South Africa storms into the Cup Final

South Africa beat England by four wickets and qualified for the Cup Final of the Cathay Pacific/Standard Chartered Cricket Sixes 2001, being played at the Kowloon Cricket Club in Hong Kong, on Sunday.

After asking England to bat first, South Africa did well to squeeze the life out of the English innings. Derek Crookes (1-0-8-0) and Henry Williams (1-0-9-0) bowled a tight line and length and plucked out the important wickets of Maynard (3) and Flintoff (10). Alfonso Thomas bowled a brilliant third over (1-0-12-0). Ben Hollioake 25* off 13 balls and Collingwood 22* off 10 balls, helped England along to 68/2.

The target was not a daunting one for this professional South African outfit. It was bit of a surprise to see Steve Elworthy coming out to open the innings. Elworthy single-handedly destroyed the English attack, smashing four sixes and two boundaries in his innings of 35* (retired not out) off just nine balls. Loots Bosman (4) and Andrew Hall (0) disappointed, but Crookes 17* and Thomas 14* took South Africa to the final.