Watson blows away South Africa

Shane Watson took two wickets and then hit 70 off 47 balls as Australia defeated South Africa by eight wickets at the World Twenty20.

Watson, who tops the tournament run-scoring, wicket-taking and six-hitting charts in Sri Lanka was the key man again for the Aussies as their second successive Super Eight win virtually sealed a semi-final spot. Spinner Xavier Doherty chipped in with 3-20 as South Africa were restricted to 145-6 from their 20 overs in Colombo, before Watson, backed by Mike Hussey's 45 not out, saw them reach the victory target with 14 balls to spare. "It's nice when things are able to come together consistently," Watson told BBC Sport. "At the start of this tournament I knew how important it was for us as a Twenty 20 team - and how important my role is in the team - to really try to set a platform with the bat. "It's nice things are working out at the moment, you just hope it can continue, especially towards the latter part of the tournament." Australia will be in the last-four if Pakistan book their place with a win against India in Sunday's second match, but their superior net run rate means they would have to endure a nightmare performance against Pakistan on Tuesday not to progress.