Wayne Parnell bowled an inspired spell to help South Africa beat West Indies by 20 runs at the Oval. It was a pretty high scoring game. Windies won the toss and chose to field. It was a hard pitch and the Proteas made full use of it. They attacked Windies’ bowling, tired from a second game in two days.

Kallis and Smith provided the impetus. The pair added 54 runs for the first wicket before Smith got out. Gibbs joined Kallis in another half-century stand. Gibbs scored 55 off 35 balls. Jerome Taylor was the pick of the bowlers, taking 3/30. South Africa piled on 183/7. It was a good total to defend.

West Indies in reply, made a terrible start. Danger man Gayle was out for 5. His partner Fletcher was out for a duck. The team was reeling at 13/2. Simmons and Bravo prevented further collapse by adding 57 runs for the third wicket. Simmons scored 77 off 50 balls.

The West Indies team fought hard to stay afloat, but the Proteas kept chipping in with wickets at regular intervals. Parnell bowled well to claim 4 wickets for 13 runs. His wickets included that of Gayle. Parnell was the man of the match. The Windies fell short by 20 runs, finishing on 163/9. It was a truly professional performance by South Africa. The team is one of the favourites to win the cup.
 
Match Summary

South Africa - 183/7 (Gibbs 55, Kallis 45, Taylor 3/30)
West Indies –  163/9 (Simmons 77, Parnell 4/13)
Result – South Africa won by 20 runs
Man-of-the-match – Wayne Parnell
Venue – The Oval, London (June 13, 2009)