Wayne Parnell repaid the faith shown in him by captain Graeme Smith with a five-wicket haul as South Africa defeated New Zealand to get their ICC Champions Trophy challenge back on track.
The 20-year-old, who made his one-day international debut last January, took three wickets against Sri Lanka in the opening match three days ago in the second most important one-day international tournament after the World Cup.
They came at enormous expense, however, with 79 runs conceded in eight overs as the joint favorites with Australia slumped to a surprise 55-run loss in a rain-shortened Centurion Park encounter.
PHOTO: EPA
As South African critics sharpened their knives and sought scapegoats, Smith rushed to the defense of the left-arm fast medium bowler from the southern city of Port Elizabeth.
“Wayne is still young and it is inevitable that he is going to have ups and downs at international level,” Smith said.
If Sri Lanka was a down, New Zealand was an up with Parnell and 70-run middle-order batsman A.B. de Villiers sharing the individual glory after South Africa triumphed by five wickets with nearly nine overs to spare.
“I wish to thank my teammates for taking the catches. I was nervous against Sri Lanka and felt a lot more comfortable in the second match,” Parnell said.
New Zealand were all out for 214 in 47.5 overs and South Africa cruised to 217-5 in 41.1 overs and another win tomorrow over England would virtually assure the hosts of a place in the knockout phase.
Once again Smith won the toss and once again he opted to field on a dry, slow, uneven early season track that gave the spinners assistance in warm, partly cloudy conditions.
Vettori stressed the need to build partnerships, but his plea fell largely on deaf ears with the 71-run stand between Taylor and Elliott a notable exception.
The 95-ball stand ended when South Africa-born Elliott chose the wrong line and his middle stump was pushed back by a deceptive delivery from spinner Roelof van der Merwe. Taylor was the top Kiwi scorer with 72 off 106 balls before missing a low full toss and being trapped leg before wicket by Parnell.
Opener Brendon McCullum was the only other New Zealand batsman to make an impact, scoring 44 before trying a sweep off Johan Botha and getting a top edge to J.P. Duminy at short fine-leg.
Set a 4.30-runs-an-over target, Smith managed just 7 before departing because he played a Daryl Tuffey ball too early and Vettori took a simple catch at mid-on.
Jacques Kallis was next to go, adding 52 runs for the second wicket with Hisham Amla before an attempted drive off Shane Bond was snapped up by wicketkeeper McCullum.
Although ahead on run rate, South Africa were also struggling to build big partnerships and much-improved Amla returned to the pavilion having made 38 after being trapped leg before wicket by Vettori.
Duminy did not last long, scoring just 11 off 13 balls before becoming the victim of a spectacular McCullum catch after trying a cut that took a bottom edge.
De Villiers was a fitting match winner, sealing success with a four having top scored for the Proteas with an unbeaten 70 in 76 balls, including nine boundaries.
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