Sports Illustrated» Clinical South Africa Wrap Up Series 2-0 |Sports Illustrated

Clinical South Africa Wrap Up Series 2-0

jaya — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 14:52:45 +0000

Paul Harris, Morne Morkel, AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla celebrate before South Africa defeated the West Indies.

South Africa inflicted a dispiriting series loss on West Indies at a venue that was once the home team’s fortress and finished the bilateral tour unbeaten.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s hopes of compiling a competitive lead on the fourth morning were quashed by a menacing spell from Morne Morkel, who cut through the West Indies tail to ensure a quick end to their resistance.

Chanderpaul had stood firm amid West Indies’ capitulation on the third day, and taken his team into the lead with support from Shane Shillingford, who was dismissed shortly before stumps. The men who followed, though, were unable to put up a fight.

Morkel attacked Sulieman Benn from round the wicket, getting the ball to move both ways and troubling the left-hander who played and missed often. He was ultimately done in by one that nipped back in sharply to break through his defences and send the off stump cartwheeling. Kemar Roach followed soon after, edging a drive to Mark Boucher after a series of short balls.

Chanderpaul had shown confidence in the tail, not hesitating to pick singles early in the over, but was left watching as his partners fell quickly. The debutant Brandon Bess poked a short-of-length delivery to slip, as Morkel polished off the tail in three overs, leaving South Africa just 47 to chase. Roach displayed plenty of aggression, nipping out three wickets, striking Graeme Smith on the neck with a bouncer, and even getting involved in an extended verbal exchange with Jacques Kallis. But the game was over and done with.

The West Indies captain Chris Gayle had called on his batsmen to shoulder more responsibility during his team’s 5-0 debacle in the one-dayers. However, some of those who did play the Test series failed to fulfil to their role. Dale Richards, drafted in for this Test in place of Travis Dowlin, conceded his wicket cheaply in both innings, playing across the line to be trapped plumb, and spooning a catch off a needless pull.

More worrying would be the case of Narsingh Deonarine. He had looked solid in the first innings before, inexplicably, switching to an aggressive approach to be bowled. In the second, he played a reckless drive first ball to offer a catch to short cover. Equally irresponsible was the dismissal of Denesh Ramdin, the former vice-captain, who slashed a wide delivery to the keeper in the second innings.

Though South Africa’s pace attack had far more venom, the battle in the spin department was more evenly contested with each of the four frontline spinners in this Test extracting assistance from a gradually deteriorating track. The move to pick a spinner, Johan Botha, in place of left-arm seamer Lonwabo Tsotsobe, proved decisive for the visitors.

And the seamers Dale Steyn and Morkel, on a pitch that was of lesser benefit to them than the slow bowlers, varied their lengths superbly, ruffling up the batsmen with the short deliveries and creating the temptation to play by pushing the odd one fuller.

But while South Africa, with more assuredness in their batting and a generally superior outfit, were favourites throughout, their task was made easier by the reckless approach adopted by their opponents.

Courtesy of Cricinfo

Proteas Blossoming Again?

jaya — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:13:39 +0000

While soccer and rugby have hogged the headlines, the Proteas’ victory in the first Test against the West Indies went largely unnoticed by the public and even to some extent the media.

While some may claim the apathy pertains to a fest of other sport on offer, others will point to a weak West Indies side faced and state the Proteas were always expected to win without any pomp or ceremony.

While no one expected mad celebrations after a T20, ODI series and one Test win, the Proteas do deserve a doff of the cap for the way they have bounced back since the ICC T2O World Cup debacle.

The South African’s were impressive in the manner they dismantled their hosts winning by 163 runs with a day to spare. They went about their work with a minimum of fuss and plenty of efficiency. As the famous line goes: ‘You are only able to play (and beat) the opposition in front of you.’

South African fans, however, are no doubt still smarting at the way the Proteas bombed out of the ICC T20 World Cup during the group stages and many will argue that a West Indian whitewash only serves to paper over the cracks.

South Africa’s cricketers came in for a barrage of (warranted) critiscm at the time – and many speculated whether Corrie van Zyl was the right appointment as mentor until after the 2011 World Cup.

Many of the senior members in the side such as Captain Graeme Smith, Mark Boucher and Jacques Kallis have also been called into question.

While the old guard continue to perform at Test level, perhaps it’s time for a host of fresh faces to mark their debuts in the T20 and ODI arena. The likes of Rilee Rossouw, Colin Ingram and CJ de Villiers are all knocking on the door.

For now however, it seems the selection panel headed by new convenor, Andrew Hudson, will stick largely to the tried and tested. His panel will point to the fact the Proteas were victorious in the two T20 internationals and followed that up with a 5-0 whitewash in the ODI series.

He has however handed AB de Villiers the gloves (in the interim) and the addition of Ryan Mclaren in the shorter forms of the game has been a major fillip to SA’s lineup. Rory Kleinveldt and Lonwabo Tsotsobe were also given more game time than ever before.

The Proteas’ most recent victory saw them take a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series and will no doubt give them a renewed sense of belief and vigour.

While the Proteas struggled against the West Indians spinners on day one, they regrouped well and piled on the runs – totalling 558 runs over two innings.

On the bowling front, Dale Steyn – the best Test bowler – further underlined his credentials with a match haul of eight for 94. These fine figures deservedly earned the Phalaborwa Express the Man of the Match award.

Morne Morkel also chipped in with six valuable scalps.

The second Test gets underway at Warner Park tomorrow live on SuperSport 2 from 15.30.

By Grant Shub

HAVE YOUR SAY: What are your thoughts on the current state of SA cricket?

Proteas Seal Series Sweep

jaya — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 14:40:15 +0000

The humiliation was complete, but only moments after it seemed West Indies had done enough to avert it.

Partly misfortune but mostly indiscipline cost them the fifth and final ODI in Port of Spain to ensure South Africa swept an ODI series 5-0 for the third time against West Indies.

The wickets of half-centurions Jacques Kallis and JP Duminy had helped the hosts wrest control of the game, but Jerome Taylor’s inopportune injury, Dwayne Bravo’s poor death bowling and Kieron Pollard’s nervy last over deprived the hosts of an elusive face-saving win.

South Africa’s lower order had been untested this series due to the success of their frontline batsmen, but prevailed through a combination of luck and mettle. Jerome Taylor, who bowled Duminy in the 44th over to put his team ahead, tormented Ryan McLaren with deliveries outside off stump that the batsman consistently struggled to hit. The effect was increasing pressure on the visitors that was relaxed when Taylor’s back troubles returned to haunt him.

As Taylor walked off the field, Bravo and Pollard, two bowlers adept at changing their pace, had to shoulder the responsibility of restricting South Africa. But the more experienced among them erred in strategy and direction, opting to target the stumps as opposed to Taylor’s ploy of troubling the batsmen outside off. He conceded three wides, was struck for a boundary through midwicket and chipped over the in-field in the 47th over which cost 13 and brought the equation to 19 off 18.

Pollard’s next over, which only went for two, restored West Indies’ advantage with the wickets of Johan Botha and McLaren. But Bravo again let it slip, bowling too wide to be sliced for four before gifting a full toss to van der Merwe who drove him past mid-off for another boundary. He made amends somewhat with the wicket of Charl Langeveldt to make it nine down, but Pollard’s nerves failed him in the last over off which the visitors needed seven. He doled out a short delivery that van der Merwe dispatched over square leg and gave the No.11 Lonwabo Tsotsobe just the delivery he needed to launch his ODI batting career – a short and wide delivery cracked through the covers to seal West Indies’ fate with two balls to spare.

The chase, however, was set up by Kallis, who played with an assuredness conspicuous in its absence when West Indies were batting. Joining Hashim Amla after the early loss of Graeme Smith, he quickly settled in with consecutive boundaries off David Bernard. When the field spread, he had no trouble working the field, an approach he stuck to despite the loss of two prolific partners in Amla and AB de Villiers within a space of five overs. The situation was a tough one to adapt to for a player searching for form, but Duminy found his game in typically busy fashion, as he struck just one four in his 52, while supporting Kallis in a 58-run fourth-wicket stand. Though their wickets shifted the balance, the depth in batting ensured they had achieved enough.

West Indies’ performance with the bat in the final two ODIs improved markedly but there remained existing glitches that South Africa’s bowlers managed to exploit. In conditions favourable for batting, they went through periods of stagnation, a problem highlighted by Chris Gayle at the end of the previous game as well, despite them reaching 303. It was largely due to a Narsingh Deonarine-initiated late surge that West Indies scored 252, with assistance from Pollard and Darren Sammy.

The bounce remained true and the South African seamers consistently pitched short of a good length. While getting the ball to cut both ways and testing the batsmen with variations in pace, they were helped by one end being held up by Shivnarine Chanderpaul. For three consecutive overs did Gayle pick a single off the first ball, only to watch his partner gobble up the remaining deliveries. The agony was cast aside with each batsman striking Tsotsobe for fours in the eighth over, but Gayle failed to consolidate his start yet again, mistiming an attempted pull off a slower ball straight to mid-on in Ryan Mclaren’s first over.

The introduction of spin choked West Indies further. Now it was Darren Bravo who didn’t get going. Attacked by Botha from round the wicket and van der Merwe’s nagging lengths, Darren Bravo failed to break free. Such was the difficulty in pinching the singles that his batting was confined to dabbing the ball around the in-field, with just eight runs scored off his first 31 deliveries. When he finally decided to open up, and played a convincing lofted drive, he was pouched brilliantly by Mark Boucher at extra cover, without the keeping gloves for the first time in his 292-ODI career.

Though Deonarine, backed by Pollard and Sammy’s power-play at the end of the innings, combined muscle with an innovative quest for runs to help score 86 off the last eight overs, the failure of Chanderpaul and Darren Bravo to push on despite wickets in hand meant the eventual score was always one that an in-form South Africa would back themselves chasing.

Courtesy of Cricinfo

SA Beat West Indies

jaya — Mon, 31 May 2010 13:02:59 +0000

Ab de Villiers

It really shouldn’t have got so close. South Africa appeared to have the match in the bag while Hashim Amla was at the crease and for a while after too, but somehow found a way to press the pressure button and take the game to the final ball.

Some inept West Indian fielding towards the end, and lack of intensity in pushing for an unlikely win, let them down and it was left to AB de Villiers to steer the more deserving team home.

The required run rate soared to 8.60 at the end of the 45th over, when South Africa had to take the mandatory batting Powerplay. Two missed chances in the outfield gave South Africa a breather and it came down to the final over, when the visitors needed a more manageable three.

The scores were level after the first two balls, but Dwayne Bravo tightened the noose in the next three. de Villiers pushed the third to mid-on, shouldered arms outside off to the fourth expecting it to be a wide before failing to dig out a yorker.

The infield was packed and the din around the ground increased with the expectation of a great escape. de Villiers squirted the last ball to Darren Sammy at short midwicket, who ought to have effected an easy run-out but failed to gather the ball and fluffed a throw at the stumps.

Though both teams made blunders under pressure towards the end, West Indies had more wounds to tend to, primarily because of an underwhelming display in the field. With both Kemar Roach and Jerome Taylor out injured, they lacked a raw quick bowler to hurry the batsmen with bounce on a good batting pitch, and the support cast of medium pacers were ineffective with the new ball.

South Africa exploited that weakness for the most part and it seemed that only complacency could cost them the game, which it almost did.

Amla’s Century

Their response to 303 was set up by Hashim Amla, who was at the centrefold spread again with an ice-cool century, his second in the series . His is not a commercially driven slam-bang approach which would make IPL scouts sit up and watch.

He relies more on conventional strokes and a risk-free approach, accelerating according to the match situation and picking up singles whenever possible. He battled exhaustion, scored the bulk of his runs in singles – only 30 of his runs came off boundaries when he reached his century – and could have batted till the end if his body allowed him.

Using the crease, Amla drove through the covers, played short-arm pulls, cut past backward point and even scooped Sammy for six over long-off. West Indies set innovative fields for Graeme Smith – placing two short midwickets – but not for Amla.

Having taken so many runs off them in the series so far, West Indies could have identified a weakness and forced him to do something different, but instead just went through the motions. The intensity dropped after Smith’s dismissal as Amla calmly collected the singles and reached his fifty, off 45 balls.

Smith And Kallis

He took charge of two stands of 59 and 119 with Smith and Jacques Kallis respectively, and continued grafting it out till he neared his century. A squirt to backward point got him there, but he was already running low on battery, squatting on the pitch whenever he had a breather. He tried hitting out to conserve energy, but eventually fell to a tired shot to long-off. As he trudged back, South Africa were still in control with 80 needed off nearly 12 overs with seven wickets in hand.

They were lucky to have an in-form de Villiers at the crease, but the man at the other end, JP Duminy, wasn’t as fluent.

West Indies plugged things back to such an extent that they didn’t concede a boundary for close to nine overs. The required rate soared to nine before de Villiers eased the pressure with a paddled-four off Ravi Rampaul. Duminy was let off twice, first by Dwayne Bravo and then Darren Bravo. An 18-run over off Kieron Pollard tilted the game back in South Africa’s favour before fortunes oscillated again till the final ball.

The drama overshadowed what was an impressive comeback by the West Indian batsmen after the third ODI. It was a lesson in crafting an ideal one-day innings – start off aggressively, consolidate in the middle overs and keep wickets in hand and then let loose in the slog overs. The three main players in each of those phases were Dale Richards, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Darren Bravo, who dictated terms in different styles to take West Indies to 303 and give the Sunday crowd at Windsor Park a match to watch.

Richards compensated for Chris Gayle’s failure with an attacking knock, using the crease well to unfurl elegant shots down the ground. The South Africans were disciplined through the middle overs to peg West Indies back, but importantly, the duo of Chanderpaul and Dwayne Bravo were prepared to see off the period by grafting, instead of letting the frustration get to their heads.

West Indies took the Powerplay in the 45th over and the pair of Darren Bravo and Pollard inflicted maximum damage in a stand of 59. Darren Bravo, who has a style to match Brian Lara with his trademark high backlift and stylish foot movements, punctuated the passage of play with carved boundaries over extra cover and a one-handed six over long-off. Pollard, under pressure to deliver for West Indies, brought out a couple of monster hits off Charl Langeveldt to take West Indies towards 300.

Unfortunately, it was a day the hosts couldn’t get their batting and bowling to click in cohesion and as the series rolls into the final dead rubber on Thursday, the same questions on skill and commitment will be asked.

Courtesy of Cricinfo

Cricket Boss Apologises For Proteas’ Outfits

ernie4bogey — Fri, 21 May 2010 07:42:23 +0000

Cricket bosses and kit supplier Reebok have apologised for the scruffy state of the kit worn by the Proteas in their T20 matches against the West Indies.

The names and numbers of players were peeling off their shirts during the games.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) said on Thursday they had apologised to the players, team sponsor Standard Bank and the South African public for the poor state of the team’s kit.

In a letter to Proteas captain Graeme Smith, CSA chief executive Gerald Majola said they were in urgent discussions with Reebok to rectify the situation. “The Proteas are our premier brand and we will do everything to ensure we protect the team’s integrity and provide you with a professional environment in which to carry out your duties,” said Majola.

Reebok SA chief executive Bruce Joubert told CSA in a letter: “On investigation, our supplier has informed us only this morning they used a new vinyl for the names and numbers without our prior knowledge and this turned out to be a vinyl that has not bonded to the fabric.”

Although losing their names and numbers, the Proteas kept their heads to win the two match series 2-0.

With thanks to timesonline.co.za