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by Sa'adi Thawfeeq

The second match of the 15-match ICC Champions trophy turned out to be an absolute thriller at the SSC grounds yesterday where South Africa edged out West Indies by two wickets scoring the winning runs off the last ball of the match.

South Africa required 13 runs off the final over and lost two wickets in the process getting there. Skipper Shaun Pollock hit a six and collected a couple off the first two deliveries to bring South Africa closer to victory. But fast bowler Merv Dillon pushed them back when he had Pollock and then Klusener caught by Chanderpaul within two balls of each other leaving them at 236-8 with one ball to play. But the crucial ball which was officially the final one of the match, Dillon bowled a wide and the batsmen Nicky Boje and Alan Dawson scampered a single at the same time which equalled the total. Given the bonus of an additional ball, Dawson edged a drive to third man for four to signal victory for South Africa.

All in all it was a nerve tingling encounter that went to the wire. South Africa score 242-8 off 49 overs to the West Indies' 238-8 in 50 overs.

South Africa were docked one over for a slow over rate, but still managed to squeeze through. A win was crucial for both teams as the third team in Pool 3 is Kenya.

Chasing the West Indies total, South Africa slumped to 61-3 in the 17th over, but a spirited fourth wicket stand of 117 off 143 balls between man of the match Jonty Rhodes and Boeta Dippenaar brought them back into the game. West Indies skipper Carl Hooper got rid of them both in successive overs to bring the match, which was drifting towards South Africa alive once more.Dippenaar mistimed a pull and was caught at mid wicket for 53 scored off 83 balls with four fours, and Rhodes was bowled playing on to Hooper for 61. He hit eight fours in the 80 balls he faced and was caught behind by Jacobs off a Dillon no-ball at 43.

Mark Boucher (23) and Lance Klusener (10) added 41 off 43 balls for the sixth wicket, but Dillon's double strike in the final over left Boje and Dawson to perform the final rites. They were helped in their task by Dillon bowling a wide down the leg side off the last ball with South Africa still needing three runs to win.

West Indies put into bat first, got off to a fine start with Chris Gayle and Chanderpaul adding 63 off 90 balls. The hard hitting Gayle made 49 off 55 balls with eight fours and a six after surviving some real snorters from Pollock and Dawson in the initial overs. The sedate Chanderpaul used up 98 balls scoring 45 with five fours.

Boje struck a vital blow for West Indies when he had Brian Lara caught at long off by Allan Donald for 21 making West Indies 107-2 in the 27th over. No West Indies batsman went onto make a substantial score although all of them made starts. Hooper scored 27, Sarwan 36 and Jacobs 25 and their total of 238 was at least 25-30 runs short of what they should have scored on that pitch. South Africa stuck to their guns allowing only 13 off the first five overs and picking up crucial wickets which prevented West Indies from building on the opening stand.

WEST INDIES

C.H. Gayle c Boucher b Donald		 49
S. Chanderpaul c Dippenaar b Dawson		 45
B.C. Lara c Donald b Boje			 21
C.L. Hooper lbw b Pollock			 27
R. Sarwan b Kallis				 36
W.W. Hinds c Kallis b Donald			 12
R.D. Jacobs c Pollock b Kallis			 25
M.V. Nagamootoo run out			 10
V. Drakes not out				  0
M. Dillon not out				  0
Extras (LB-4, NB-1, W-7)			 12
TOTAL (8 wkts inns closed, 50 overs)		238
DID NOT BAT: P.T. Collins.

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-63 (Gayle), 2-107 (Lara), 3-153 (Chanderpaul), 
4-153 (Hooper), 5-191 (Hinds), 6-220 (Sarwan),
7-230 (Jacobs), 8-237 (Nagamootoo).
BOWLING: Pollock 10-1-35-1 (1nb), Dawson 10-1-51-1 (4w), 
Donald 8-0-44-2 (1w), Kallis 9-0-41-2 (2w),
Boje 7-0-34-1, Klusener 6-0-29-0.

SOUTH AFRICA

G.C. Smith c Jacobs b Hooper		 33
H.H. Gibbs b Dillon				  8
J.H. Kallis c Jacobs b Drakes			 10
H.H. Dippenaar c Nagamootoo b Hooper	 53
J.N. Rhodes b Hooper			 61
M.V. Boucher b Dillon			 23	
L. Klusener c Chanderpaul b Dillon		 23
S.M. Pollock c Chanderpaul b Dillon		 10
N. Boje not out				  0
A.C. Dawson not out			  4
Extras (B-1, LB-3, NB-6, W-7)		 17
TOTAL (8 wkts, 49 overs)			242 

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-13 (Gibbs), 2-50 (Kallis), 3-61 (Smith), 
4-178 (Dippenaar), 5-179 (Rhodes), 6-220 (Boucher),
 7-234 (Pollock), 8-236 (Klusener).
DID NOT BAT: A.A. Donald.
BOWLING: Dillon 10-1-60-4 (2nb, 4w), Collins 9-0-38-0 (3nb, 1w), 
Hooper 10-1-42-3 (1w), Drakes 8-1-36-1 (1w), 
Nagamootoo 9-0-41-0 (1nb), Gayle 3-0-21-0.
TODAY: 
India v Zimbabwe at R. Premadasa Stadium (d/n) 2.30 p.m.

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