ICL: Indian Cricket League


World Cup: South Africa vs New Zealand Match Review

Written by Commoner on April 16th, 2007   (396 views)

The New Zealanders proved Steve Waugh right when they choked South African badly in super 8 match of world cup 2007 at the Grenada National Stadium Saturday. After getting defeated by Srilankans couple of days ago, they returned with un-matched fury and strangled Protean side to a meagre 193 runs, which were never going to be proved enough.

Well the, despite of odds having in favour of South Africa, the overall conditions were swayed towards kiwis early on. Kiwis after winning the toss, cunningly asked their opponents to bat first. The overcast weather plus the seaming and swinging pitch with a touch of ominous bounce made things very ugly for South Africans from the onset.

To add insult to injurty, James Franklin and Shane Bond, the two black caps, cast their black magic and sent the mercurial AB Devilliars and skipper Graeme Smith back in no time. South Africa had lost its celebrated openers just for 3 runs. The tone, that was set then continueud throughout the day. The South Africans screamed, scratched and flailed, but Kiwis kept their noose tight around their necks mercilessly.

Only Herschelle Gibbs was the man from the batting side, who showed some mettle, but he also didnt go farther than a painful 60 runs. Jacques Kallis (22) and Ashwell Prince (37) were the other two batsmen who tried to make a partnership with Gibbs. The cordon was so tight, that South Africa made only 13 runs in the first 12 overs.
Bond finished with two wickets for 26 in ten dashing overs, while left-arm pacer Franklin took one wicket for 16 runs in his seven over hissing. Craig McMillan, though bowled with a medium pace, but he took the three prized wickets and broke the back of South Africans. Herschelle Gibbs, Ashwell Prince and Mark Boucher were all sent back by Craig McMillan’s shrewd peformance.

The initiation by the Black caps werent as spectacular as it should be, though due to the strange sloppy fielding by South Africa they managed to survive. Captain Stephen Fleming and Scott Styris both made half-centuries. After the two early dismissals amidst lots of dropped catches, Fleming made 50 and Scott Styris got 56 valuable runs. Another peformer, who made sure that South Africa gets the right treatment, was MacMillan who aggressivly achieved the target while ten balls were still left.

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This entry was posted on Monday, April 16th, 2007 and is filed under Cricket, World Cup.

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