Daily Cricket News

5th ODI: SA win by 57 runs to clinch series

Dubai: All-rounder Jacques Kallis scored a brilliant half-century and took three wickets to guide South Africa to a commanding 57-run win over Pakistan in the fifth and final one-day international here on Monday.

The 35-year-old scored 83 - one of four half-centuries in the innings - to steer South Africa to an imposing 317-5 before he took 3-30 to dismiss Pakistan for 260 in reply, giving South Africa a 3-2 series win.

Pakistan, hoping to win their first-ever bilateral series win over South Africa, were cruising along nicely with openers Mohammad Hafeez (59) and Shahzaib Hasan (39) who gave them a robust 82-run start in their quest for their third best-ever chase in one-day cricket.

But Kallis derailed Pakistan's innings with a triple strike in as many overs, removing Hasan, Younis Khan (three) and Mohammad Yousuf (three) off 13 balls to make his opponents struggle from 82-0 to 96-3. As if his batting and bowling were not enough, Kallis took a well-judged catch at long-on off fellow paceman Dale Steyn to dismiss Hafeez in the 23rd over.

Umar Akmal (60) and Abdul Razzaq (39) briefly threatened during their firey 60-run sixth wicket partnership before South Africa wrapped up the innings in the 45th over. Akmal hit three sixes and one boundary during his 71-ball knock.

It was Kallis who built the South African innings after Graeme Smith won the toss and decided to bat. Kallis propelled the total during his 95-ball innings, adding an invaluable 121 with AB de Villiers (61) for the third wicket and another 61 for the second wicket with Hashim Amla (62).

Kallis, who scored a brilliant 66 in the first match, hit four boundaries before he cut leg-spinner Afridi straight into the hands of Wahab Riaz in the 39th over. When Kallis reached 81, he completed 11,000 one-day runs in his 307th match. He became the sixth batsmen to score 11,000 or more runs in the 50-over format of the game.

India's Sachin Tendulkar (17598), Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya (13428), Australian Ricky Ponting (13082), Pakistan's Inzamam-ul-Haq (11739) and Indian Sourav Ganguly (11363) were the others to cross the 11,000-run mark.

Graeme Smith (14) and Amla started at a brisk pace to take their team to 37 inside five overs, when Akhtar removed the South African skipper, caught by Afridi. Amla, when on 23 reached 1,000 one-day runs in 2010, hit eight boundaries and a six to reach his tenth fifty. He hit one more four before holing out to Afridi after his brisk 47-ball knock.

De Villiers hit five boundaries during his 72-ball knock. Jean-Paul Duminy (59 not out) and Johan Botha (28 not out) put on a rapid-fire 89 of just 65 balls for the unfinished sixth wicket stand, as none of the Pakistani bowlers could stop the run-flow, with Akhtar conceding 77 runs in seven overs. Duminy hit eight boundaries during his 41-ball knock.

The two teams now play the first of two Tests in Dubai from November 12. The second Test starts in Abu Dhabi from November 20.