HARARE // An unbeaten century from an ailing AB de Villiers carried South Africa to a seven-wicket victory over Australia in the second game of a one-day triangular series yesterday.
De Villiers overcame fatigue and severe cramps in his left leg to hit 136 not out as South Africa chased down a target of 328 with 20 balls to spare.
The South African captain was supported by Faf du Plessis, who scored his first one-day ton as he contributed 106 in a 206-run partnership for the third wicket.
South Africa’s task seemed formidable when they lost openers Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock with just 54 runs on the board, but De Villiers and Du Plessis made it look easy.
As the pitch flattened out under the afternoon sun, the pair dispatched Australia’s pace-heavy attack to all corners as they scored at more than seven runs per over.
Although Du Plessis fell to Mitchell Starc shortly after reaching his landmark, by that stage South Africa required less than a run a ball and JP Duminy stroked an unbeaten 33 to aid the limping De Villiers.
While Australia were left to regret the two chances they gave to De Villiers – he was put down on 78 and 85 – their decision to leave out specialist spinner Nathan Lyon also looked ill-advised.
“We were all quite surprised by that,” De Villiers said. “On the other hand, on a wicket that has a bit of moisture in it, if they only play six batters, then we could run through them. So that’s probably the way they looked at it. They wanted to make sure they had enough batting.
“Looking back now, they probably would have played Nathan.”
Imran Tahir was able to hold up the Australian innings with his legspin, breaking a 92-run opening stand when he dismissed Phillip Hughes for 51 and following it up with the wicket of Mitchell Marsh.
Tahir finished with figures of 2 for 45 from his 10 overs, despite a robust century from opener Aaron Finch, whose 102 helped Australia to a total of 327 for seven.
Finch’s fourth one-day hundred in the past 12 months was well-supported by Hughes and stand-in captain George Bailey, who made 66 and continued to lead the Australians in the absence of the injured Michael Clarke.
However, once the 114-run partnership between Finch and Bailey was broken by Ryan McLaren, Australia struggled to fully cash in on their strong start.
Morne Morkel dismissed both Bailey and Glenn Maxwell, which limited the damage done in the last 10 overs to cameos from Steve Smith and Mitchell Johnson.
That meant that South Africa were ultimately able to cruise.
“I certainly think (327) could have been enough, but knowing that it’s a pretty good wicket and only having four fielders out and two new balls, it’s always going to be a challenge,” Bailey said.
“You’ve got to keep trying to find a way to take wickets, and unfortunately, we couldn’t do that.”
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Young women have more “financial grit”, but fall behind on investing
In an October survey of young adults aged 16 to 25, Charles Schwab found young women are more driven to reach financial independence than young men (67 per cent versus. 58 per cent). They are more likely to take on extra work to make ends meet and see more value than men in creating a plan to achieve their financial goals. Yet, despite all these good ‘first’ measures, they are investing and saving less than young men – falling early into the financial gender gap.
While the women surveyed report spending 36 per cent less than men, they have far less savings than men ($1,267 versus $2,000) – a nearly 60 per cent difference.
In addition, twice as many young men as women say they would invest spare cash, and almost twice as many young men as women report having investment accounts (though most young adults do not invest at all).
“Despite their good intentions, young women start to fall behind their male counterparts in savings and investing early on in life,” said Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, senior vice president, Charles Schwab. “They start off showing a strong financial planning mindset, but there is still room for further education when it comes to managing their day-to-day finances.”
Ms Schwab-Pomerantz says parents should be conveying the same messages to boys and girls about money, but should tailor those conversations based on the individual and gender.
"Our study shows that while boys are spending more than girls, they also are saving more. Have open and honest conversations with your daughters about the wage and savings gap," she said. "Teach kids about the importance of investing – especially girls, who as we see in this study, aren’t investing as much. Part of being financially prepared is learning to make the most of your money, and that means investing early and consistently."
'Peninsula'
Stars: Gang Dong-won, Lee Jung-hyun, Lee Ra
Director: Yeon Sang-ho
Rating: 2/5
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