win.
"We certainly had opportunities. They had 20 runs too many. It was a cricket reason, nothing else. We still move on with confidence," he said.
Chasing a daunting target, South Africa lost their last nine wickets for just 74 runs after being well placed at 220-1 in the 32nd over.
Smith, who made 74 despite cramps in his left leg, in the company of AB de Villiers (92) put on a quickfire 160 before the middle-order collapsed to some tight bowling from left-arm spinner Brad Hogg (3-61) and two wickets apiece to pacemen Shaun Tait and Nathan Bracken.
"The turning point was when AB and I, the two batters in, ended up being out at the same time. It was a terrific run-out. AB was really playing well but then losing both of us made it a rough point for us," the skipper said.
Once De Villiers was gone and Smith retired, the South African innings lost its way.
"Even going into the 35th over, we were right in there. But it was just too much to do in the end," said Smith, who had to retire at 184-2.
He returned with the score of 5-264 only to fall three runs later.
Australia opener Matthew Hayden hit the fastest hundred of World Cup history, with his ton coming off 66 balls while Michael Clarke scored a 75-ball 92 and captain Ricky Ponting smashed a run-a-ball 91.
Smith, whose team successfully chased a world record target of 435 against Australia at Johannesburg last year, said his opponents' total was reachable.
"It was a gettable total. But we lost our way at times. Hayden played a superb knock. He really took the game to us and the wicket played well," Smith said. "We just left ourselves too much to do in the last 10 overs. It's disappointing but we still had opportunities to win the game, which is good to know."
Smith disagreed that the small Warner Park ground devalued the World Cup.
"It's a very difficult ground to defend on. When batters get going its difficult. It doesn't devalue. Both teams have to play on that wicket," he said.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but