da aposte e ganhe： In their first match since the death of disgraced former captain HansieCronje, South Africa won the inaugural One-Day International played atTangiers, convincingly defeating tournament favourites Pakistan by 54 runs
da doce： Charlie Austin13-Aug-2002In their first match since the death of disgraced former captain HansieCronje, South Africa won the inaugural One-Day International played atTangiers, convincingly defeating tournament favourites Pakistan by 54 runs.Shaun Pollock’s side appeared inspired by the significance of the occasion,observing an emotional minute’s silence and wearing black armbands as a markof respect for Cronje, who remained close to the players despite his role inthe match-fixing scandal.”We dedicated this match to Hansie and tried to a produce a performance thathe would be proud of,” revealed Pollock afterwards, “and looking down on usfrom above, I’m sure that he would have been pretty happy.”Indeed the sharpness of their performance belied the fact that the majorityof the side had not played competitive cricket during the past three months,as the batsmen scored an above-par 283 on a slow pitch before the bowlersdismissed Pakistan for 229.Opener Herschelle Gibbs, who was only reunited with his lost cricket kitlast night, was adjudged Man of the Match for his 114, his seventh one-daycentury, which laid the foundations for South Africa’s victory.Gibbs hit eight fours and four sixes during an intelligent innings thatincluded crucial partnerships with Nicky Boje (52) and Jonty Rhodes (46).Assessing the pitch conditions quickly, the South African’s worked hard fortheir runs, running between the wickets particularly well.New coach Eric Simmons was impressed: “I don’t think it was a wicket for bigscoring shots and the crucial part was the way Herschelle and Jonty playedin the middle of the innings – if they had tried to get us to a large totalby going for their shots we might have struggled.”To threaten South Africa’s total Pakistan needed to start briskly, makingfull use of the hard ball and fielding restrictions. And openers Imran Nazirand Saaed Anwaar did just, bringing up Pakistan’s fifty in just the seventhover of the innings.Nazir hit nine boundaries in his 29-ball 40 and Anwaar struck five in his 23before Jacques Kallis, brought on after an expensive opening burst fromMakhaya Ntini, conjured up a crucial double strike: Anwaar was deceived by aslower delivery, chipping to mid on, and Nazir was trapped lbw to leavePakistan 69 for two.Pakistan remained in the chase right up to the final overs, but paid thepenalty for their middle order failing to crack on after playing themselvesin, no batsmen passing fifty despite all the top seven spending significanttime at the crease.South Africa bowled astutely, mixing up the pace of their deliveries andmaking it difficult for the Pakistanis to score the boundaries in which theythrive.And unlike Pakistan earlier in the day, who had missed several chances in amessy fielding display, the South African’s were vibrant in the field,especially Jonty Rhodes at backward point and mid-wicket.Earlier in the day, South Africa had boldly elected to bat first despiteuncertainty over the likely behaviour of a pitch that had only hosted twoclub matches before.But although they lost Gary Kirsten (2) and Jacques Kallis (23) within thefirst 15 overs, the decision was rewarded as Boje, promoted up the order,kick-started the innings with a rapid half-century.After his 85 run partnership with Boje, Gibbs then added 120 with Rhodes, astand that swung the initiative firmly towards South Africa.Pakistan came back strongly in the final overs, with Waqar Younis finishingwith five for 38 from his allotted overs, but South Africa’s 283 proved tobe more than enough in the circumstances.Pakistan and Sri Lanka will now play on Wednesday.
