Newcomers earn Botha praise

Roelof van der Merwe lays into Australia's bowlers before delivering a tight spell

South Africa captain Johan Botha paid tribute to the three new members in his side after they helped complete a 17-run victory over Australia in the second Twenty20 international in Pretoria.

Debutants Yusuf Abdullah (1-16) and Roelof van der Merwe (1-30) bowled economically for their one wicket apiece, while Johann Louw, playing in only his second Twenty20 international claimed 2-36 as the visitors were limited to 139 for eight.

Van der Merwe also made a useful contribution with the bat, slamming 48 from only 30 deliveries as the hosts posted 156 for five.

The Proteas skipper himself contributed enormously, claiming 2-16, and he insisted afterwards the important thing was to always do the basics correctly.

“It went really nicely for me and for the team tonight,” he said. “All the guys who came in did really well.

“They deserved a chance after their domestic performances and have given the selectors something to think about.

“I think you’ve just got to keep it simple, build the pressure on the batsmen. I think they get rushed in a way and then you get the opportunity to get on top of them. Batsmen like lining you up, as you know, so the key is always to keep it basic.

“But all the praise should be reserved for the team. I think we played really nicely in these two games.”

Van der Merwe, playing in front of his home fans at Supersport Park in his first international, said: “I couldn’t ask for more than what happened tonight - making my debut for my country, playing on my home ground and putting in a good performance.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet but I’m glad with the way things turned out. Hopefully, there’ll be more.”

Ricky Ponting pinpointed the tourists' failure to put together large partnerships

Australia captain Ricky Ponting was clearly disappointed with way the match panned out, pointing to his side’s lack of partnerships – the highest stand was 38 between David Hussey and Cameron White – as the biggest let-down.

“It was a disappointing performance tonight,” said Ponting. “I thought our first half was really good, I thought we bowled really well and fielded reasonably okay.

“But our batting wasn’t up to standard. As you know, in any form of cricket, you need partnerships and we just haven’t got the partnerships in this game.

“We did a lot better with the ball but our batting’s really come up short. I thought the South Africans bowled very well, their spinners did a good job again and I don’t think we had enough partnerships.”

Ponting is now turning his attention to the five-match one-day series, which begins in Durban on Friday.

He added: “The 50-over game has been more of a favourite of mine than this Twenty20 game at the moment, I must admit.

“We’re obviously looking forward to the series. We’ve been outplayed here and we’ve got some work to do on our 50 overs cricket as well after the last couple of series played in Australia.”