World Twenty20, 2009
Wisden's review of Scotland v South Africa, World Twenty20, 2009
15-Apr-2010
At The Oval, June 7. South Africa won by 130 runs. South Africa 2 pts. Toss: Scotland.
South Africa gave a sublime display of how to dismiss associate opposition. After
reconnoitring for a couple of overs, Smith and Kallis began the assault on Scotland's
dobbers. De Villiers was the star, mixing twinkling footwork against spin with power and
placement against seam, while Morkel produced a beguiling cameo. His hitting down the ground brought two vast sixes, and the pair added 51 in 19 balls. De Villiers then sped
South Africa on to their highest total in Twenty20 internationals before Scotland
disintegrated against threatening pace and throttling spin. Amid the slaughter, there were
significant performances from two players who, despite their names, were Scottish born
and bred: off-spinner Majid Haq intelligently varied his pace and removed the openers;
Kyle Coetzer, meanwhile, produced a breathtakingly athletic leap to catch Boucher,
somehow holding on as he crashed to the ground inches from the long-on boundary; he
also held the Scotland innings together while wickets fell pell-mell at the other end. South
African born Jan Stander enjoyed his tournament rather less: all told, 43 runs flooded from
his 12 balls.
Man of the Match: A. B. de Villiers. Attendance: 20,332.