FOR ENHANCED COVERAGE OF THE WORLD CUP GO TO OVAL WORLD'S SECTION 

MARCUS HOOK'S WORLD CUP DIARY 2003 (PART FIVE)

                   
Thursday 27 February: South Africa v Canada and Australia v Namibia
Just how one-sided can a match get? Australia’s margin of victory over Namibia was the largest ever recorded in a one-day international, and Glenn McGrath’s return of seven for 15 in seven overs was the best bowling performance in World Cup history. There were probably more records broken, but what must be worrying for England is that the Aussies could have compiled an even bigger total had they not felt sorry for the Burgermen. The result puts Australia on course to win a record twelfth consecutive one-day international on Sunday. With Ricky Ponting reported as saying: “Bring on England” you wouldn’t bet against them doing it either. Canada refused to wilt in the face of South Africa, though. In fact, come the end of today’s other match, it was probably the spectators who were wilting due to Ishwar Maraj putting in a Graheme Clinton-like performance for the minnows. The beneficiary of four missed chances, Maraj eventually reached his half-century in the 48th over and finished the game unbeaten on 53. It was good to see Boeta Dippenaar getting amongst the runs for the home side, especially as the 25-year-old has the misfortune of being in my fantasy team. In fact when you think that Jacques Kallis is also in my squad, Makhaya Ntini must be playing out of his skin to be overcoming his association with ‘Inner City Sumo’. But seriously, today’s result still leaves the Proteas needing a minor miracle in order to stay in the competition. By my reckoning two things have to happen. Firstly tomorrow’s game at Cape Town needs to be rained off, then, on Tuesday, Kenya need to overcome the West Indies. Even then it all comes down to who wins the toss when South African meet Sri Lanka under lights at Durban on Monday. Like England, the time has probably come for them to start planning for the English summer.

 


Glenn McGrath takes a World Cup
record 7/15 against Namibia.

Ramnaresh Sarwan is felled by a Fernando bouncer and has to retire hurt.		 Friday 28 February: Sri Lanka v West Indies and Zimbabwe v Holland
It just wasn’t the West Indies’ day today. After losing Wavell Hinds and Brian Lara early in their reply, Ramnaresh Sarwan was just getting into his stride when he was felled by a Dihara Fernando bouncer in the fifteenth over. When he returned from hospital, defiantly sporting a cap rather than a helmet, his side needed 60 off 47 balls with only three wickets remaining. It seemed improbable, but the self-belief shown by the 22-year old nearly carried the Windies home. What happened while Sarwan was being taken to Claremont Hospital and having stitches inserted behind his left ear shaped the outcome. The player had hardly left the pitch when his captain fell leg before to his first ball. After the West Indies staged something of a recovery the departure in rapid succession of Chris Gayle, Ridley Jacobs and Ricardo Powell left them in a state of shock. A controlled 65 from Shivnarine Chanderpaul then went some way towards salvaging things, but Sanath Jayasuriya always seemed to have one of two aces up his sleeve. Chaminda Vaas – who had earlier helped add an unbeaten fifty runs in 42 deliveries for Sri Lanka’s seventh wicket – and Muttiah Muralitharan took a combined five for 48 in twenty overs. With 16 needed off the last two the latter put the result beyond doubt by only conceding a couple off his final over. Despite ending up on the losing side Ramnaresh Sarwan, who’s 47 took just 44 balls, finished the real winner on the night. In today’s other game at Bulawayo, Andy Flower showed, yet again, that he is far too good to be considered for the chop. The left-hander made 71 off 72 balls against the Dutch before Andy Blignaut and Heath Steak proved their assault on the Aussies on Monday was no flash in the pan. Zimbabwe ran out convincing winners and now look to have a good chance of making the last six. But there seems no let up in the intimidation of Henry Olonga, who did not play even though Douglas Hondo was carrying an injury. Olonga was allowed to take the field as twelfth man, however, and had a hand in Hendrik-Jan Mol’s downfall four overs from the end.

 
Saturday 1 March: Kenya v Bangladesh and Pakistan v India
Today I joined an estimated two billion people as I sat down to watch India play Pakistan. Coronation Street eat your heart out! Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat, but, as well as Saeed Anwar played to record his 20th one-day hundred, I could not help thinking his side finished twenty or thirty runs short. One reason was the absence, yet again, of Saqlain Mushtaq, who had been discarded in favour of playing the extra batsman. It seemed a strange decision given that Saqlain had batted as well as anyone against England a week ago. Then, when I saw that Sachin Tendulkar needed another 83 runs to pass 12,000 in one-day internationals, I knew Pakistan were in trouble. The pitch was an absolute belter, as was Tendulkar’s innings of 98. His fifty took just 37 deliveries. The punishment he meted out in Shoaib Akhtar’s opening over was sufficient to put the Rawalpindi Express out of the attack. But Shoaib had the last laugh when he returned to account for his adversary with a brute of a delivery which rose so viciously not even the great master could control it. When Tendulkar departed India still needed 98 to win with their last two form batsmen at the crease. Pakistan failed to make any further inroads, however, and the Dravid-Singh alliance carried their side to a convincing victory and through to the next stage. But due to Pakistan’s tardy over-rate the first side to be confirmed in the Super Sixes was Kenya, who beat Bangladesh by 32 runs at Johannesburg. Should New Zealand and Sri Lanka also progress from Pool B, the Kenyans amazing story may well continue, since Steve Tikolo’s men have taken four points off both. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s future involvement appears to hang by a thread. I may as well say goodbye to that fiver I put on them at the start of the tournament. Oh well, Heather wouldn’t have enjoyed the night out I would have treated her to with the winnings.

 


Sachin Tendulkar, the great master,
goes past 12,000 ODI runs.

Nasser Hussain reflects on Australia's narrow victory at Port Elizabeth.		 Sunday 2 March: Australia v England
What do you have to do to beat these Aussies? Even if England do manage to scrape through to the next stage, I doubt they will have a better chance than the one they let pass today. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Perhaps we could have scored a few more runs and maybe we should have ‘lost’ a few overs from Michael Vaughan in the middle of Australia’s innings – at least when Vaughan is bowling he is not fielding at mid-on! – and kept Craig White back for an over or two at the death. But trying to pinpoint what decides tight one-day games is the ultimate in splitting hairs. Basically, England didn’t do much wrong. Assuming this was their swansong, they can proudly say they were the only team to really ask questions of Australia. There will no doubt be a bit on an inquest into why Jimmy Anderson, rather than Andy Caddick, bowled the all-important penultimate over with the Aussies needing 14 to win. Given the choice at that stage, I would have done exactly the same thing. Afterwards Nasser Hussain admitted it was purely a judgement call. But then he said something a bit odd. He accused Caddick of being one-paced. If he thinks that, why didn’t he bowl him through at the start when the big man could have exploited the extra lift of the new ball? It wasn’t as though he was getting collared, unlike against India. When Andy Caddick was initially taken off his figures were four for 29 off eight overs. But, instead of bemoaning our luck, you have to hand it to Michael Bevan and Andy Bichel who saw their side home with an unbeaten partnership of 73 in 12 overs. Of course, it was Bichel’s second spell in the limelight, after taking a career best seven for 20 with the ball. In the final analysis, England were 66 with loss after nine when the Queenslander was introduced and less than nine overs later they were 87 for five. It says it all really – and who described Andy Bichel as underrated in his tournament preview? I thank you. Looking ahead to Tuesday all of England will be willing on the Pakistanis to beat Zimbabwe. I can’t see it happening somehow. Pakistan don’t stand a realistic chance of qualifying for Super Sixes and, therefore, will have little to play for. If they bat first they have got to make 300 before bowling out the Zimbas for just over a hundred. Alternatively, if Zimbabwe bat first and make in the region of 200, the Pakistanis will have to knock them off at nine an over. Perhaps the only sensible thing for me to do is to back the Zimbas to win it. At least I’ll get back the fiver I put on Pakistan winning the World Cup a few weeks ago.
                   

BACK

NEXT PAGE

WHERE ELSE?
Free JavaScripts provided
by The JavaScript Source