South Africa v Australia, 3rd ODI, Cape Town, Highlights

South Africa 289 for 6 (de Villiers 80, Kallis 70, Johnson 4-34) beat Australia 264 for 7 (Ferguson 63, Hopes 63*) by 25 runs

“We need to break the hoodoo,” was how Graeme Smith went into this match with both teams 1-1 in the five-game series. After losing every toss against Ricky Ponting over the summer, Smith finally won one and South Africa piled up 289 on a track that wasn’t always conducive to batting. Then the bowlers and fielders struck early in the piece and despite a spirited rear-guard effort took a one-game lead. Even a floodlight failure couldn’t dim South Africa.

Two days ago Ponting blamed himself for Australia’s batting predicament, saying it was about time he scored another century. That didn’t happen and for the third game running the top order wobbled, putting immense pressure on an inexperienced middle. Chasing a stiff target of 290, Australia slumped to 114 for 5 before Callum Ferguson and James Hopes tried to make a match of it. But in the end, the target was beyond Australia’s lower order.

Part I

Aus Batting