Donald's strike powers Proteas to win over Aussies
Prem Panicker
Cricket, like life, has a way of kicking a man - okay, team - when it's down.
Marquis of Queensbury rules do not apply. Man down? In goes the boot, hard!
And when you are going through one of those phases, you sometimes feel powerless to resist - do what you can, fight with everything you've got, and the boot only goes in the harder.
Ask Mark Taylor and his band of Australian cricketers now touring India, they will tell you what we mean here.
For once, Australia - after a loss in the one-off Test and two more in their two outings thus far in the Titan Cup - looked to be getting everything right. 210/5 in 45 overs, a batsman in form and a reputed hitter of the ball on strike, a total of 240 or more on the cards - what more could any team ask for?
15 deliveries later, Australia were all out for 215, and what looked like a won game had been lost right there - Allan Donald's four wickets in eight deliveries for no run being the blow in the solar plexus that saw the Aussies sliding from victory to defeat with a certain foreordained inevitability.
Here's how it all happened...
The pitch, and suchlike
The Nahar Singh Stadium in Faridabad was not, on the day, exactly an international cricketer's dream.
Some damp on the outfield, patches of grass on the wicket - it all added up to one of those unpredictable wickets on which the wise man, on winning the toss, bats first and asks questions afterwards.
No matter what else Mark Taylor has, or has not, won on this tour thus far, the toss has certainly been kind to him - for the third time in three outings, he called right and promptly took first strike.
Australia went into the game with three changes - Reiffel coming back in place of Jason Gillespie, Ricky Ponting returning after a bit of a rest, in place of Michael Slater, and hard-hitting 'keeper Adam Gilchrist, fresh off the plane from Down Under, coming in for the injured Ian Healy.
For South Africa, there was just one change - left arm spinner Nicky Boje in for the indisposed Derryck Crookes.
The Australian innings
Batting first on this wicket, Australia's priority was to put up a minimum of 240 runs on the board to pressure the competent S'African batting line up, and though the start was slow, Mark Taylor and Mark Waugh were certainly steady for all of 9 overs and five balls. And then, off the very last ball of the 10th over, Mark Waugh, who had till then looked in immaculate touch and was middling everything Fanie de Villiers and Brian McMillan threw at him, decided to glide the latter bowler down to third man. Considering that it was a soft delivery, outside off stump and with plenty of width, the batsman could have selected almost any stroke in an arc from midwicket (the pull) to backward point (the cut). Why then the glide? In the event, all he got was the edge, and Dave Richardson behind the stumps completed the formalities to put Australia at 34/1.
In came Ricky Ponting - and again, started off in good style, getting the quick singles, playing the occasional firm shot for the twos and two boundaries, and helping Taylor take the score on to 72 before he swept at Symcox. Ponting has a habit of playing from the edge of the crease - what that meant, here, was that when Richardson collected and whipped off the bails, the batsman's toe was on - not behind - the line.
Steve Waugh came in next and after a couple of abortive forays down the wicket early on, settled down to sensible batting as Australia progressed to 81/2 in 20 (a good, solid four an over rate), and kept going at about the same speed through the 25th over, and beyond. Till Taylor decided that he could sweep Symcox out of the attack - in the event, all he did was put a top edge down McMillan's throat at midwicket to reduce Australia to 107/3.
Even at the 30 over mark, with Australia on 121/3, the 240 total looked on, especially with Bevan and Steve Waugh stroking the ball around with ease and running brilliantly between wickets. But then Bevan, whose ability is shackled by impetuosity, swiped at Nicky Boje in a bid to clear the fielder at deep midwicket. All he did, though, was to stroke the catch down Hudson's throat and again, an Aussie batsman had got out when he looked well set and was beginning to threaten. 128/4 Aussies, and Steve Waugh made it 162/5 when, off a Boje delivery that stood up from short of length, the batsman guided the ball straight to Brian McMillan at short third man - the fielder had been placed there for that very shot, so why Waugh went for it after batting with sense for 40 runs off 60 balls will remain a mystery.
Stuart Law and newcomer Adam Gilchrist then put on the best partnership of the innings with some sensible batting. No hoiks and heaves - just straight bat stuff placed to beat the fielders, and Australia progressed to 178/5 in 40 overs, and to 210 without further loss in 45. With both batsmen middling the ball at that stage and looking ominously good, the final total was anybody's guess.
Nobody, but nobody, would have guessed 215. And it was Allan Donald who brought about the turnaround, starting with his seventh over. After bowling well within himself for two deliveries, Donald without appreciable change of action suddenly fired in the swinging yorker at top speed. Gilchrist, less than 24 hours off the plane, had no chance against that one, and walked as he heard the death rattle of the stumps. 212/6. Next ball, Donald bowled the slower one - Hogg went for the glance, played early, got rapped on the pads, and Aus 212/7.
Reiffel came in, just managed to avoid edging a catch behind to give Donald a hat trick, but off the very next ball was beaten for sheer pace and bowled off stump. 212/8 and in the space of four balls, Donald with three wickets had turned the game on its head.
Stuart Law bad by then got his 50 at a run a ball, and was going along with minimum effort. Elementary logic dictated that he, rather than Fleming, keep strike - but Law elected to run after a ball hit his pad and trickled through to the left of the keeper. Richardson ran round, picked up, whipped off his glove and threw down the wicket at the non striker's end, to find Law out of his ground and Australlia mired at 214/9. And a run later, Donald finished off what he had started when he held one back and forced McGrath into driving at him too early for Cronje to hold the catch low down at cover.
Australia 215 all out, and the game had been won and lost in the space of 2.3 overs.
Or had it? A couple of quick wickets early on, some attacking captaincy, aggressive fielding, and the Aussies could still think about a turnaround on a wicket getting slower by the ball.
The South African innings
When chasing a modest target, there are two possible gameplans. One is to bat calm through the first 15 overs, ensure against losing a wicket, look to get to around the 100 mark at the half way mark and then accelerate. Or begin with a flat our assault while the field is restricted, and try and chip a large chunk off the target so that the rest of the innings becomes a pleasure cruise.
S'Africa have always preferred the latter alternative, and though Gary Kirsten had one of his rare failures when he played all over an inswinger from Damien Fleming (SA 3/1), Pat Symcox in his pinch-hitting avtaar whacked five boundaries - an even balance between the ungainly slog and the calculated hit - for a brisk 26 off 21 balls before trying it once too often and top edging for Bevan to hold an easy catch at cover off Reiffel.
By then, however, SA had rocketed along to 40/2, and Darryl Cullinan and Andrew Hudson kept the good work going to take the Proteas to 64 in the first fifteen overs. At this stage, the game was virtually sewn up.
The fall of Hudson, run out by a brilliant pick up and throw by Mark Waugh (SA 77/3) made little difference, really, as Rhodes fired from the first ball and kept the momentum of the innings going at top speed. At the 30 over mark, SA had got to 140/3, and with just 76 runs to get in 20 overs, the innings was on cruise control.
Then came one of those inexplicable - and for South Africa, doubly so as the side is not given to such alarums - collapses. Rhodes triggered it when he played inside the line of a Reiffel delivery to lose his off stump (SA 142/4), Cronje of all people attempted the high-risk glide off the very next ball to give Gilchrist a simple catch and Reiffel the prospect of a hat trick, and McMillan after a mini recovery of sorts went for an impossible second run and SA were suddenly down to 184/6 in just over 40 overs.
Though Australia did at this stage tighten its act in the field and show more purpose with the ball, it paid the price for two follies - the first lay in losing its way just when a sizeable total looked on, the second lay in giving up the game around the half way stage and appearing to merely go through the motions, both with the ball and on the field. At this stage, Taylor let the game drift with Mark Waugh bowling eight overs on the trot without ever threatening to take a wicket, and even when wickets fell and new batsmen came to the wicket, there was no attempt to apply pressure with a close in fielder or three.
In the event, Australia managed one more wicket when Richardson outer edged a glide - again, the high risk shot for no earthly reason - to give Gilchrist his second catch of the match, but Cullinan had settled into the anchor role with a solidity that put the game out of Australia's reach, and the target of 216 was attained with no more fuss off the second ball of the 48th over.
With this, South Africa extended its streak for the year, to 23 wins in 26 games. More to the point, Australia went down to its third straight loss in the tournament, and now look on the verge of elimination.
Allan Donald deservedly took the man of the match for his burst of brilliant slog over bowling.
And South Africa, with four points in four games, ensured that come November 6, they would most certainly be one of the two teams contesting the Titan Cup at the Wankhede.
Just a thought to ponder on: what would have been the outcome had South Africa, at the stage when Australia were 210/5, given up in the field - as Australia did halfway through the Protean innings?
Scoreboard:
Australia innings R B 4 6
MA Taylor c McMillan b Symcox 42 74 3 0
ME Waugh c Richardson b McMillan 16 34 2 0
RT Ponting st Richardson b Symcox 17 28 2 0
SR Waugh c McMillan b Boje 40 60 3 0
MG Bevan c Hudson b Boje 12 15 0 0
SG Law run out (Richardson) 52 51 4 0
A Gilchrist b Donald 18 22 1 0
GB Hogg lbw b Donald 0 1 0 0
PR Reiffel b Donald 0 2 0 0
DW Fleming not out 1 1 0 0
GD McGrath c Cronje b Donald 1 5 0 0
Extras (b 1, lb 8, w 3, nb 4) 16
Total (all out, 47.3 overs) 215
Fall of Wicket: 1-34 (ME Waugh), 2-72 (Ponting), 3-107 (Taylor),
4-128 (Bevan), 5-162 (SR Waugh), 6-212 (Gilchrist),
7-212 (Hogg), 8-212 (Reiffel), 9-214 (Law),
10-215 (McGrath).
Bowling O M R W
de Villiers 9 0 35 0
McMillan 9 0 41 1
Cronje 2 0 12 0
Donald 8.3 0 31 4
Symcox 10 0 43 2
Boje 9 0 44 2
South Africa innings R B 4 6
AC Hudson run out (ME Waugh) 32 45 5 0
G Kirsten b Fleming 1 5 0 0
PL Symcox c Bevan b Reiffel 26 21 5 0
DJ Cullinan not out 71 112 7 0
JN Rhodes b Reiffel 42 50 4 0
WJ Cronje c Gilchrist b Reiffel 0 1 0 0
BM McMillan run out (Bevan) 21 32 3 0
DJ Richardson c Gilchrist b Reiffel 5 6 1 0
N Boje c SR Waugh b Hogg 6 12 1 0
Extras (lb 9, w 3, nb 2) 14
Total (8 wickets, 47.2 overs) 218
Fall of Wicket: 1-3 (Kirsten), 2-40 (Symcox), 3-77 (Hudson),
4-142 (Rhodes), 5-142 (Cronje), 6-184 (McMillan),
7-205 (Richardson).
Bowling O M R W
Fleming 8.2 1 53 1
Reiffel 10 0 35 4
McGrath 10 1 50 0
Hogg 8 0 23 1
Law 3 0 14 0
ME Waugh 8 2 34 0
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