Beyond the boundary - Foregone Conclusions (11 June 1999)
South Africa, which needed to win this match to ensure safe passage into the semis, at last found their early order batsmen running into a rich vein of form
11-Jun-1999
11 June 1999
Beyond the boundary - Foregone Conclusions
Shakil Kasem
South Africa, which needed to win this match to ensure
safe passage into the semis, at last found their early
order batsmen running into a rich vein of form. Up until
now, the opening pair had not exactly set anything on
fire, with runs having to come from the wrong end of the
order. That aberration was corrected.
It must have come as a great relief to Hansie Cronje, to
see Gary Kirsten finally getting some runs off his bat.
Kirsten, who had scored 188 in a single World Cup match
in 1996, had found runs hard to come by in this
tournament. He had been struggling all summer, but it was
to the credit of his team management that the opening
positions were not tampered with. He was given ample
opportunities to rehabilitate himself, particularly in
view of the need for an experienced hand at the top for
the crunch matches that now lie ahead. He more than
repaid that trust yesterday.
In the company of the young Herschelle Gibbs, who too has
been searching for runs, Kirsten put on the biggest
opening partnership in this competition. The New Zealand
attack, with the exception of Geoff Allott, is pretty
thin at the best of times, and the South Africans exposed
every single limitation of the Kiwi bowling. Stephen
Fleming has not acquitted himself as a thinking captain
thus far. Against the South Africans his poverty of
imagination cost the team hugely. Fleming is what is
euphemistically termed in the trade as "laid back". This
form of captaincy is essentially the specialism of the
individual who prefers matters to drift, rather than
exert the grey cells to make things happen. The South
Africans, quite naturally, made him pay for such an
approach.
Senseless bowling changes, non existent game plan in the
field and wayward bowling ensured that South Africa would
have enough on the boards to stifle any challenges that
the Kiwis might mount later in the day. Other than the
fact that Geoff Allott got the wicket that made him the
highest wicket taker ever in the World Cup, the only
other distinction, albeit dubious, was 93 runs being
given away in the last ten overs. Much against the run of
proceedings, Lance Klusener managed to get himself out
for the first time, in this competition, thereby enabling
the statisticians to breathe easy now.
The New Zealand innings have not been getting the most
auspicious of starts, primarily because Nathan Astle is
having a miserable drought of runs. His form has been
suspect, and every team worth its salt has managed to see
the back of him, more often than not, without him getting
even into double figures. New Zealand's run chase never
got off as a result. With two early wickets down, New
Zealand were left with a mountain to climb. South Africa
made certain the Kiwis suffered and struggled every inch
of the way.
New Zealand have been quite a disappointment so far. It
would be a travesty if this team were to reach the semi
finals. Standing in their way is an Indian side, freshly
rejuvenated after their last match. Stephen Fleming would
need to pull something extraordinary out of the hat, if
his side is to contemplate any upward mobility. The
outcome of the match on Saturday would determine, where
India's long and winding road in this World Cup is likely
to end. Much depends on Pakistan's match against Zimbabwe
as well. Why can't life be simple, like it used to be?
Source :: The Bangladesh Daily Star (https://www.dailystarnews.com)