South Africa blast their way to victory

South Africa 266 for 5 (Jack 109, Kirsten 103) beat Bermuda 169 for 9 by 97 runs

Steven Jack hammers a boundary on his way to a 40-ball hundred © Cricinfo

Gary Kirsten's second hundred in successive matches guided South Africa to a 97-run win over hosts Bermuda in the final of the inaugural 20-20 World Cricket Classic in Nassau.

South Africa's batting has been the key to their success, and Kirsten and former Transvaal fast bowler Steven Jack finished the tournament with 461 runs between them. Kirsten followed his 134 in the semi-final with 103 this time, while Jack smashed 109. Both reached their hundreds in under 50 balls. Jack, who played his two Tests for South Africa as a bowler, raced to his century in 40 balls, including four fours and ten sixes.

The Bermuda bowlers all came in for some stick, with Kevin Hurdle being slammed for 71 from his four overs.

Bermuda never seemed interested in chasing a daunting ask of more than 13 an over, but they batted well and the spirits of a lively capacity crowd were not dampened.

"I think the bowlers have learned a hard lesson tonight," Gus Logie, Bermuda's coach, admitted. "We talked a lot beforehand about how we were going to have to bowl against them but we just did not put those plans into practice and we got punished for it."

In the Plate final, West Indies bowled out Australia for 116, with Joel Garner (3 for 9) leading the demolition. Stuart Williams then cracked an unbeaten 73 as West Indies romped to a seven-wicket win with more than seven overs to spare.

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