South Africa registered its fourth win of ICC Cricket world Cup 2015 and finished Group B on second spot. Led by skipper AB de Villiers’ brilliant 99, they beat Scotland with a massive margin at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington on Thursday.
Here is a look at the top five highlights of SA vs UAE:
1) Early dismissals: Put in to bat first, South Africa didn’t get off to the best possible start. The openers failed to post a good partnership for the first wicket. Faf du Plessis who missed out the match due to injury was replaced by Rilee Rossouw at number three. The left hander struck a crucial 43, but South Africa were reduced to 95 for three following his dismissal.
2) Fourth wicket partnership: Skipper AB de Villiers was joined in with David Miller in the middle as the duo rescued South Africa. They posted a century partnership for the fourth wicketand South Africa past the 200-run mark before Miller was dismissed, one short of his half-century.
3) AB de Villiers’ assault: Following the dismissal of David Miller, AB de Villiers took the attack on the UAE bowler. He had started off cautiously, avaoiding risky shots. However, in company of JP Duminy, he unleashed his extravagant strokes. However, just when the crowd was cheering him up for his 21st ODI century, he was out on 99.
5) Farhaan Behardien’s late flourish: UAE would have been happy after sending David Miller, AB de Villiers and JP Duminy back to the pavilion. Little would have they expected a late flourish by all-rounder Farhaan Behardien. The right-hander struck a quickfire half-century to take South Africa to 341 for six in 50 overs
5) UAE fail to fightback: The total was massive and UAE didn’t have the line-up to challenge that. Shaiman Anwar and Swapnil Patil provided some resistance, but they were never in hunt of the target. UAE managed to play out 50 overs, but never threatened to defeat the mighty Proteas.
South Africa Squad: AB de Villiers (c), Hashim Amla, Kyle Abbott, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock (wk), JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso, Vernon Philander, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn.
United Arab Emirates Squad: Mohammed Tauqir (C), Khurram Khan, Swapnil Patil, Saqlain Haider, Amjad Javed, Shaiman Anwar, Amjad Ali, Nasir Aziz, Rohan Mustafa, Manjula Guruge, Andri Berenger,Fahad Al Hashmi, Muhammad Naveed, Kamran Shahzad, Karate Krishnachandran
