Wed, Feb 18, 2004 page19

• South Africa gains an edge on Kiwis

  CRICKET INTERNATIONALS Captain Graeme Smith shrugged off the effects of a severe head and chest cold to lead his team's scoring for the second match in a row

  • CHRISTCHURCH
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  Captain Graeme Smith top-scored with 80 as South Africa reached 253 for eight yesterday after winning the toss in the second limited-overs cricket international against New Zealand.

  Smith made 72 when South Africa beat New Zealand by five wickets in the opener of the six-match series on Friday.

  

  New Zealand fast bowler Daryl Tuffey, left, attempts to gather the ball to run out South Africa's Nicky Boje in their one-day match at Jade Stadium in Christchurch, New Zealand.

  PHOTO: AFP

  Smith guided South Africa's recovery from the cheap loss of two early wickets and helped it set New Zealand a testing target. The tourists were one when Smith's opening partner Herschelle Gibbs was out without scoring and 28 for two when Jacques Kallis fell for 6 in the 11th over.

  A 79-run partnership between Smith and Boeta Dippenaar, stretched over 17 overs, steadied the innings and his later partnerships of 54 with Jacques Rudolph and 43 with Mark Boucher gave substance to the total.

  Smith was eventually out in the 43rd over after batting for 187 minutes. He faced 109 balls and hit seven fours and six.

  South Africa's scoring rate dwindled through the middle of its innings, then accelerated when Smith and Rudolph put on 50 runs in only 37 minutes.

  After Dippenaar's innings of 36 from 58 balls, Rudolph scored 42 from 36 balls and Boucher 40 from 35.

  Rudolph's aggressive innings included four boundaries and two sixes, both struck in the same over from Kyle Mills. Boucher hit four boundaries and a six fours before being caught and bowled by Chris Cairns.

  A late and unbeaten innings of 20 off 13 balls from Shaun Pollock further boosted the tourists' total. Pollock put on 22 from 14 balls in an unbeaten partnership for the ninth wicket with Makhaya Ntini.

  Mills took 2-36 from eight overs, Cairns 2-35, including Smith's wicket, and Daryl Tuffey 2-47 from his 10-over spell.

  Australia versus Sri Lanka

  Australian captain Ricky Ponting refutes his team's reputation for overindulging in verbal mudslinging, saying they know when to stop harassing rival players.

  "You've got to understand that not every time we open our mouths on the field we are abusing somebody. Quite often we are having a good lighthearted chat with the opposition players on the field and among ourselves," Ponting said at a news conference late Monday, where he faced a barrage of questions about sledging.

  Sledging is on-field verbal comments intended to disrupt the concentration of rival players. Australian cricketers have often been criticized for their aggression on the field, including excessive sledging.

  "In any international sport there's always going to be that high level of intensity and sometimes a few words are going to be spoken. In this team we are conscious of what's accepted and what's not," said Ponting.

  The Australian skipper also said his team has improved its performance under the conditions found in South Asia, including hot and humid weather and slow pitches. "What we've done over the last few years with our play in the subcontinent I think we have improved a lot," Ponting said.

  Australia takes on Sri Lanka in the first of the five one-day internationals on Friday without its two main bowlers Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne.

  Warne, making a comeback after a 12-month doping ban, is expected to join the squad for the three-test series starting in March. But he will miss out on the one-day series.

  McGrath is not fully fit following an operation on his left ankle. Warne is Australia's leading bowler and the No. 1 legspinner of all time with 491 test wickets, and McGrath is Australia's leading pace bowler with 430 wickets.

  But Ponting said recent series at home and abroad have proved that Australia could substitute these superstars and win.

  "I think a lot of people realize then we had quite a number of back up bowlers like Nathan Bracken and Brad Williams," he said.

  Australia won a series against Zimbabwe and tied a four-test series against India at home without its two leading bowlers, but the bowling attack lacked depth.
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