AUSTRALIA booked their place in the IMC Over-40s Cricket World Cup final with a four-wicket victory over South Africa at the GCC Ground, Bourda, on Thursday, completing a chase of 235 with seven balls to spare.
Steve Paulsen shaped the semi-final with bat and ball, following his five-wicket haul with a valuable 64. Steven Spoljaric and Richie Wyld then completed the job with an unbeaten partnership of 40 as Australia finished on 235–6.
South Africa had posted 234–9 from 45 overs after choosing to bat but could not prevent Australia from reaching the target despite Reinhardt Strydom’s three wickets.
Australia’s reply was built around a 97-run second-wicket partnership between Paulsen and Ryan Broad. Broad struck five fours in his 48 from 79 balls, while Paulsen also found the boundary five times during his 74-ball innings.
South Africa continued to apply pressure after breaking that stand. Greg Hunt fell for 12, Paulsen departed with the score at 152–4 and Matthew Weaver was run out for 15. When Brenton Edwards was dismissed for eight, Australia were 195–6 with six overs remaining.
Spoljaric, who finished on 36 from 38 balls, and Wyld, unbeaten on 19 from 18, steered the chase through its final stages. Strydom returned 3–50, with Rashad Mia and Robert Mutch taking one wicket apiece.
Paulsen had earlier been central to containing South Africa, taking 5–50 from nine overs, including two maidens.
Captain William Hantam anchored the South African innings with 71 from 79 deliveries, hitting five fours and three sixes. Strydom supported him with 39, while Nathan Jones contributed 27 and Chris Thompson made 15.
The late acceleration came from Brendon Reddy, whose 27-ball 50 contained five sixes and three fours. South Africa reached 234–6 before losing three wickets without adding another run. Jamie Panelli, Mark Cleary and Shaun Mathews supported Paulsen with one wicket each.
In the other matches, New Zealand comfortably defeated Rest of the Caribbean by seven wickets at Providence. Darrin Crook claimed 4–23, while Ben Rapson took 2–15 and Jeraldd Sugumar collected 2–30 as the Caribbean side were bowled out for 162 in 40.5 overs. Varindra Maharaj resisted with an unbeaten 69 from 88 balls. Dewald Strydom then made 55 not out, Lincoln Reed scored 29 and Andrew Goldsmith added 26 as New Zealand reached 163–3 in 25.3 overs. Anand Bharat took two of the three wickets.
Scotland also enjoyed a comfortable chase, beating Namibia by eight wickets at Malteenoes. Henry Hayes struck 77 from 47 balls and Gerrie Snyman added 31, but Daniel Styer’s 5–64 helped dismiss Namibia for 195 in 30.1 overs. Kyle Coetzer’s 81 and Julian De Jager’s 52 laid the foundation for Scotland to reach 196–2 in 38.1 overs, with John Vaughan-Davies unbeaten on 31.
At Everest ground, half-centuries from Anup N Fulper and Bhupender Yadav helped India recover from 26–2 to defeat Canada by five wickets. Fulper scored 67 and Yadav made 66 before Amit Mishra’s unbeaten 42 guided India to 231–5 in 42.3 overs.
Royston Crandon had earlier led Canada to 228–9 with 71 from 70 balls, supported by Gaurav Angiras’ 36 and Nitin Gosain’s rapid 35. Shankar Tikyani took 3–49 for India, while Shane Shillingford returned 2–27 and Gosain claimed 2–30 for Canada.
