Australia v South Africa - Tour Match

Australia 'A' v South Africans
Brisbane
4 Day Game
Umpires: RC Bailhache & CJ Egar
Toss: Australia 'A'

Australia 'A': CC McDonald, KR Stackpole, AL Hassett, NC O'Neill, KD Walters, *WW Armstrong, JM Gregory, IWG Johnson, GF Lawson, +ATW Grout, MHN Walker.
South Africans: BA Richards, *TL Goddard, WJ Cronje, RG Pollock, AD Nourse, KC Bland, BM McMillan, +DJ Richardson, PM Pollock, HJ Tayfield, PS Heine.

Whereas many tour games degenerate into glorified net practice for the tourists, South Africa's match against Australia 'A' developed into a near perfect game of cricket, the ebb and flow of which kept the spectators at the 'Gabba engrossed for its entirety.

Batting first on a hard and fast wicket, Keith Stackpole's 36 off 28 balls got the Australians' innings off to a rocket start, and solid contributions right down the order propelled the hosts to a total of 354 by lunch on the second day. Jack Gregory dismantled the bowling of Tayfield during the course of his 63, but he eventually became one of six victims for the persevering Peter Pollock, and Brian McMillan bowled with great frugality on his first appearance for the South Africans.

Another newcomer, Hansie Cronje, batted with great freedom after Barry Richards hooked his first ball straight down Geoff Lawson's throat, but after he had contributed 68 to a second wicket partnership of 125 with Goddard (62), South Africa collapsed in alarming fashion at the hands of Gregory and Armstrong. Five wickets went down for 19 runs as the middle order all failed, and seven wickets had fallen for 58, leaving the tourists struggling on 183-8, before Brian McMillan rescued the innings with a glorious hundred. He added 88 for the ninth wicket with Tayfield (26) then a further 64 for the tenth with a hard hitting Heine (27*) on the way to 118 out of an eventual total of 335, and the Australians' lead was only 19 at the halfway stage.

The momentum was now with South Africa, and with Peter Heine simply roaring in, the Australians' second innings was a very different story. Only Norm O'Neill with a cultured 90 was able to stand up to Heine's aggression, and the atmosphere became decidedly heated when Armstrong was dismissed fending a short pitched delivery into the cordon. Heine's fire badly unsettled the Australians, and by the time the innings closed on the final morning Heine had recorded the devastating figures of 7-28, and a total of 175 set South Africa a target of 195 to win off a minimum of 78 overs.

Richards failed for a second time, but Goddard (28) and Cronje (36) batted well together once again, and once Graeme Pollock was able to bed in after a scratchy start the target grew ever closer. There were a few scares along the way as Armstrong and Johnson tied things down in the afternoon session, but Pollock was immovable, and he had reached an undefeated 71 by the time the winning runs were hit to secure the South Africans a four wicket victory. The selectors now have an interesting dilemma ahead of the first Test; neither McMillan nor Heine were expected to be in the starting XI in Adelaide, but their performances here must make a compelling case for their inclusion.

Scores
Australia 'A' 1st Inns 354 (Walters 64, Gregory 63, Armstrong 59; PM Pollock 6-88)
South Africans 1st Inns 335 (McMillan 118, Cronje 68, Goddard 62; Armstrong 4-42, Gregory 4-89)
Australia 'A' 2nd Inns 175 (O'Neill 90; Heine 7-28)
South Africans 2nd Inns 195-6 (RG Pollock 71*)

SOUTH AFRICANS WON BY 4 WICKETS