South Africa ease past Scotland to enter Super Eights
Led from the front by skipper Graeme Smith, South Africa sailed through the Super Eight stage of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007, beating minnows Scotland by seven wickets in their World Cup encounter.
Put in to bat first, Scotland were not overawed by their mighty opposition. Their openers did a decent job by seeing off the South African pace attack in the first ten overs. The middle order crumbled under pressure and the score read five for 84 in the 30th over. The inning was restored by Ryan Watson (31) and Dougie Brown (45 not out). Eventually, the Scottish total read 186 for eight at the end of 50 overs, their highest score in a World Cup game. For South Africa, the pick of bowlers were Andrew Hall (3-48) and Chaarl Langeveldt (2-48).
When South Africa came in to bat, they were chasing a paltry 187 for victory. Openers Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers put up a massive 134 for the first wicket. Leading by example, captain Smith slaughtered the Scottish bowlers in scoring 91 runs off 65 balls. He hit them all over the ground, scoring 13 boundaries on the way. Villiers too scored an excellent 62 runs off 45 balls, hitting nine fours and two sixes. For Scotland, Majid Haq was the only credible bowler, grabbing two wickets for 45 runs in six overs.
After this game, South Africa will now be playing their big match against Australia. Although both the teams have reached the Super Eights, it will be a battle of power and superiority.
Brief Scores: South Africa 188/3 (Smith 91, de Villiers 62) vs. Scotland 186/8 (Brown 45, Hall 3-48)
Result: South Africa won by seven wickets
Man of the Match: Graeme Smith
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