South Africa picked up their 2nd win of the group with an emphatic victory against Australia at the MCG. Graeme Smith won the toss and batted first on a dry wicket that was expected to turn later in the game.
Smith enjoyed stands of 94, 76, 43 and 106 with the top 4, before he was dismissed for 147. Jacques Kallis also hit 146 in a brilliant innings before Jason Gillespie changed the games momentum. He took 4 for 49 as the Proteas lost their last 6 wickets for 17 and were all out for 465.
Australia got off to a terrible start in their innings, losing Langer to a Dale Steyn yorker on the 4th ball of the innings. Ricky Ponting followed shortly after with the Aussies 31-2, before Hayden and Katich shared a stand of 174 for the 3rd wicket. Hayden and Katich both hit 109 before Australias innings also ended quickly. They went from 205 for 2 to 326 all out with Steyn taking 5 for 93 and leg spinner Paul Adams taking 2 for 87, finding both turn and bounce.
South Africa had a lead of 139 and made 269 for 3 in their 2nd innings with AB de Villiers unbeaten on 93 and Kallis making 75*. Smith also hit his 2nd fifty of the game as he declared to set a target of 409.
Australia started well, making it to 25-0 before their innings fell apart on the evening of Day 4. The pitch was turning prodigiously by this point and Adams and Boje tore through the Aussie lineup as they slumped to 62-5 by the end of the day. Some resistance followed from Watson (82), Katich (43) and Gilchrist (35*), but they couldn't prevent the inevitable.
Adams took 5 for 56 and Boje 4 for 60 as Australia were all out 244, giving South Africa a 164 run win. Kaliis won match of the match for 2 great innings and South Africa are now in a strong position going forward.
South Africa have won 2 of 3 games and lead the group as they head into a bye round. Australia and India are in trouble on 4 points after 2 games and have huge games coming up, with both needing to win to keep their qualification hopes alive.
Australia 2000s: J Langer; ML Hayden; RT Ponting [c]; SM Katich; A Symonds; SR Watson; AC Gilchrist [w]; B Lee; GD McGrath; SCG MacGill; JN Gillespie
South Africa 2000s: GC Smith [c]; HH Gibbs; ND McKenzie; AB de Villiers; JH Kallis; MV Boucher [w]; CK Langeveldt; M Ntini; PR Adams; DW Steyn; N Boje
South Africa 2000s 1st Innings 465-10 (122.1 Ov)
GC Smith 147, JH Kallis 146, MV Boucher 55, JN Gillespie 4-49, SCG MacGill 2-80, GD McGrath 2-98
Australia 2000s 1st Innings 326-10 (92.2 Ov)
ML Hayden 109, SM Katich 109, AC Gilchrist 50, DW Steyn 5-93, PR Adams 2-87
South Africa 2000s 2nd Innings 269-3 (73 Ov)
AB de Villiers 93*, JH Kallis 75*, GC Smith 54
Australia 2000s 2nd Innings 244-10 (95.1 Ov)
SR Watson 82, SM Katich 43, AC Gilchrist 35*, PR Adams 5-56, N Boje 4-60
South Africa 2000s win by 164 runs
Man of the Match: JH Kallis
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