Wicket wizard Parnell repays faith of Smith

David LEGGE

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 of the second most important ODI tournament after the World Cup.

But they came at enormous expense with 79 runs conceded in eight overs as the co-title favourites with Australia slumped to a surprise 55-run loss in a rain-shortened Centurion Park encounter.

As South African critics sharpened their knives and sought scapegoats, Smith rushed to the defence of the left-arm fast medium bowler from the southern city of Port Elizabeth.

"Wayne is still young and and it is inevitable that he is going to have ups and downs at international level," said Smith of the 'baby' of the Proteas team who was a teenager just months ago.

If Sri Lanka was a down, New Zealand was an up with Parnell and 70-run middle-order batsman AB de Villiers sharing the individual glory after South Africa triumphed by five wickets with nearly nine overs to spare.

"I wish to thank my team-mates for taking the catches. I was nervous against Sri Lanka and felt a lot more comfortable in the second match," was the typical modest response of Parnell when quizzed about the five wickets. Another wicket and the rising star they call 'Pigeon' would have equalled the Champions Trophy record of Sri Lankan Farveez Maharoof against the West Indies in the last Champions Trophy hosted by India three years ago.

His eight wickets from two games makes him the leading bowler so far in the 2009 edition with three more than team-mate Dale Steyn while West Indian Gavin Tonge captured four against Pakistan.

Speedster Steyn and spinner Roelof van der Merwe took two wickets each and Johan Botha one and Smith hailed his attack after South Africa avoided the humiliation of an early exit.

"The bowlers had first go at it again today and set things up beautifully. They bowled with the intensity we have been looking for, they hit the right areas and they created a lot of pressure.

"It was a good clinical performance and that is something we have got used to at this level. It was a credit to them the way they bounced back," said Smith, referring to the 319 runs conceded against Sri Lanka. JOHANNESBURG, Friday (AFP) -