I am almost certain (well I hope so) that if you are roughly 18 years old or older I do not have to remind you of the 1999 Cricket World Cup — the seventh edition of the premium platform for world cricket — with the SA Dream Team, defined by Dr Ali Bacher as the greatest ODI team SA has ever produced to date.
We had a crunching semi-final against ultimate second-time winners, our best friends, the Aussies where Lance “Zulu” Klusener and Allan Donald did all they could to win the cricket match except speak to each other. It was a tournament where Klusener dominated everything in front of him and with great style as well. He was justifiably the talk of the tournament and ironically given Man of the Series without even making the top six batsmen totals (the top for this was India’s Rahul Dravid with 461 runs) Klusener only managed 250 runs in eight matches with two half centuries. He did take 17 wickets to make the list of top six bowlers.
To paint the picture for you again, best described by this excerpt from Wikipedia:
- Klusener scored consecutive fours in the first two balls of the over (bowled by Damien Fleming), levelling the scores and leaving South Africa with only one run to win in four balls with Klusener on strike. The third ball was a dot, and the fourth saw Klusener mis-hit his shot to mid-wicket fielder Mark Waugh. Klusener went for the run, although chances of a run-out were high and two balls were still remaining. However, Donald at the other end, keeping his eyes on the ball, did not see Klusener sprinting down the pitch and did not hear the call to run, and Klusener was almost at the bowler’s end by the time Donald (who had also dropped his bat) began running. By then, Waugh had thrown the ball to Fleming, who rolled it to Adam Gilchrist who took the bails off at the other end, meaning Donald was run-out by some distance, thus ending the match with the scores level. However, a tie meant that Australia progressed to the final since their net run rate was higher than South Africa’s. As commentator Bill Lawry put it during the final ball: ” … this will be out surely — oh it’s out, it’s gonna be run out … oh, that is South Africa out — Donald did not run, I cannot believe it. Australia go into the World Cup final — ridiculous running with two balls to go. Donald did not go, Klusener came — what a disappointing end for South Africa.”
So that is what happened … the supporters in SA were left bemused, the change room is described as the worst atmosphere ever as if someone really close to the players had died — one cannot imagine the disbelief and gut-wrenching emotion experienced by players and management. However what I really do want to illustrate, nay inquire, from this era in SA cricket: is there a “Zulu” in the house? We have in truth not seen such a domineering force at the crease before him or since him — imagine Klusener in the current SA team, no disrespect to Donald as the strike bowler or Hansie as this country’s greatest cricket captain, but with the advent of the pyjama party called T20, the Zulu cricketer would be poetry in motion.
Why has SA Cricket not taken hold of this unbelievable talent and harnessed more like it, get something similar at least. Yet another poor example of managing the top level of the game in my opinion. Where runs on the board are the bargaining tool of the winning team, world cricket lacks this singular dominance. OK so you’re probably saying that teams are getting 300+ often now in ODI and that a top-six batting line are all in general capable of having a swipe … but not like Zulu. He traumatised bowlers who just did not know where to bowl or when to bowl what ball.
We lack this in today’s cricket, a warrior-like Zulu who throws caution to the wind in the fearless battle for cricket world domination. Will the real “Zulu” please stand up and will any others please do so as well … soon!
Good luck to the Proteas vs the Black Caps.
A prince with dignity and determination
Prince Ngarambe’s goals are to become Rwanda’s first transgender model and to uplift the country’s youth
The EFF’s principles are unshakeable
Unlike the ANC, the core values of the freedom fighters do not change with each leader it elects
