Proteas gasp, stutter and finally stumble

Apr 26, 2007 Cricket

Graeme Smith’s comments during the World Cup notwithstanding, South Africa reaffirmed their status as perennial chokers in this tournament, bowing out in the semi-finals yet again.

After he won the toss and elected to bat, Smith would not have expected his team’s hopes to go up in smoke within the first hour. McGrath, the aging Aussie warhorse, ripped into the Safs batting lineup like a knife through butter, taking 3 wickets to leave them reeling at 27-5 after 10 overs. This included the wickets of Prince and Boucher off successive deliveries. Only some resolute batting by Kemp and Gibbs saw them post 149, a total that had seemed impossible after the McGrath punch.

The new Aussie find, Shaun Tait grabbed 4-39, confirming that the Aussie bowling machine will have some less reasons for worry after McGrath’s retirement. I find his bowling style somewhat unusual though, and with his action, the pressure his body is subjected to could lead to injuries later on.

On the batting front, the Aussies had no problems, cruising to an easy victory by 7 wickets and almost 20 overs to spare. However, the form of their star keeper-opener, Adam Gilchrist has been patchy throughout this tournament, and it would be good to see him fire in the final.

Saturday promises to be a treat, with the Lankans set for a repeat of the ’96 World Cup result, whereas the Aussies would be looking to avenge that defeat as well as score an unprecedented hat-trick of World Cup wins.

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