Cricket World Cup 2019
Rain, run-outs and ruin: SA’s road of World Cup pain
Temba Bavuma of Proteas and Peter Handscomb of Australia. Photo Nicholas Zaal
IT has been 27 years since South Africa first played in a Cricket World Cup.
As the world knows, the late global icon Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison. A cricketing conspiracy theorist with priestly and political leanings may suggest that the ‘sins’ of the fathers have been paid in full now (one year of not winning for every year in jail) and South Africa is free to win what has to date been an elusive trophy.
Here’s a look at some of the highlights and heartbreak over the years
1992
South Africa announced itself as ‘back’ by beating Australia in its first game. Incredibly perhaps, SA has not been able to beat the Aussies in a World Cup since. But ‘92 was the year of the Jonty Rhodes flying-into the-stumps run- out of Pakistan’s star batsman Inzamam ul Haq. It was also the year of the 22 runs off 1 ball scenario in SA’ s semi-final loss against England which resulted in the subsequent creation and implementation of the Duckworth-Lewis system.
Winners: Pakistan.
1996
Captained by Hansie Cronje, SA won all its pool games easily. Unfortunately SA came up against West Indies mega-star Brian Lara in the quarter-finals and he flayed the bowlers to all parts of the field. Wicketkeeper Steve Palframan, standing in for injured Dave Richardson spilled a catch off the bat of Lara early on.
Winners: Sri Lanka.
1999
This is the one that hurts the most, the Lance Klusener-Allan Donald run out when needing 1 run to win with four balls still to be bowled. What made it worse was that it was against arch enemy Australia.
The match ended in a tie but SA went out due to inferior run rate during the tournament.
Winner: Australia.
2003
This was almost as bad, when rain and run-out and poor maths saw SA bombed out, at home, without even getting out of the pool. Ironically, or tragically, Klusener was at the non-striker’s end when Mark Boucher defended the ball, rain pouring down, after having hit the previous one into the crowd. Bouch thought he was doing the right thing, but Messrs Duckworth and Lewis said otherwise. It precipitated the sacking of Shaun Pollock as captain, replaced by 22-year-old Graeme Smith.
Winner: Australia.
2007
SA was erratic but made the semi-finals anyway, losing badly to Australia, when the top order thought it a great option to give Glenn McGrath the charge. That didn’t work so well. It was the second such hiding in the tournament from the old foe.
Winner: Australia.
2011
Another flop, with an extraordinary batting collapse in the quarterfinals against New Zealand. It didn’t help that Faf du Plessis ran out batting supremo and good friend AB de Villiers. Ironically SA was the only team to beat eventual winner India, doing so in the pool match.
Winner: India.
2015
SA lost again to the Black Caps, this time in the semi-final in a game where rain, run outs (missed) and catches (dropped) conspired to hand New Zealand the game. What made it worse was that it was an SA export who would never have made the SA side, Grant Elliott who scored 90 odd runs and smashed a 6 off bowling hero Dale Steyn to win a cliffhanger.
1975
West Indies ruled the cricket world and beat Australia by 17 runs in the final at Lord’s. Back then it was 60 overs a side and they wore whites and a red ball was used. This was the case up until the 1992 tournament. Clive Lloyd made 102 and Viv Richards exacted three run outs.
1979
West Indies defended the trophy, beating England at Lords by 96 runs, taking the last eight wickets for 11 runs. Viv Richards made 138 and Collis King 86.
1983
India shocked everyone by defeating the West Indies at Lord’s in a thrilling, low scoring game, by 43 runs, with Kapil Dev the hero. After India was bowled out for 183, Kapil Dev famously said: “Team, if this is not a winning total it’s definitely a fighting total!”
1987
Australia beat England by seven runs in the first tournament played away from England, this one held in India and Pakistan, with the final at Eden Gardens. Former South African Allan Lamb made 44 for England.
1992
Pakistan beat England by 22 runs at the MCG in Australia. Wasim Akram’s swing bowling with the older ball was unplayable. Inzamam ul Haq made most of Pakistan’s runs, but it was captain Imran Khan who famously claimed ‘he had won the World Cup’ which didn’t go down too well with his teammates.
1996
Sri Lanka, with some of their players being mocked for being too fat, downed Australia by seven wickets Lahore, Pakistan, with Aravinda de Silva making a century.
1999
Australia returned to the winner’s spot, trouncing Pakistan in England by nine wickets.
2003
More of the same for Australia, thrashing India in South Africa, with Ricky Ponting making a huge hundred.
2007
Australia again, this time in the West Indies against Sri Lanka, the one-sided match finishing in farcical, near-dark fashion.
2011
At last, a different winner in India, led by the inspired MS Dhoni, beating neighbours Sri Lanka by six wickets in India, cheered on by millions of delirious Indian fans.
2015
An antipodean final, pitting winners Australia against neighbours New Zealand. Easy win for Australia by seven wickets.
FIELDING POSITIONS AS EXPLAINED TO THE UNSCHOOLED
Wicketkeeper: He’s the man with the big gloves.
Slip: Not the chap landing on his butt trying to run, but the guy who stands closest to the wicketkeeper.
Gulley: Definitely not a ravine formed by the action of water but a catcher at 45-degree angle from the batsman.
Backward point: This chap stands at 90 degrees to the batsman. Usually your best fielder is stationed there, a la Jonty Rhodes and Herschelle Gibbs in their time.
Cover: The fielder needs great speed to stop the ball racing past him.
Third man: Not the third person listed on the team sheet, but a fielder who stands on the boundary behind and to the right of the keeper. Needs a thick skin as the crowd will heckle him.
Extra cover: Usually the captain, he stands there so he can talk to his bowler on the way back to the top of his run up.
Deep extra cover: Another boundary rider – this guy needs express pace to cover a lot of distance. Also needs to be able to throw like his arm is part crossbow.
Long off: He needs to be able to catch a high ball, as that’s where most batsmen aim when the slog is on.
Long on: Long’s off’s twin, stationed about 30 paces away, also on the boundary.
Midwicket: He stands on the leg or on side of the batsman, either half way to the boundary, or on the boundary.
Square leg: No, not a fielder with a gammon-shaped leg, but basically the onside equivalent of backward point.
Fine leg: No, not a fair maiden in the crowd, but another boundary fielder who needs to be able to stop and throw like no other.
WITH THESE QUICK TIPS YOU CAN SOUND LIKE A PRO IN NO TIME
Cricket is a game of many weird and wonderful words and names for what it’s trying to express.
Express:This is when a bowler (not a hat) sends down a delivery that is very, very fast. Think Kagiso Rabada.
Delivery:This is when the bowler (the only guy not wearing a hat for that over) lets the ball go from his hand aimed at the wickets.
Over:This does not mean the match is finished – far from it – but that six deliveries have taken place. The match is over when 100 overs have been bowled, even if there are maidens.
Maidens:Not something to attract single blokes to the stadium, but rather an over off which no runs are scored by the batsman off the bowler, although there can be byes.
Batsman:He’s the guy wielding a bat made from willow (tree from which bat is made) and not Bruce Wayne in disguise or a flying rat that comes out at night.
Byes:These do not refer to a bargain on Black Friday, or a farewell greeting, but runs accumulated when the ball misses everything, including the bat, the stumps and the wicky.
Stumps:These are the three wickets standing in the ground at each end of the pitch. The pitch is also called a wicket, or a track, but never a stump. They have bails across the top, made of wood, not hay.
Wicky:Not the site you go to in search of free info, but the guy with the gloves. Full name is wicketkeeper. Think Quinton de Kock.
No ball:This does not mean the match is over because there’s no ball to bowl with. Rather, it means the bowler has infringed, usually by overstepping or bowling it too high (above waist height) without a bounce.
Free hit:This comes after the bowler has overstepped the mark (white line) with his foot and is known as a front-foot no ball. The batsman cannot be dismissed off the next delivery, except by being run out.
Wide:This is signalled by the umpire who will produce the Titanic move – both arm out wide – when the ball is too far away from the batsman to hit.
AFGHANISTAN
ASGHAR AFGHAN
Born Mohammad Asghar Stanikzai, and also known as Asghar Salamkhail, is a right-handed batsman and a medium-fast bowler. On 2 August 2018, he changed his last name from Stanikzai to Afghan.
AUSTRALIA
AARON FINCH
A powerful batsman who bowls a bit of part-time spin. He has gigantic shoes to fill in terms of World Cup captains of the past. Hard to dislike him, even though he’s an Aussie.
BANGLADESH
MASHRAFE MORTAZA
The veteran fast bowler, has battled on despite numerous injuries. He will bring a wealth of experience and calm to a side that can tend to be easily excitable and sometimes too gung-ho in their approach.
ENGLAND
EOIN MORGAN
Soft spoken, but a dangerous batsman. Looks a little like Prince Harry at times, but some joke that his redeeming feature is that he’s not even English, but an import from Ireland.
INDIA
VIRAT KOHLI
Master batsman, divider of opinion and perfecter of the sclare (a combination of a scowl and a glare). He’s very fond of his designer stubble. Massively edgy, expressive and entertaining.
NEW ZEALAND
KANE WILLIAMSON
Fantastic batsman. Sports a beard to make it look like he hasn’t just finished school. Hard to find any fault, it’s clear that Kane is very able.
PAKISTAN
SARFRAZ AHMED
A plucky cricketer, who’s not afraid of the fight, as his verbal jousting in the past has shown, and occasionally gotten him into hot water. Keeps wicket and is a decent finisher in the middle order.
SOUTH AFRICA
FAF DU PLESSIS
Like Kohli, a good batsman, and also very aware of his fashion sense. Been known to wear the smallest shirt available. Likes to flex his biceps, even when not batting, which he’s good at. Can be a spectacularly brilliant fielder.
SRI LANKA
DIMUTH KARUNARATNE
Dimuth has been named as Sri Lanka’s captain after the recent sacking of veteran fast bowler Lasith Malinga. Karunaratne is new to the position but led his team to an historic Test series win in South Africa.
WEST INDIES
JASON HOLDER
Hey ma’an this guy is chilled. He’s also very, very tall. A humble man, his bowling isn’t outright lightning fast, but he can get it to swing. He can also hit the ball pretty far.
