Gary Kirsten steers South Africa to victory

By G. Viswanath

JOHANNESBURG, OCT. 6. The South African cricketers left `The Wanderers' on Friday night unconquered. Like a true champion for over the last ten years and in keeping with their form, they began the Standard Bank three nation tournament in style. The South Africans did not outclass India, but by the time they finished the first match, they left no one in doubt. That no target till be too high for them to scale. The combined effort of South Africa's batting power made the highest target set at insufficient and reduced the Indian captain, Sourav Ganguly to a state of being bitter about the lack of discipline in his bowlers.

It appeared he was just waiting to speak his mind at the press conference: ``If we cannot defend 279, then we are asking for trouble. It was an outstanding pitch to bat on, but our bowlers bowled short and wide and that's where we lost the game. It's very disappointing. It's no use two of us scoring centuries and then going on to lose the match. The centuries don't count at all. The bowlers gave enough width, bowling short and wide. From here on we have to do something extra to win matches. It's going to be difficult for the spinners to get wickets like this. I thought Sachin batted very well. I did feel the pain initially while batting, but I think when you are in a match situation, it's always going to be a question of putting mind over matter.''

The batsman responsible for South Africa making a winning start was Gary Kirsten who became the third century maker in the day and remained undefeated on 133. The veteran left hander of over 150 one-day internationals, was not in great touch in the three match series against Zimbabwe. The batsman who won the laurels there was Herschelle Gibbs. It was the right hander who began the counter to India's near-imposing 279, cover driving Prasad. When he looked towards driving a little straighter, he invited trouble once, hitting Srinath uppishly to Ganguly at mid off. The Indian captain put down the dipping catch ; Gibbs' then was 14.

Kirsten, who was replaced by Boeta Dippenaar in the third match at Harare, showed admirable skill within the crease and forced the ball through the gaps, especially between cover and extracover. When Srinath erred on the leg stump, Kirsten deflected the ball to the unprotected fine leg fence. South Africa raced to its first 50 off 40 balls with the left hander in complete control. ``We regard the first 15 overs as crucial and we try to keep the momentum going. And the pitch was so good that, all I needed to do was punch the ball between gaps for it to reach the boundary,'' said Kirsten.

The Indian seamers and the spinners, had to take heavy punishment. Ganguly had to bring an end to the first spells of Srinath and Prasad after they were freely hit at six plus an over. Agarkar was better among the three, giving 28 runs in his first six overs. There was no need to step up the run rate once Kirsten and Gibbs had taken South Africa past 100 by the end of the 15th over. The experienced pair knew exactly how to force the pace in the early part , and more importantly, where to place the ball at a ground they were quite familiar with. Another contributory factor to the fast scoring was the fast outfield.

Kirsten and Gibbs stretched the partnership to 114 (17. 4 overs) when the latter perished, edging Srinath to provide debutant Deep Dasgupta his first catch in one-day internationals. South Africa always stayed ahead of India in run rate, with Kirsten bringing in the element of craft while sweeping Kumble and Tendulkar.

Jacques Kallis' cautious approach did no harm to his side, though his opening shot, a lovely on drive off Agarkar, revealed his class. A near century stand for the second wicket took South Africa well into the 200 mark after which it was only a matter when the home team will reach the target.

Srinath looked sharper with the old ball, conceding just 18 runs in 30 balls, but the brute power of Lance Klusener must have virtually deflated the spirit of the Indian fast bowler, who was struck for two sixes in the last two balls of his ten over spell.

Although there was no real danger of South Africa forced into a situation wherein it would have had to score more runs in fewer balls, Klusener hastened the finish hitting Srinath through the line and then pulling him over mid wicket. There were no big contributions from any batsman who cameafter Kirsten and Gibbs.

It was not necessary of any of them to do so. Rhodes and Klusener made together 37 off 31 balls and offered support to a batsman who gave no hint of leaving the crease for nearly three and a half hours. His 133, was his best effort at the venue of the Highveld Strikers the Gauteng province team is called .

The South African captain, Shaun Pollock said he had made a mistake after winning the toss. ``I misread the pitch. I thought there would be bounce and good carry through for the fast bowlers. But it turned out to be a flat wicket.The lads pulled it through and we won in the end. We were a little worried, but we came back to strangle their batting in the end overs. I thought Sourav and Sachin batted well. I don't think our overall strategy will change. The wickets will be different at the other venues,'' said Pollock.

Ganguly appeared listless when he came for the press conference. He thought there was an opportunity to put it across South Africa in South Africa for the first time in ten years.

Ten years ago in 1992, the Indians had won two of the seven matches at `The Centurion' and at East London. Five years ago, the Indians lost four of the five, the first final not producing a result because of rain. ``It's time we learn to win matches on good wickets,'' he said.

Coach John Wright said there are ``positives'' to be picked from the lost match. ``The first one is of course making so many runs at the start of the tournament. How many times have we done so? I thought our ground fielding was good too. But I agree with what Sourav has said. We have to bowl well in the first 15 overs.

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We are all disappointed: Wright

JOHANNESBURG, OCT. 6. The Indian team had an off day on Saturday. They spent about two hours at the hotel gymnasium with coach John Wright and physiotherapist Andrew Leipus. About the six wicket defeat at `The Wanderers' , Wright said ``Well, we are all disappointed , but there has been plus points in the match against South Africa which we will have to take into the nextmatch at `The Centurion'. Wright once again reiterated the improvement shown in ground fielding. ``We have three days to prepare and focus for our next match against South Africa.''

-Our Special Correspondent.

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