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Hussey stars in Aussie win

Gibbs looked out of sorts
Duminy hit an unbeaten 69

Brisbane: Michael Hussey did a redemption act after a woeful Test series as he struck an unbeaten half century (53) to lead Australia to a six-wicket victory in the second Twenty20 International against South Africa here on Tuesday.

In the match played in the backdrop of Australian opener Matthew Hayden’s retirement, Hussey shared two crucial 50-plus stands — 61 with captain Ricky Ponting for the third wicket and 69 with Cameron White (40) for the unbroken fifth wicket — to guide his side to a comfortable win after South Africa had scored 157 for five largely revolving around J.P. Duminy’s unbeaten 69.

Shaky start

The home side was off to a shaky start with the two openers gone for 29, but after that the Australians were never in trouble.

Ponting contributed a useful 31-ball 38 and though there was a bit of hiccup when David Hussey was out for a two-ball 2, Hussey and White took the home side to 161 for four with seven balls to spare.

The packed 40,000 crowd at the Gabba, which gave a standing ovation to Hayden when he ran a lap of honour during the innings break, later saw a lot of stunning hits in the 69-run stand for the fourth wicket between Hussey and White in just 5.5 overs, though the duo each enjoyed reprieves from the South African fielders.

White’s cameo

Hussey, who scored 85 runs from six innings including two ducks in the Test series, faced 33 balls for his unbeaten 53 with three fours and a six while White played a cameo of an 18-ball unbeaten 40, which included five fours and a six.

White, who hit four successive fours off Wayne Parnell in the 17th over to virtually seal victory, ended the match in style with a six off Morne Morkel.

Australia had won the first Twenty20 match in Melbourne by 52 runs.

Australia’s first match hero David Warner could score only 7 off seven balls, falling to Dale Steyn.

For South Africa, Morne Morkel took two for 32, while Steyn returned one for 19.

Earlier, electing to bat South Africa posted a modest 157 for five with Duminy top-scoring with an unbeaten 69 from 41 balls with seven fours and two sixes.

Duminy, who also top-scored with 78 in South Africa’s 52-run loss in Melbourne on Sunday, did not get much support from his fellow batsmen except for opener Hashim Amla (26).

Herschelle Gibbs, returning to international cricket from a rehabilitation following alcohol-related problems, was out of sorts and the first one to go for 6 off 12 balls.

Amla, who began on a promising note with a six off comeback fast bowler Shuan Tait’s first over, followed suit at 40 for two in the seventh over perishing while trying to pull Ben Hilfenhaus only to hole out to White at short mid-wicket.

Duminy, who came in after Gibb’s fall, batted sensibly but South Africa was in trouble at 41 for three in the eighth over as van Jaarsveld fell first-ball duck to David Hussey LBW while attempting a sweep shot.

Resurrection

It was left to Duminy and Mark Boucher to resurrect the innings and the duo shared a fourth-wicket stand of 49 runs off 37 balls before the wicketkeeper batsman was out to Hopes for a 19-ball 19 in the 14th over at team score of 90.

The scores:

South Africa 157 for five in 20 overs (H. Amla 26, J.P. Duminy 69 not out; Hopes two for 29) lost to Australia 161 for four in 18.5 overs (R. Ponting 38, M. Hussey 53 not out, C. White 40 not out; M. Morkel two for 32). — PTI

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