South Africa back in Champions Trophy contention

Upset by Sri Lanka in the opening match of the ODI tournament two days ago, the Proteas had to win and did so with relative ease before a large, holiday crowd.

New Zealand were all out for 214 in 47.5 overs and South Africa cruised to 217/5 in 41.1 overs and another win Sunday over England would virtually assure the hosts of a place in the knockout phase.

The 'Black Caps', who may have erred in excluding Jeetan Patel for a match on a spin-friendly pitch, face Sri Lanka and England at the Wanderers stadium and a couple of victories would bring them back into the frame.

AB de Villiers was a fitting match winner, sealing success with a four having top scored for the Proteas with an unbeaten 70 in 76 balls, including nine boundaries.

"This was a big day for us and we stood up to deliver a much improved performance. Our bowlers set the tone in the first 15 overs with good intensity and they hit the right areas hard," said South Africa skipper Graeme Smith.

"It was a clinical job well started and well finished and the result will improve our run rate. Now we are going to prepare well for our match against England."

Kiwi skipper Daniel Vettori said: "Our batsmen got bogged down as we sought a competitive score of about 250 runs. Ross (Taylor) and Grant (Elliott) handled the spinners well but the partnership did not last long enough."

Once again Smith won the toss and once again he opted to field on a dry, slow, uneven early season track that gave the spinners assistance in warm, partly cloudy conditions.

Vettori stressed the need to build partnerships, but his plea fell largely on deaf ears with the 71-run stand between Ross Taylor and Grant Elliott a notable exception.

The stubborn 95-ball stand ended when South Africa-born Elliott chose the wrong line and his middle stump was pushed back by a deceptive delivery from spinner Roelof van der Merwe.

Taylor was the top Kiwi scorer with 72 off 106 balls before missing a low full toss and being trapped leg before by revitalised Wayne Parnell, who was voted man of the match.

Opener Brendon McCullum was the only other New Zealand batsman to make an impact, scoring 44 before trying a sweep off Johan Botha and getting a top edge to JP Duminy at short fine leg.

Parnell, rebounding from a nightmare outing against Sri Lanka, finished with five wickets, impressive Van der Merwe and speedster Dale Steyn claimed two apiece and Botha one.

Set a 4.30-runs-an-over target, Smith managed just seven before departing because he played a Daryl Tuffey too early and Vettori took a simple catch at mid-on.

Jacques Kallis was next to go, adding 52 runs for the second wicket with Hisham Amla before an attempted drive off Shane Bond was snapped up by wicketkeeper McCullum.

Although ahead on run rate, South Africa were also struggling to build big partnerships and much-improved Amla returned to the pavilion having made 38 after being trapped leg before by Vettori.

Duminy did not last long, scoring just 11 off 13 balls before becoming the victim of a spectacular McCullum catch after trying a cut that took a bottom edge.

Fast bowlers lead Pakistan to victory

Johannesburg: Fast bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Umar Gul shared six wickets as Pakistan beat West Indies by five wickets in their ICC Champions Trophy Group A match at the Wanderers on Wednesday.

West Indies, fielding a weakened lineup in the tournament, were dismissed for 133.

Pakistan stuttered in their reply before an unbeaten stand of 58 from Umar Akmal and Shahid Afridi guided them home with over 19 overs to spare.

After winning the toss and electing to bat, the West Indies batsmen fell flat as 17-year-old Aamer and Gul reduced them to 47 for seven.

Aamer caught and bowled Dale Richards for a single at the end of the first over and then added the wickets of Travis Dowlin for a duck and David Bernard for six to finish with three for 24 in seven overs.

Gul produced a probing spell of three for 28 in eight overs as he claimed the wickets of Devon Smith (18), captain Floyd Reifer (7) and Chadwick Walton (0), the latter two with successive deliveries.

There was resistance from the West Indies lower-order, however, as Darren Sammy scored 25 and Nikita Miller made 51, his maiden one-day international half-century.

The Wanderers pitch, unlike the flat surface up the road in Centurion, always offered the pacemen some assistance and West Indian opening bowler Gavin Tonge made use of what was available to make Pakistan sweat in their run-chase.

He bowled Imran Nazir for five with his first delivery and then had Kamran Akmal (5), Shoaib Malik (23) and Mohammad Yousuf (23) all caught behind by wicketkeeper Walton.

Misbah-ul-Haq was dismissed by David Bernard for six as Pakistan slipped to 76 for five.

But West Indies' hopes of a dramatic victory dimmed as Umar Akmal played an astute innings, the 19-year-old stroking six fours in his unbeaten 41.

Tri-series win lifts India to 2nd spot in ODI rankings

The Tri-series victory lifted India to the second spot in the latest ODI Cricket rankings. India displayed a gritty show at the final of the Compaq Cup Tri-series against Sri Lanka to beat the hosts by 46 runs at Colombo on Monday.

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his ‘Men In Blue’ could barely enjoy the top spot in the ODI rankings, which they achieved after beating New Zealand earlier in the series.

However, just 24 hours after reaching the pinnacle, India slipped to the third place after being beaten by the home side. The same day Australia beat England by seven wickets at Lord’s to sneak ahead into second position.

But India’s triumph at the finals against Sri Lanka propelled them to the second spot, with just one point separating them from the top-rank holders South Africa.

Australia now stands at the third place, again separated by one point from India.

The Kangaroos could easily take-over South Africa’s crown if they manage to clean sweep the 7-match ODI series against England, which they already lead by 5-0. Ricky Ponting and his men will have to win the fifth and sixth match to reach the top place, but will have to win the last match as well to sustain their position.