Afghanistan’s stunning victory against Pakistan may just have returned the leeway South Africa gave away in their quest for a semi-final spot following the defeat to the Netherlands. What might have been a daunting task against Pakistan in Chennai on Friday now holds considerably less daunt.
Not that anybody should be taking the result against Bangladesh at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday for granted. The last ten ODIs between the nations have been shared equally and the Tigers have not been bullied in any of their three losses out of four matches so far.
But if South Africa do win then there will be breathing space between them and the chasing pack. The top four are beginning to pull clear. A loss, however, will be followed by the Pakistan game and then fixtures against New Zealand in Pune and India at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
The Proteas have had time to adopt the classic pose of relaxation after the astonishing win against England, literally: “Most of the guys have had their feet up ticking a few recovery boxes so that, mentally and physically they are ready for tomorrow,” said Aiden Markram who deputised for Temba Bavuma as captain for the record-breaking win against defending champions, England.
The nature of Bavuma’s last-minute withdrawal from the starting XI remains curious. Why would Reeza Hendricks not be given a ‘maybe’ warning an hour or two before the start of play? He received the ‘tap on the shoulder’ just 10 minutes before the toss. Peculiar, to say the least.
Markram spoke with obvious affection about Heinrich Klaasen’s gut-busting 109 from 67 balls against England on what transpired to be the third hottest day in Mumbai in the last 20 years, and his recovery:
“He’s good, he certainly was man-down in conditions that were brutal. He did a lot of hard work out there and it took a lot out of him. His body was very sore after the game and he was very fatigued,” Markram said. “He spent the last couple of days getting treatment and resting but you’ll do well to keep him off a cricket field, he’s a tough guy. He’ll be itching to go again,” Markram said.
Uncontrollable laughter is amongst the greatest of a broadcasters’ fears. Two years ago, commentating on South Africa’s T20 series in India, Klaasen’s prolific perspiration came perilously close to inducing commentary chaos. He looked like a burst water main, a clown’s trick. Worse than the laughter was the prospect he might disappear completely into a puddle just short of a good length.
“Klaasy is a big sweater so I assume that would play a role,” Markram said, suppressing a giggle of his own while discussing the man’s extended recovery period. “It’s not his fault that he sweats a lot but that’s what he does, and he also gets quite worked up out there, he’s quite a competitor and desperate to do well for his country. But those conditions would have taken a lot out of anyone, they would all need a day or two to recover,” Markram said.
It is quite possible to work up a sufficient sweat walking up two flights of stairs to have the stuff dripping off the end of your nose. I achieve this every time I return to my hotel room when the Victorian elevator with the iron-cage door is unavailable. As prolific sweater myself, although not quite in Klaasen’s league, the thought of what he went through during that innings brings me out in a cold…
Goats have been used in many societies for centuries as living garbage disposal units. Cardboard boxes are just as edible as fruit and veg waste. It appears cows are similarly trained within inner city Mumbai.
(A coffee and a breakfast samoosa costs around £4 here in Mumbai. If you were meaning to subscribe, or forgot to, or got tangled up in interwebaucracy, have another crack. If you can afford that per month. If not, please don’t!)
Question for ya Manners - would the CWC benefit from providing an advantage for top-seeded teams. Specifically the top seeded teams (based on the final round-robin table) receives the advantage of winning the toss for their semi-finals and final. This could help ensure teams that qualify for the top 4 ahead of the final games of the group stage really push to win their remaining games, and avoid dead-rubber games where teams have nothing to gain and everything to lose if they play their best players and push to win because they run the risk of injury, and of providing a preview of their gameplan to the opposition that they may face in the semis and final.