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Surprisingly Edgbaston wasn't full for this encounter. Some 4000 seats were unsold. The fans must be so disenchanted with England's cricket that they preferred to go to work in Birmingham and thus missed a treat. South Africa gave a batting display of the kind that makes the World Cup special. They produced one of those massive opening stands that can provide such a strong base for a huge total. Kirsten and Gibbs were ultra efficient in the face of some very steady bowling from New Zealand's sextuplet. A number of near misses went unpunished, purely by luck. On this ground, with the boundary ropes pulled in, there is every incentive for the batsmen and the South African pair rode their fortune to great advantage. Ultimately it was Kirsten who tried one cheeky shot too many and out came Klusener, promoted to number three after ten successive one-day innings undefeated. He had made over 400 runs in this span but all were down the order from three. The last time he came in first drop was at Eden Park in February. He only made 104 that day. This time Gavin Larsen bowled him for a mortal 4 and the innings faltered. The Kiwis looked in with a chance of restricting South Africa to 250 when first Allott, with a super yorker that did for Gibbs, then Cairns, with a cunning slower ball for Cullinan, took two quick wickets. It was merely the signal for Kallis and Cronje to take off. Kallis helped himself to 22 from Harris' last over, then Cronje joined him as they plundered 24 from Cairns. 93 runs came from the last ten overs with only a superb direct hit from Nash providing any relief. It was hard to see how New Zealand could have stopped the bleeding, for they kept trying hard with as much variety as they could find. In the end it was the superior batsmanship of the Proteas that called the day, plus a sameness about the Kiwi attack that made it all rather predictable. South Africa showed a capacity for acceleration that was exemplified by the scoring rate for each successive 50 : 83, 60, 52, 52 and 41 were the number of deliveries required as the innings went on. But Geoff Allott was not left out. He set a new World Cup record when he bowled Gibbs, the first to reach 19 wickets. New Zealand were simply outclassed, for the Proteas' outcricket was as thorough as their batting. The bowling was tightly directed and remained difficult to score from. Horne made a promising start with two fine boundaries in Pollock's first spell but then the technique of New Zealand's top three in the order was cruelly exposed. The feet were not moving sufficiently to allow the batsmen to get behind the ball, so both openers were caught at slip when Kallis moved the ball slightly away. McMillan struggled valiantly without ever looking likely, while Fleming and Twose played some wholehearted strokes before both chipping out with ambitious attempts down the ground. All through the innings the bouncy keeper Boucher kept calling "top fielding boys" and it was the right call. Boucher kept most impressively and continually fired up the fieldsmen. He was rewarded with a long string of superb throws that came right over the bails. The South Africans showed their loss to Zimbabwe in Group play was an aberration and they are now on course to the semifinals. New Zealand has to beat India on Saturday in a match that both teams badly need to win. The difference is that India is now on song, with only the injury to Ganguly affecting their top lineup. Conditions at Trent Bridge, with a fine forecast, are likely to favour the better batting side and clearly that has to be India. The little master is due for another big one and Dravid is bound to continue his run feasts off Kiwi bowling. New Zealand simply must attack, so must field its best side. Doull and Vettori must replace Nash and Larsen in an effort to dismiss the Indians for an attainable total. They will not weaken the batting but this aspect must remain New Zealand's most suspect department. I would like to predict that my compatriots will make it to the semifinals, but they will have to beat India by a very wide margin to catch up on Zimbabwe's run rate. All of which, of course, will be totally upset if Zimbabwe manage to beat Pakistan in the meantime, something that you can never entirely rule out if the odds are right. Send Dave some feedback on his provocative comments. | ||||||
