18 June 1999
Beyond the boundary - The Last Tango
Shakil Kasem
Schopenhauer it was who said, "Against stupidity the gods battle in
vain." When Hansie Cronje won the toss and opted to field pundits and
bookies alike were left biting their nails. Few sides had
successfully chased runs batting second. Was Cronje in control of his
senses? Remember, this was the point of no return. Was it the time to
gamble? The South Africans are probably the dullest clients in any
casino, predictable as they have always been when it came to risks.
Ergo, they had a plan in mind.
The plan was put together with a certain degree of elan. Mark Waugh
was dismissed even before the Headingley crowd had even settled down.
The Australians realised, even at that early stage of the match, that
they had a match on their hands. There was more than a faint tinge of
deja vu as the Aussies found themselves struggling for runs. 58 for
three with more overs gone than planned, meant that the South
Africans were well on the way towards vindicating their decision to
field.
It was left initially to Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting, who blazed
their way to a quick cameo partnership. The Aussies were not taking
this South African ploy lying down. Ponting carried on shooting from
the hip after Gilchrist was tamed. Suddenly, Steve Waugh found
himself in familiar terrain, rocky and hard and fraught with danger.
Herschelle Gibbs and his compatriots were not inclined to drop any in
this match. The fielding as usual was above par. Runs dried up in the
middle overs completely, the Aussies being more intent to consolidate
and prolong their partnerships.
Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock mesmerised the opposition with four
and five wickets apiece, but could not deny Steve Waugh from piling
up another fifty, in his inimitable impassive manner. The captain
never flinched and held the South Africans at bay for an inordinate
period of time. The breathing time that Australia got as a result,
enabled Michael Bevan to purchase 65 of the most priceless runs he
was ever likely to get, from this hyped up bowling attack. Australia
managed to get past 200, but that was never likely to pose a threat,
or was it?
South Africa got off to a flyer, and it appeared that the Australian
bowling was not adequate enough to stop the bleeding, the runs were
coming so freely at the time. Time for drastic action. Enter Shane
Warne into the fray, and the match was never the same again. Warne is
a man for the big occasion; he had been out of sorts in this
competition, but here was the maestro, the virtuoso performer, the
sorcerer and the conjurer, all rolled into one. Three wickets in as
many overs meant that Warne had ripped the innards out of the South
African batting order. The team that was fairly coasting along,
suddenly needed to reappraise the situation. The run rate which was
until then comfortably within reach, now acquired daunting
proportions.
It needed a high quality partnership between Kallis and Rhodes to
pull their side back into the game. But time was fast running out.
The unequal battle between the temporal and the material, meant that
this pair needed to do something out of the ordinary. Rhodes made his
move first, he was caught in the open spaces and the Australians
scented the prey again, just when it looked it had sped away from
them. The overs raced away, the runs came at a trickle, and what was
worse, the wickets kept falling. Kallis had his finger in the dyke
for as long as he could, but even he could not prevent the sudden
onrush of adrenaline from the Aussies. All the while Steve Waugh,
coolly and calmly kept on chewing gum.
Mind won over matter, as he made every bowling change count.
Leadership of the highest order ensured the Aussies did not panic,
even when Lance Klusener strode to the crease and laid bat to every
ball he faced. He scored 31 off 16 deliveries and brought time to a
standstill by tying the scores with still four balls remaining. In
one of the classic flick-knife ironies of the game, Allan Donald, who
should have been one of the heroes of the match had South Africa got
the single most important run in the history of their game, emerged
tragicomically as the villain. With the scores tied, he survived one
run out chance, then failed to reach the other end where lay all the
pots and pans of the rainbow. The dream remained as elusive as ever;
South Africa were, again, so near, yet remained as far as when they
started this competition.
The match itself rose to heights hitherto unseen in this World Cup.
Australia vindicated itself after a hesitant start. They gathered
momentum all the way and at Headingley swept away all pretensions of
a worthy opponent, but who were still, nevertheless, pretenders to a
status that is not easily awarded. The Australians had earned their
position as the best team in the world the hard way; they were not
ready to hand it over. Once again, the South Africans reran the 1996
campaign, where they collapsed just when they were ready to reach for
the stars. Here, they had planned and plotted, almost successfully,
but perhaps not quite taking into consideration that innovations and
ingenuity on the field are still the life blood of this game. The
Australians proved once again to whoever wished to listen, that
cricket, glorious cricket, is what they specialise in. Anytime, any
place, where Australians may be found playing.
Source :: The Daily Star