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Pollock: Boucher was superb
Wisden CricInfo staff - January 27, 2002

There was no disguising Shaun Pollock's delight – although it may have been mixed with a little relief – after their 93-run defeat of new Zealand at Adelaide. It was South Africa's first win in four matches, and Pollock was in no doubt that the cornerstone of their success was Man of the Match, Mark Boucher. "Bouch was superb in doing his job," Pollock said. "We had not expected that run-feast in the final overs." Boucher blasted 57 from 32 balls.

"The reports came in that the pitch was a bit up and down and keeping low so we looked at trying to get 210 or 220," Pollock continued. "But we had a purple patch with Jonty and then Bouch's hitting helped us get to 250. I didn't think we'd get there, I must admit, you don't back yourself to get over 100 in 10 overs."

But New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming admitted that he never really felt that his side was in with a chance once South Africa had posted such a large score. "Losing the toss was always going to be a key moment and it proved to be," he said. "If we had restricted them to 180-200, we might have been a chance, but 250-plus on that wicket was always going to be hard."

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