Sports
Rainbow nation on cloud nine
by Rex Clementine
South Africa have won a record fourth Rugby World Cup beating the All Blacks in a nail-biter in Paris. Can their cricket team follow suit is the question many are asking in India.
The South African cricket team is known as Proteas while their rugby team is called the Springboks. Both have had contrasting results in World Cups. While the Springboks have reached four World Cup finals and won all four of them, the Proteas haven’t even reached the finals once despite entering multiple tournament (1996, 1999 and 2003) as firm favourites.
The Springboks didn’t compete in the first two World Cups as South Africa were alienated by rest of the world for their government’s apartheid policies. To win four out of the next eight tournaments is a remarkable achievement.
Time was when Springboks were a symbol of racism as rugby was exclusively a white man’s sport. But over the years, blacks have embraced the sport as well and today South African rugby captain is a black – Siya Kolisi.
White South Africans tend to move out of the country to other parts of the world as the quota systems operating in sports promotes black players, but that doesn’t seem to stop them from winning World Cups.
South Africa is a country that is mad about sports. They have top notch facilities with mega stadiums and training facilities. The development programs which various sports bodies run help them to identify talents early and their scientific approach to coaching isn’t far behind Australia.
A country that promotes sports to maintain healthy lifestyles, you see lot of South Africans involved in sports well past their prime.
Most South Africans would have watched their team win the world title with a ‘braai’ – a term used in South Africa for barbecue. They’ll be doing the same over the next three weeks hoping that their cricket team does something remarkable.
South African cricket team is a side that has all bases covered. Solid top order, big hitting middle order, genuine all-rounders, mean fast bowlers and crafty spinners. They have always had fabulous sides but at the sport’s biggest stage find ways to lose games in dramatic styles. In cricketing terms, their team is called, ‘chokers’. They nearly choked against Pakistan in Madras the other night. It is a popular belief that when put under pressure, South Africans fails to deliver. Everyone remembers Kumar Sangakkara’s famous sledge to South African captain Shaun Pollock in 2003 knock out in Durban, ‘Weight of expectations of 42 million South Africans on the captain.’
But boy, what cricketing talents they have got. They are a dangerous side as Sri Lanka found out in this World Cup in their opening game in Delhi. They are also unpredictable as they proved by losing to Netherlands. They are through to the semis and in the process have beaten some big teams – Australia, England and Pakistan.
Spending time in the press box during mega cricket events you also meet many current and former greats who have made watching the sport a pleasant experience.
Match Referee Javagal Srinath pops up to the press box during the England – Sri Lanka game to have a word to some reporters he knows. The game is played in his hometown of Bangalore and many are his friends in the media.
Srinath is a fine man and Sri Lanka were lucky that he was Match Referee in 2018 when they tampered with the ball and then brought the game to disrepute by failing to take to the field.
There is also Dinesh Karthik who enjoys curd rice in the dining area. You wonder whether he is vegetarian, but that he is not. ‘This brings the South Indian in me,’ he says before reminding that curd rice ideally should be consumed by hand and not spoon.
Karthik is a fabulous character, and he remains quite popular in Sri Lanka for that last ball six against Bangladesh in the Nidahas Trophy final in 2018.
A lot was expected of him when he made his India debut at Lord’s aged 19, but then, a few years down the line came a wicket keeper called M.S. Dhoni and Karthik’s opportunities were limited.
Karthik has endured a lot more off the field than on the field. Post retirement he is making good progress as a commentator and genuine folks like him should go onto have successful careers.
Having listened to top class commentators of yesteryear like Richie Benaud, Ian Chappell and Tony Greig you feel like the current lot are nowhere near to them. But guys like Karthik, Michael Atherton and Sunil Gavaskar are fun to listen to. You just wish that Gavaskar would tell you more old stories. There’s no better storyteller in cricket than him.
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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