South Africa 249

New Zealand 169-9

South African opener Gary Kirsten last night almost single-handedly carried his team into tomorrow?s 20/20 World Cricket Classic final with an awesome display of raw power ? hitting that sent fans ducking for cover at the National Sports Centre.

Kirsten plundered 134 runs off just 63 balls in 61 minutes during a scintillating exhibition of controlled aggression that virtually batted the Kiwis out of contention and propelled South Africa to a comfortable 80-run victory on yet another enjoyable evening of cricket.

?I just started hitting it sweet from the outset and in this format of the game you must take it on if it is there,? Kirsten told The Royal Gazette afterwards.

?The ball was just coming onto the bat sweet and I was just able to run with it. I really enjoyed it having not played much cricket since I retired. It?s always nice to have an innings like that and hit the ball well.?

The slim left hander was the main catalyst behind his team?s formidable total ? the highest of the tournament so far ? punishing any delivery pitched wide or short of a length either to or over the boundary with brute force and alarming ease.

Kirsten reached his half century in the sixth over off only 20 balls in 23 minutes and his hundred ? the second of the day and the tournament ? off 52 balls in 53 minutes.

Together with opening partner Steven Jack (10), Kirsten put on 60 runs for the first wicket in only four overs and then a mammoth 155 runs in 14 overs along with Faiek Davids (64) before Danny Morrison sent his leg stump cart wheeling in the penultimate over of the South African innings.

Number three bat Davids also aided in South Africa?s run feast, stroking an equally robust 64 off 37 balls (three fours and four sixes) along with number four Adrian Kuiper who hit an unbeaten 25 (four sixes) off only six deliveries ? such was the African?s dominance over a Kiwi attack that toiled in vain.

Excellent running and communication between the stumps coupled with some sensible batting were the hallmark of the South African innings which saw them lose only three wickets in the process.

South Africa?s 50 arrived in the fourth over, 100 in the tenth, 150 in the 14th and 200 in the 18th over before falling just one run shy of the 250 mark.

If it?s any consolation for the Kiwis, they should be applauded for the manner in which they persevered at the mercy of some powerful and delightfully entertaining strokeplay.

Morrison led the Kiwi attack with hard earned figures of two for 43 off three overs while Gavin Larsen took one for 46 during his four-over spell.

Five other Kiwi bowlers went for a combined 160 runs as the South African batsmen had things all their way batting on the true artificial pitch at the Sports Centre.

Having been virtually batted out of the match, New Zealand?s innings seemed little more than a formality, although at one stage opener Trevor Franklin (47) and Simon Doull (21) threatened to make serious inroads on South Africa?s steep total.

The pair added 42 runs for the second wicket after opener Phil Horne (28) was caught at long on attempting to accelerate the run rate in the fifth over of the innings.

Franklin hit three fours and a solitary six off 35 balls while Doull belted two fours and a six off 12 balls.

Middle order bat Mark Bailey was the only other Kiwi batsman to offer any real resistance, scoring 25 runs off 15 balls before his colleagues began to drop like flies.

South Africa?s large total also enabled their fielders the luxury of being let off the hook for spilling a plethora of catches in the field.

Left arm off spinner Pieter Strydom was the pick of the South African bowling, claiming superb figures of three for 31 while Eric Simons took an equally fine three for 36 and Derek Crookes two for ten off two overs.

South Africa will now meet Bermuda in tomorrow?s final at the Sports Centre.

?I think it?s great we are playing against Bermuda and great for local cricket,? Kirsten said. ?We are here to entertain and so I am looking forward to that side of things. And hopefully we can produce a spectacle for the crowd.?