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| Monday, 21 January 2002 |
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Martyn plunders century as Australia end one-day losing streak BRISBANE, Australia, Jan 20 (AFP) - Australia ended a three-match losing streak to beat South Africa by 27 runs in a crucial tri-nations series match here Sunday with Damien Martyn smashing his third one-day international ton. After batting first and making 241 for four wickets, Australia dismissed South Africa for 214 with 14 balls left. The win at the Gabba ground puts the World Cup limited-overs champions firmly back in the race for the title in the 190,000 dollar (95,000 US) tournament. After each country has played four matches, New Zealand lead with three wins, followed by South Africa (two) and Australia (one). Each country plays four more qualifying matches before the best-of-three finals early February. It was South Africa's second successive defeat after they lost to New Zealand Saturday. Australian captain Steve Waugh said he had been disappointed by the media scrutiny of his team after they stumbled through three consecutive losses before registering a win. "We're not used to losing three in a row and obviously a lot of other people aren't used to us losing three in a row either, because all of a sudden we couldn't play," Waugh said. "You'll find that we're not a bad side and we're going to come back pretty strongly. "We expect to win and we expect a fair hearing when we don't win and play well, and that's going to happen on occasions, but the main thing was that we played well today. "It was a good performance and a really gutsy win." In Sunday's game, South Africa made a bright start to their chase as Herschelle Gibbs and Gary Kirsten collected 34 runs in the opening seven overs. But the dismissal of Gibbs (18 from 22 balls) and Kirsten (22 from 40) in quick succession by pace champion Glenn McGrath left the Proteas a shaky 49 for two in the 13th over. Neil McKenzie and Jacques Kallis then revived their fortunes with an enterprising stand of 77 from 94 balls before speedster Jason Gillespie trapped Kallis for 37 from 55 balls. Jonty Rhodes (two) had his first failure of the series and Mark Boucher was sent packing for 10 as Andrew Symonds struck twice, sending the Proteas to a troubled 153 for five in the 35th over. Neil McKenzie, who had held together the middle order, was brilliantly caught by wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist off Gillespie, leaving South Africa a precarious 175 for six in the 41st over. With the help of a mighty six and five fours, McKenzie crafted an excellent 68 from 85 balls. South Africa lost their last five wickets for 39 runs, with paceman Glenn McGrath taking 4-30. The feature of the Australian innings was a masterly third-wicket stand by Martyn and Ricky Ponting. Coming together with the side a tentative 29 for two wickets in the 12th over, they thrashed 171 runs from 187 balls in just under two hours. Their stand was a record for Australia's third-wicket in one-day internationals in Brisbane. Martyn slammed an unbeaten with 104, including six fours, from 121 balls and Ponting cracked six fours and a six in his 80 from 95 balls. Martyn's century was his third in one-day international company. Australia's new opening batting combination of Mark Waugh and Matthew Hayden gave the side their best start of the series -- but they still mustered only a laborious 25 in almost 10 overs as new-ball bowlers Shaun Pollock and Steve Elworthy attacked with pinpoint accuracy. Elworthy's consistency earned him the wickets of both players, giving him 2-18 from his opening six overs, though the right-hand operator was punished when he completed his 10-over stint, finishing with 2-53. In contrast, Pollock remained economical throughout his 10-over assault, conceding a mere 28 runs and being desperately unlucky not to capture a wicket. The superb left-handed leg-side catch snared by wicketkeeper Mark Boucher to send Mark Waugh (15 from 30 balls) on his way pushed the 36-year-old right-hander a step closer to the abyss. The veteran of 240 one-day internationals has knocks of 1 and 0 in the current series before Sunday's failure, and selectors are known to favor an early infusion of new blood into the side. Skipper Steve Waugh, who went to the crease late in the innings, punched a crisp 22 from 19 balls -- probably enough to take some pressure off him, at least in the short term Australia achieved only a modest total on an excellent pitch despite having plenty of early luck. Mark Waugh survived lbw appeals by Elworthy and Pollock when he was one and three. Hayden, on eight, was dropped at third man by Charl Langeveldt off Elworthy. Ponting was also reprieved on 40 when he was caught at mid-wicket off Lance Klusener after a no-ball had been called. Australia
M. Waugh c Boucher b Elworthy 15
M. Hayden c Kirsten b Elworthy 10
R. Ponting c Gibbs b Klusener 80
D. Martyn not out 104
A. Symonds c Rhodes b Boje 3
S. Waugh not out 22
Extras (w2, nb5) 7
Total (four wickets) 241
Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-29, 3-200, 4-205
Bowling: S.Pollock 10-1-28-0, S. Elworthy 10-1-53-2,
C. Langeveldt 5-0-31-0, J. Kallis 7-0-38-0,
L. Klusener 8-0-48-1, N. Boje 10-0-43-1.
Batting time: 196 min
South Africa
H. Gibbs c Bichel b McGrath 18
G. Kirsten c Gilchrist b McGrath 22
J. Kallis lbw b Gillespie 37
N. McKenzie c Gilchrist b Gillespie 68
J. Rhodes c Gilchrist b Symonds 2
M. Boucher c and b Symonds 10
S. Pollock c Hayden b Symonds 18
L. Klusener b Bichel 16
N. Boje b McGrath 1
S. Elworthy not out 11
C. Langeveldt b McGrath 3
Extras (lb1, w6, nb1) 8
Total (all out) 214
Fall of wickets: 1-34, 2-49, 3-126, 4-135, 5-153,
6-175, 7-191, 8-199, 9-204, 10-214
Bowling: G. McGrath 9.4-0-30-4, J. Gillespie 10-1-60-2,
A. Bichel 9-1-27-1, S. Warne 10-1-48-0,
A. Symonds 10-0-48-3.
Batting time: 202 min
Australia won by 27 runs.
Man of match: Damien Martyn (Australia).
Points: Australia 4, South Africa nil.
Crowd: 35,761 (record for one-day international
at the Gabba)
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