Waugh fumes over two-over penalty

Australian captain Steve Waugh was angry with his team and match referee Brian Hastings after relinquishing another strong position to lose to South Africa by eight runs in the final one-day cricket international here Sunday.

Chasing a 206 for seven after the Proteas had been tottering at 19 for four, Australia could not overcome a two-over penalty for a slow over rate and finished their 48 overs at 198 for nine.

It left the three-game series played indoors at Colonial Stadium tied at one win each after Australia won by 94 runs on Wednesday night and South Africa staged a fightback similar to Sunday's effort to tie Friday's match.

Waugh Sunday made no excuses for his side's batting, calling it "not good enough", but added he was "astonished" when told of the two-over penalty handed down by New Zealander Hastings.

"There were things said there that I shouldn't say here - they might get some people in trouble - but I just couldn't believe we were fined, I was led to believe we were OK," Waugh said. "We should have won the game, we should have got that (207) with four batters on that wicket.

"The umpires thought we were going OK out there, then he (Hastings) stepped in and made his mark. "It should have been sorted out by now, we've been playing one-day cricket for a long time ... it's just seems one side gets a huge advantage if it bowls second."

The Australian innings also finished late and the two sides were fined 10 percent of their match earnings. This was the first time the side batting second had been docked overs in the tournament, but all three first innings finished over their scheduled time.

Sawdust was frequently needed for the bowlers' footmarks, the players had to scrape the bottom of their boots because of the damp outfield and Waugh said the sightscreen was slow to move. The Australians also hurt their own cause by fielding three pace bowlers - Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie.

But that ploy looked a winning one early when South Africa were reduced to 19 for four after seven overs. A 108-run stand for the fifth wicket between Lance Klusener, who top-scored with 49, and Neil McKenzie (45) steadied the innings. Coming together at 150 for seven in the 43rd over, captain Shaun Pollock (34 not out) and Nicky Boje (28) gave the innings further respectability.

McGrath took 3-26 off 10 overs and Brett Lee snared 3-56 to be the pick of the Australian attack.

Despite a typical big-hitting 63 from 67 balls from opener Adam Gilchrist, the Australians were never on the pace with their run rate. It came down to needing 14 runs off the last over with two wickets in hand and there was to be no repeat of Friday night's last-minute dramatics to avoid a loss.

Boje took 2-29 off 10 overs with his left-arm spinners to be man of the match and that, combined with his 2-33 on Friday, also earnt him man of the series honours.

Boje missed the opening game because of a finger injury, but that proved the least of the South Africans' injury problems this week. They lost wicketkeeper Mark Boucher for this game, after he sliced the tendons in a finger with a knife while making a meal in his hotel room after Friday's match, while brilliant fieldsman Jonty Rhodes was ruled out with a hamstring problem.

In Boucher's absence, Friday's hero Andrew Hall wicket kept for all but the 49th over, which he bowled - the only time in one-day internationals the starting wicketkeeper has bowled.

"I'm full of admiration for the way they played," Waugh said of South Africa. United Cricket Board managing director Ali Bacher praised his team Sunday for its resilience since the Hansie Cronje bribery scandal broke in April and Pollock also was proud of his players. "We were obviously missing two big guys (Rhodes and Boucher) ... it was always going to take a lot of character to come over the top," he said.

Australia have a break until October when they travel to Kenya for an ICC knockout tournament, while South Africa leave for Singapore later Sunday for a one-day series against Pakistan and New Zealand.

Mail Cricket Editor