Yovich leads the way for NZ Academy in win over South Africans

Joseph Yovich had a day out with both the bat and the ball for the New Zealand Academy in their 64-run victory over the South Africans in the triangular series in Townsville yesterday.

New Zealand batted first and lost Shanan Stewart in the third over before a run had been scored. But Jesse Ryder and Jamie How were unperturbed and took the score through to 43 before How (26) was dismissed in the 10th over.

Ryder (24) followed nine runs later. The situation worsened when Rob Nicol was out for a duck and New Zealand were 52/4.

But then Jordan Sheed and Yovich applied themselves superbly in a 161-run stand for the fifth wicket. By the time Sheed was out in the 46th over, they had lifted the score to a more creditable 213.

Sheed scored 77 runs off 117 balls and while Kyle Mills was run out without facing a ball off the next delivery, Yovich carried on with Stu Mills to lift the score to 249/6 at the end of the innings with Yovich 83 not out off 106 balls.

Interestingly, Sheed and Yovich scored only 11 boundaries between them in their respective innings.

Mills was 16 not out off 14 balls. Rory Kleinveldt might have claimed only Ryder's wicket, but his 10 overs were completed at a cost of only 29 runs. Alan Kruger had Stewart and Sheed but at the expensive cost of 57 runs.

South Africa made a flying start in response, scoring 33 by the seventh over, but at that stage Alviro Pieterson was run out for 16. His opening partner Gerhard Strydom put down an anchor for his side, especially after James Schorn and Hashim Amla were both out to Mark Gillespie's bowling when the score was 42.

Davey Jacobs helped lift the score to 102 before he was out for 36. Ryan McLaren joined Strydom, who was out at 133 for 48 when bowled by off-spinner Jeetan Patel, and from that stage it became a largely academic (pardon the pun) exercise with the overs running out for South Africa.

They were dismissed for 185 in the 46th over.

Gillespie took three for 39 from 7.5 overs while Yovich capped off a grand day by cleaning out the lower-order to finish with three for 22 off his eight overs.

Patel took two for 14 from five overs and while he went wicketless, Kyle Mills bowled his 10 overs for 34 runs.