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Comment: Rob Houwing, Sport24 chief writer
Cape Town – Four matches down at the World Cup ... and still no hint of a much-needed nail-biter.
Just for a few minutes, as Zimbabwe began their reply to the marginally sub-standard Australian total of 262 for six at Ahmedabad on Monday, it looked as if we might have a “game on” situation – especially when the bespectacled opener Charles Coventry audaciously smeared Brett Lee for a high-velocity six over point.
Doubtless some fond memories cheekily flickered at that moment among older Zimbabweans of that country’s epic triumph over the Aussies at Trent Bridge in the 1983 World Cup, when a certain Duncan Fletcher earned the player-of-the-match laurel for his 69 not out and 4/42.
But rather more expected service was quickly restored in this encounter 28 years on – and significantly by the defending champions’ frisky, genuinely shock trio of Lee, Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Tait.
Proving that the Subcontinent can, indeed, be reasonably kind to the trade if you are prepared to bend your back, the pacemen shattered any “Zim” dream by turning a fairly promising 40/1 to 44/4 within the space of two overs as the cream of the minnows’ batting line-up was bundled off to the pavilion.
Thereafter, and probably to the chagrin of tournament-watching neutrals who are desperate for a grandstand finish to a game, it was purely a matter of the southern Africans not “doing a Kenya” and being truly routed.
They just about staved off a debacle by reaching 171 all out and losing by 91 runs, which was probably roughly the kind of margin some critics would have anticipated beforehand.
Still, they will be kicking themselves for not running the Aussies a bit closer, especially as some of the batsmen fell to daft shot selection and their disappointing turn at the crease rather undid an earlier bowling effort several stronger nations might have been chuffed with.
Based on what they saw in this game at the Sardar Patel Stadium, Zimbabwe’s more powerful neighbours South Africa – one of the last teams to get going in the tournament on Thursday, so offered plenty of opportunity for useful observer status thus far – will be feeling fairly satisfied that they have their bases covered from a bowling point of view.
The Proteas, after all, will be one of the teams boasting more personnel options than most in the spin department, while not exactly coming up light for seamers in their squad either, particularly if recuperating all-rounder Jacques Kallis does play a full role.
For Monday’s fixture certainly showed that both bowling types can potentially be employed to rosy reward, even if conditions will continue to differ from venue to venue.
The fulcrum of Zimbabwe’s mostly impressive “restriction” job, you see, was very much their specialist slow-bowling arsenal of Prosper Utseya, Ray Price and Graeme Cremer, all of whom confidently got through full 10-over quotas and at concession rates barely above four runs to the over apiece.
They were instrumental in ensuring that the Australians were seldom able to resort to the type of bullying offensives that had marked the ODI and World Cup heydays of players like Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds.
Instead they were really made to work hard and patiently for their runs.
But then when the underdogs batted under lights, and some dew helped give the pitch a small but important measure of extra zip, Australia’s fast men were suddenly the troubling factor.
Tait’s first ball after opening the attack went through at just a touch below 145km/h, and he got a little quicker too, whilst Johnson – he exercised the best control of the three – and Lee also found good gas and speared in fine toe-crushers at times.
Why, there was even the opportunity for some old-fashioned chin music: Johnson struck Craig Ervine on the helmet’s grille shortly before trapping him leg before wicket, and the tailenders weren’t spared some “treatment” either.
Price was rapped on the gloves by the same bowler, with the ball nevertheless whizzing off to third man, and then a few deliveries later copped one on the side of the helmet.
Nor could last man Chris Mpofu stay fully out of harm’s way: he ducked straight into a Johnson bouncer that probably left a tread mark on the very badge of his own headgear.
Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel take optimistic note of such events for the Proteas?
Cape Town – Four matches down at the World Cup ... and still no hint of a much-needed nail-biter.
Just for a few minutes, as Zimbabwe began their reply to the marginally sub-standard Australian total of 262 for six at Ahmedabad on Monday, it looked as if we might have a “game on” situation – especially when the bespectacled opener Charles Coventry audaciously smeared Brett Lee for a high-velocity six over point.
Doubtless some fond memories cheekily flickered at that moment among older Zimbabweans of that country’s epic triumph over the Aussies at Trent Bridge in the 1983 World Cup, when a certain Duncan Fletcher earned the player-of-the-match laurel for his 69 not out and 4/42.
But rather more expected service was quickly restored in this encounter 28 years on – and significantly by the defending champions’ frisky, genuinely shock trio of Lee, Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Tait.
Proving that the Subcontinent can, indeed, be reasonably kind to the trade if you are prepared to bend your back, the pacemen shattered any “Zim” dream by turning a fairly promising 40/1 to 44/4 within the space of two overs as the cream of the minnows’ batting line-up was bundled off to the pavilion.
Thereafter, and probably to the chagrin of tournament-watching neutrals who are desperate for a grandstand finish to a game, it was purely a matter of the southern Africans not “doing a Kenya” and being truly routed.
They just about staved off a debacle by reaching 171 all out and losing by 91 runs, which was probably roughly the kind of margin some critics would have anticipated beforehand.
Still, they will be kicking themselves for not running the Aussies a bit closer, especially as some of the batsmen fell to daft shot selection and their disappointing turn at the crease rather undid an earlier bowling effort several stronger nations might have been chuffed with.
Based on what they saw in this game at the Sardar Patel Stadium, Zimbabwe’s more powerful neighbours South Africa – one of the last teams to get going in the tournament on Thursday, so offered plenty of opportunity for useful observer status thus far – will be feeling fairly satisfied that they have their bases covered from a bowling point of view.
The Proteas, after all, will be one of the teams boasting more personnel options than most in the spin department, while not exactly coming up light for seamers in their squad either, particularly if recuperating all-rounder Jacques Kallis does play a full role.
For Monday’s fixture certainly showed that both bowling types can potentially be employed to rosy reward, even if conditions will continue to differ from venue to venue.
The fulcrum of Zimbabwe’s mostly impressive “restriction” job, you see, was very much their specialist slow-bowling arsenal of Prosper Utseya, Ray Price and Graeme Cremer, all of whom confidently got through full 10-over quotas and at concession rates barely above four runs to the over apiece.
They were instrumental in ensuring that the Australians were seldom able to resort to the type of bullying offensives that had marked the ODI and World Cup heydays of players like Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds.
Instead they were really made to work hard and patiently for their runs.
But then when the underdogs batted under lights, and some dew helped give the pitch a small but important measure of extra zip, Australia’s fast men were suddenly the troubling factor.
Tait’s first ball after opening the attack went through at just a touch below 145km/h, and he got a little quicker too, whilst Johnson – he exercised the best control of the three – and Lee also found good gas and speared in fine toe-crushers at times.
Why, there was even the opportunity for some old-fashioned chin music: Johnson struck Craig Ervine on the helmet’s grille shortly before trapping him leg before wicket, and the tailenders weren’t spared some “treatment” either.
Price was rapped on the gloves by the same bowler, with the ball nevertheless whizzing off to third man, and then a few deliveries later copped one on the side of the helmet.
Nor could last man Chris Mpofu stay fully out of harm’s way: he ducked straight into a Johnson bouncer that probably left a tread mark on the very badge of his own headgear.
Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel take optimistic note of such events for the Proteas?
