Fourth one-day international, Port Elizabeth:
South Africa 317-6 beat Australia 256 by 61 runs
Match scorecard
 Gibbs punished the Aussie bowlers with some dazzling strokes |
Herschelle Gibbs hit his 21st one-day century as South Africa beat Australia by 61 runs in Port Elizabeth to seal overall victory in the series. Gibbs hammered two sixes and nine fours in his 110 off 116 balls and shared a stand of 136 with AB de Villiers (84). The home side reached 317-6 but Brad Haddin (78) and Michael Clarke (50) gave Australia a flying start in reply. Roelof van der Merwe (3-46) halted the charge and Dale Steyn (4-44) swept away the tail as they were all out for 256. The victory gives South African an unassailable 3-1 lead with just one game in the series remaining, in Johannesburg on Friday. It was another impressive all-round effort by Graeme Smith's men against an Australian side who gave a 50-over debut to 35-year-old seamer Shane Harwood following three appearances in Twenty20 internationals. Harwood did reasonably well, removing Jacques Kallis for 17 and having JP Duminy caught off the final ball of the innings to finish with 2-57, but by then the damage had been done.  | 606: DEBATE |
Australia had started the game well enough, with James Hopes picking up the important early wicket of Smith, who flashed at a wide delivery and was caught behind for 20. But the departure of Kallis at the end of the 18th over brought Gibbs and De Villiers together and from there, the home side began to seize the initiative. The 100 partnership came at a run per ball and Gibbs lofted spinners Michael Clarke and Nathan Hauritz into the stands as he closed in on his century. The pressure told on Australia as Callum Ferguson dropped De Villiers in the deep, the first of three chances which went begging, but Clarke held on to an easy catch at long-on off Nathan Bracken to bring Gibbs's innings to an end. "It's been a long time but I knew there was one coming, it's been boiling for the last few games," Gibbs said of his century. "It was just time for me to get through the first 10 overs and take it from there." Albie Morkel was bowled by Mitchell Johnson, who also had de Villiers caught in his next over, but Duminy and Mark Boucher (29 not out off 25 balls) saw South Africa beyond 300 by putting on 65 in the final seven overs. Facing such a big target, Australia had no choice but to bat aggressively and it paid off initially, with Haddin showing the attacking prowess of his wicketkeeping predecessor Adam Gilchtrist as he collected four sixes and seven fours.  Dale Steyn makes a mess of tail-ender Shane Harwood's stumps |
But his assault came to an end when he was caught just inside the rope off Johan Botha and Van der Merwe's slow left-arm then did terminal damage to the run chase. He first bowled Clarke between bat and pad and then spun one past the outside edge of Ferguson's bat, allowing Boucher to make an easy stumping. Van der Merwe struck again by having Mike Hussey lbw for two and when Hussey's brother David (20) gave Steyn a return catch, the onus was on Ricky Ponting to see his side home. The Australian skipper did his best and brought up a half century with four boundaries in five balls off Steyn in the first over of a batting powerplay. The fast bowler had his revenge, however, when Ponting mis-timed a pull from the final delivery of the same over and Morkel took the catch at mid-wicket to send him on his way for 53. Hopes made a quickfire 31 but once he had edged a catch to Man of the Match Gibbs off Wayne Parnell, the rest was a formality. "At 130 for nothing I was feeling a bit nervous, but our spinners did it again, Smith commented. "The two-spinner option has worked well for us and it's nice to finish off with a series win for the country. It means a lot to us."
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