Kemp fires SA to comfortable win

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A superb display of power hitting from Justin Kemp set South Africa on their way to a 106-run win over India as the Proteas took a 2-0 lead in the series.

Kemp timed his innings to perfection to strike a maiden one-day 100 off just 89 balls, including seven sixes, as he and Andrew Hall fired the hosts to 274-7.

The pair shared a stand of 138, after the hosts had earlier slipped to 76-6.

India rarely looked like chasing that score and despite Rahul Dravid's dogged 63, they slumped to 168 all out.

Shaun Pollock was the main architect of the tourists' failure, taking 4-26 off nine overs as only Dravid and Mahendra Dhoni put up fair resistance.

The pair shared an 85-run partnership for the fifth wicket, but when Dhoni fell to a superb catch by Loots Bosman on the boundary India's hopes evaporated.

That was after openers Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar fell for nought and two respectively.

Hall was also key to India's downfall, taking 3-45 to follow up his earlier 47-ball unbeaten 56.

The all-rounder's combination with Kemp came in lightning time and the pair's partnership set a new record for an eighth-wicket stand, beating the previous record set by Shane Warne and Paul Reiffel. They hit 119 against South Africa in Port Elizabeth for Australia in 1994.

But the hosts' total barely looked possible when they were reeling against some fine pace bowling in the opening few overs.

Graeme Smith and Jacque Kallis were both out without troubling the scorers, while Loots Bosman and Mark Boucher also went cheaply.

However, after some middle-order resistance from Herschelle Gibbs (35) and AB de Villiers (29), it was left to Kemp and Hall, either side of Shaun Pollock's 33, to post an impressive total that India never looked like reaching.

The fourth match of the five-game series is a day-nighter in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday.

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South Africa: Graeme Smith (capt), Loots Bosman, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, Mark Boucher, Justin Kemp, Shaun Pollock, Andrew Hall, Makhaya Ntini, Charl Langeveldt.

India: Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid (capt), Mohammad Kaif, Dinesh Karthik, Mahendra Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble.