South Africa vs Zimbabwe - Quick flicks of the day
Remarked Peter Roebuck, “In part, life is a battle against anonymity”. And Zimbabwe lost this battle and that too quite meekly. A lopsided battle, which South Africa dominated from the first ball, resulted in a ten wicket victory that ejected Zimbabwe out of the T20 World Cup. Zimbabwe held no trump cards to counter attack. It was South Africa all the way. It was Morkel and company in bowling and Hashim Amla and Richard Levi in batting, who simply overwhelmed the Zimbabweans.
Moments that stayed and lingered from the match:
Soaring emotions
Teams came out with their national flags to sing the anthems and what caught attention were the moist and watery eyes of a Zimbabwean supporter and lumpy throats of Zimbabwe players when they sang “Blessed be the land of Zimbabwe”, all immersed in emotion and passion, which was enough to stir the soul of any onlooker.
ABD “The Wicketkeeper”
Skipper AB De Villiers was kept on toes all the time, who with his neat wicket keeping complimented his bowlers in their outstanding effort in jolting the opponents. Dale Steyn’s variation and shrewdly disciplined and consistent line, length and pace let go just nine runs from 3.4 overs with notably no wicket. It was the penultimate delivery of his fourth over spell, when a shortish leg side delivery was played by Utseya and behind the stumps, ABD stretched out full to his left to pouch a stunning catch. Steyn ended with striking figures of 4-0-9-1.
Not so tough were the other catches taken by him. De Villiers took four catches behind the stumps and did not miss any, a job well done.
Poll of the Day
A poll was conducted during the match which asked “In which format South Africa plays the best?” T20 format managed just three percent votes, probably cricket fans are waiting to see their competitive spirit and ability to rise against strong teams in high pressure situations.
In 2012 South Africa played eight T20 internationals before world cup, out of which they won five and one ended with no result. While they played seven test matches during the same period, out of which they won four and lost none. The long format fetched maximum votes, but three percent votes for T20s felt unjustified. May be it is owing to Africa’s choking tendencies in big tournaments.
A missed Hat-trick
A hat-trick delivery is one of the most exciting deliveries to watch as the batsman quivers in defence while bowler oozes with confidence, ready to snatch his third victim. Jacques Kallis struck on the fourth ball of his very first over when Matsikenyeri mistimed the shot and gave an easy catch to Robin Peterson at extra cover. This dismissal was followed by a full length delivery hitting Chigumbura in front of the wickets. As Cremer walked in, commentators started building up for the hat-trick delivery to be bowled by recalling the first hat trick that Brett Lee claimed in 2007 T20 WC. Kallis bowled a good delivery but Cremer defended his wicket well by pushing the ball to mid on.
But ultimately, in the 13.4 over, it was Kallis only who scraped Cremer out with a short delivery which he hooked, only to be caught behind. Kallis bowled a tight line and was the most successful bowler. He ended with four wickets in four overs at an economy of 3.75 and was adjudged player of the match.
Fielding woes
Not a single moment of happiness came Zimbabwe’s way. Hashim Amla gave them a chance to celebrate, though it wouldn’t have, by any means, affected the result. But even that was let go by the Zimbabweans. When South Africa was at 88, Sibanda dropped an easy catch of Amla at point that resulted in a comprehensive victory of South Africa over their neighbours.