by Trevor Chesterfield
Memories of Lance Klusener’s CWC99 late innings heroics are now re-emerging Down Under in the shape of another South African, Albie Morkel, and Australia are feeling heat of the pinch-hitting pressure.
For those who don’t quite understand the comparison in this bling-bling day and age it was ‘Zulu’ Klusener who won the CWC99 man of the series award for his ability to turn seemingly impossible positions into impressive victories. His pinch-hitting altered the landscape in more than one game to engineer well-constructed escapes as well.
These days it is the end of innings batting powerplays that have a habit of being slotted in at the end of an innings, and if not controlled, upset the bowling equilibrium, as did Klusener but unlike those irritating pop-up adds a captain’s ignores them at his peril.
This means bowlers now face two pinch-hitting assaults an innings: the second is the one in reverse and the one that counts with fielding captain needing to know how to handle it or perish. Ricky Ponting has come off losing twice, and but for a slice of luck would be 3-0 down and not 2-1 behind had South Africa’s luck held in Hobart Last Sunday. What it has done is add excitement to the 50/50 game with the batting powerplays the T20 slap-bang section of the innings.
In three games South Africa have batsmen such as Albie ‘I’m the new Zulu’ Morkel who has been tasked with the pinch-hitting story designed to create pressure on a bowling attack that needs to know the length to bowl in such conditions. In Australia, length it is different to that of various subcontinent pitches because of their pace. Possibly too why teams such as Bangladesh and Zimbabwe have no clue at all, as their innings don’t last long enough to implement such a frenetic batting tactics.
But Morkel in Melbourne and Sydney has so effectively revived the old pinch-hitting theory a al Zulu Klusener at the end of the innings, it recalled the way Klusener batted against Pakistan at Trent Bridge in Nottingham in the Super Six game.
Recalling what I wrote for a website of that match, pardon for the digression, the comparison is valid. Shoaib Akhtar, young and with high-powered pace had seen South Africa crumble to thirty-nine for three and later 58 for five: a top-order again almost decimated by the pace. All quiet devastating stuff as there was doubt whether at 58 for five by the 20th over South Africa would survive. It was no platform for victory. The speed gun read 95 then 91 and then 91again. Enough to have braver men quaking in their pads on yet another inhospitable afternoon of sullen midlands clouds heavy with the threat of rain. With 221 needed for victory and the rate required climbing to around seven an over, Shoaib seemed invincible.
Then up stands Klusener, the Natal swashbuckler whose broadsword of willow had become one of the star attractions of this tournament. Up charges Shoaib: it’s six over midwicket. Up he runs again: four through the covers. It is over 46 of the South African innings has reached 177 for seven, with only four runs squeezed out of three overs before, South Africa were becoming just a little desperate.
Now it is 194 for seven: 15 runs off the over, and Shoaib, who had done so much to wreck South Africa, had lost it. His rhythm, his pace, his direction, his confidence had been mauled and rattled, his psyche batted out of shape. It was a humiliation which made the supporters cringe and grimace in anguish. Earlier the Rawalpindi Express had worked up such a head of steam no batsman stood a chance. Suddenly he look forlorn and bothered, and his skipper, Wasim Akram, put an arm around his shoulders in a consoling manner. Not the sort of happy-ending quiet envisaged: the destroyer had been destroyed.
Even Wasim, cool, canny and so much in command, felt the wielding Klusener sword. Another six over mid-wicket. From 46 needed to win off 36 balls, it came down to 18 off 18, then it was over: a scooped drive by Klusener for two, the attempted catch by Saeed Anwar totally botched and a distraught Shoaib helped from the field, shepherded by his numbed teammates. What should not have happened did and Klusener earned his fourth man of the match award of the tournament.
There is of course a difference between the Trent Bridge scenario and this one at Sydney where Morkel, with forty off twenty-two balls charged down the Australian total and with 270 for seven successfully posted the highest second innings chase at the massive Sydney Cricket Ground, Ponting will be wondering what again went wrong after the success in Hobart. In fact, until the powerplay was started in the forty-first over, South Africa’s innings had been in decline yet again. Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers and Jean-Paul Duminy along with Neil McKenzie allowing the Aussies back in to the game.
But as at the MCG, Morkel took on the Aussies and again the recall of Klusener in CWC99 haunted and taunted the bowlers. This gave the impression how the idea of the batting powerplay was born. All wrong, of course. So few now remember the way Zulu regularly charging the bowlers, turning most from bullies into quivering open-mouthed wimps. Sure, in Friday’s SCG efforts, Mark Boucher’s role became crucial. At 209 for six in the fortieth over, it needed cool heads and cooler hitting styles as the 61 still needed seemed a long way off until Morkel decided to have some fun and the death bowlers didn’t quite get the measure of length or line right as did South Africa during the Aussie batting powerplay. It made all the difference and Nathan Hauritz, known to teammates as Ritzy, served dollops of tasty soup for Morkel to quite happily to feed off. End of match (well, almost) and end of story, with skipper Johan Botha adding the trimmings.
