South Africa and Pakistan secured victories in their Champions Trophy warm-up matches on Friday, but New Zealand suffered a morale-sapping defeat.
The hosts thumped an under-strength West Indies team by 188 runs at Senwes Park in Potchefstroom. South Africa skipper Graeme Smith smashed 83 off 74 balls and Jacques Kallis made 89 from 90 balls, before J.P. Duminy hit an unbeaten 80 off 49 balls. Mark Boucher added a thunderous 55 from 27 balls in guiding his side to 388-4 in 50 overs. The only cloud for South Africa was seeing opener Herschelle Gibbs forced to retire hurt with an abdominal side strain.
West Indies, who have been forced to bring a second-string squad to the tournament because of a player contract rebellion, had little to offer in reply, with Darren Sammy making the biggest contribution of 52 off 71 balls before his team were dismissed for 200. Spin bowler Roelof van der Merwe led the South African attack with a return of 4-34.
At Willowmoore Park in Benoni, Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka by 108 runs. Pakistan made 306-8 with opener Kamran Akmal making 82 off 78 balls, Misbah-ul-Haq hitting 72 off 85 balls and Umar Akmal contributing 67 off 51 balls.
Both were removed by spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan, while seamer Nuwan Kulasekara headed the Sri Lankan attack with 3-46.
Fast bowler Naved-ul-Hasan, however, bagged 5-41 as Pakistan reduced Sri Lanka to 198 all out in reply. Chumara Kapugedera made 59 off 70 balls and Angelo Mathews hit 49 off 88 balls.
In Pretoria, domestic side the Warriors earned a surprise two-wicket win over New Zealand with seven balls to spare. The Black Caps got off to a decent start after they lost the toss and were sent in to bat, but their middle and lower order crumbled.
Martin Guptill guided them to 210-4 in the 40th over with 78 runs off 97 deliveries, but their last six wickets fell for only 27. Juan Theron led the Warriors charge in ripping the tail to pieces, returning 5-42.
In contrast, the Warriors’ middle order recovered from an ordinary start with skipper Davey Jacobs leading from the front, making 54 off 56 balls to secure victory. New Zealand’s Ian Butler took 4-53 and fellow pace man Daryl Tuffey returned 3-49.
The eight-nation ICC Champions Trophy gets under way on Tuesday.
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