FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2015 45 S Africa books q-final place at Cricket W Cup WELLINGTON: South Africa’s bowlers backed are on four points and could sneak into fourth up a solid batting performance led by captain AB place, and a quarter-final showdown with New de Villiers’ 99 to ensure they qualified for the Zealand, with a big victory over UAE in Napier on knockout phase of the World Cup with a 146-run Sunday, knocking out the loser of the Pakistan- victory over United Arab Emirates at Wellington Ireland match. Regional Stadium yestersday. De Villiers had De Villiers had looked like he might score his been the lynchpin of South Africa’s 341 for six second century of the tournament as he domi- that was boosted by Farhaan Behardien’s 64 nated two partnerships but fell one run short of from 31 balls to close out the innings, while UAE, his 21st century when he speared the ball who had won the toss and opted to field, never straight to short third man. looked like threatening the target. They The 31-year-old’s dismissal with more than slumped to 45-3 and then gave up any pretence seven overs remaining stalled his side’s momen- of chasing the total, just like they had against tum when they looked like they might be able to Pakistan last week in Napier, preferring instead pass 400 for the third time this tournament. to avoid being embarrassed. Swapnil Patil top- They had lost both Hashim Amla (12) and scored with 57 not out and combined in a 63-run Quinton de Kock (26) relatively cheaply, but their SCOREBOARD partnership with Shaiman Anwar (39) as UAE middle order kicked into gear against a tidy, but were dismissed for 195 in the 48th over with non-threatening UAE attack. Rilee Rossouw (43) Scoreboard at close of play in the World Cup match between South Africa and Fahad Alhashmi unable to bat after injuring his and David Miller (49), who shared in a 108-run United Arab Emirates yesterday in Wellington, New Zealand. ankle while bowling. partnership with De Villiers, both contributed South Africa finished Pool B on eight points before JP Duminy played the junior partner in a South Africa Innings A. Berenger c Rossouw b M. Morkel 5 and have virtually guaranteed second place on 53-run stand with his captain and 35 with H. Amla c Ali b Naveed 12 K. Khan c de Kock b M. Morkel 12 net run rate behind unbeaten India and are likely Behardien. Q. de Kock c Haider b Javed 26 S. Anwar c Rossouw b Tahir 39 R. Rossouw c & b Tauqir 43 to meet Sri Lanka in the first quarter-final in Behardien guided South Africa past 300 and S. Patil not out 57 Sydney next Wednesday. Pakistan and Ireland bludgeoned 23 of the 25 runs from the final over A. de Villiers c Javed b Shazad 99 S. Haider c Rossouw b de Villiers 7 D. Miller b Naveed 49 are both on six points before their final match by Amjad Javed to record his third half century A. Javed c sub b de Villiers 5 showdown in Adelaide on Sunday. West Indies and highest score. —Reuters J. Duminy lbw b Naveed 23 M. Naveed c de Villiers b Philander 17 F. Behardien not out 64 M. Tauqir b Steyn 3 V. Philander not out 10 K. Shazad c Steyn b Philander 0 Extras (b-4 lb-1 nb-5 w-5) 15 F. Alhashmi absent injured Total (for 6 wickets, 50 overs) 341 Extras (b-4 lb-16 nb-3 w-6) 29 Fall of wickets: 1-17 H. Amla, 2-85 Q. de Kock, 3-96 Total (all out, 47.3 overs) 195 R. Rossouw, 4-204 D. Miller, 5-257 A. de Villiers, 6- Fall of wickets: 1-29 A. Berenger, 2-45 A. Ali, 3-45 292 J. Duminy. Did not bat: D. Steyn, M. Morkel, I. Tahir. K. Khan, 4-108 S. Anwar,5-118 S. Haider,6-125 A. Bowling: M. Naveed 10-0-63-3(nb-3 w-1), K. Javed, 7-163 M. Naveed, 8-189 M. Tauqir, 9-195 K. Shazad 8-0-59-1 (nb-1), A. Javed 10-0-87-1 (nb-1 Shazad w-2), M. Tauqir 10-0-47-1 (w-1), F. Alhashmi 7.2-0- Bowling: D. Steyn 9-1-40-1, V. Philander 8.3-1-34-2 45-0 (w-1), K. Khan 4-0-31-0, S. Anwar 0.4-0-4-0. (nb-1 w-1), M. Morkel 10-2-23-2 (nb-2 w-1), J. Duminy 3-1-12-1, F. Behardien 4-1-11-0(w-2), I. United Arab Emirates Innings Tahir 10-0-40-1(w-1), A. de Villiers 3-0-15-2(w-1). A. Ali c Behardien b Duminy 21 Result: South Africa won by 146 runs. — Reuters Mooney once again Ireland’s headline act ADELAIDE: As Ireland prepare for their deci- than call for a television review but sive Pool B clash with Pakistan yesterday, all- Zimbabwe coach Dav Watmore could be seen rounder John Mooney finds himself at the complaining from the stands as his side exit- centre of a ‘did he or didn’t he?’ controversy ed the tournament. that has once again put him in the World Cup The Herald Newspaper in Zimbabwe headlines. The authenticity of the bearded labelled it a “ghost catch” and said the coun- bowler’s pivotal catch that dismissed try’s former sports minister had described the Zimbabwe’s Sean Williams in Ireland’s five- dismissal as like the “Hand of God” goal run win on Saturday remains up for debate scored by Argentina’s Diego Maradona at the despite millions of replays, complaints and 1986 soccer World Cup. even government opinion. The newspaper also wrote a damning Zimbabwe thought they were on track to character assassination of Mooney, citing a record victory as first Brendan Taylor and then September interview where the all-rounder Williams clubbed boundaries to all corners of spoke of his battles with alcoholism that had the Bellerive Oval only for Mooney to step in- led to thoughts of suicide. or on, depending how you see it. “For a man of such a character, who has so Williams looked set for another six but much weighing down on his shoulders, it was Mooney took the ball high above his head very unlikely that, in the defining moment of while standing just inside the boundary rope such a big game, he could be trusted to have to dismiss the batsman for 96 and swing the the honesty, let alone the decency to con- match back in favour of the Irish, who went cede that his foot touched the boundary,” the on to win three overs later. paper said. An incensed Cricket Ireland con- While the Irishman’s hands were perfectly tacted the ICC to investigate potential “reme- placed, many have questioned the position of dies” over what they described as a “vicious his feet. personal attack”. Taylor, who said he would Countless television replays failed to con- have to take the fielder’s word that he had clusively show if Mooney’s trousers or foot not touched the rope, attempted to smooth touched the boundary rope or if he measured over relations by voicing his unhappiness WELLINGTON: UAE’s batsman Amjad Ali (R) plays a shot watched by South African wicketkeeper his stance to millimetre perfection. Williams with the piece and apologising on behalf of Quinton de Kock during a Pool B Cricket World Cup match between South Africa and UAE (United opted to trust Mooney and walked rather the team.—Reuters Arab Emirates) at Wellington Regional Stadium in Wellington yesterday. — AFP.