Melbourne, Mar 28 : South Africa captain Johan Botha has said that Mark Boucher and Albie Morkel "get paid the big bucks" as they deserve it after leading the Proteas from a shaky 5-83 to victory over Australia in the first Twenty20 international.

Morkel was player of the series in the one-day internationals against Australia in January and on Friday night in Johannesburg scored 37 off 19 balls, including four fours and two sixes, adding 58 for the sixth wicket with Boucher.

Sydney, Jan. 6: South African wicketkeeper Mark Boucher, who top-scored with 89, has rated the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) pitch among the three toughest third-day wickets he has encountered in his 11-year career.

"It''s not nice staring down the wicket and you make sure you run on the side of it so you don''t fall down," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Boucher, as saying.

"But we can''t control that. It''s the playing surface we have been given and we''ve just got to try and play on it as best we can," he added.

However, pitch curator Tom Parker said he was influenced by forecasts of showers for the eve of the Test and the first morning to keep watering to a minimum.