Day nine of the ICC T20 World Cup saw Chittagong play host to two
startlingly different Group 1 matches, as winless South Africa faced New
Zealand, while Sri Lanka took on the qualifying Netherlands. A difficult start
to the tournament for the Proteas set the stage for a crucial encounter with
the Black Caps, as they fought to keep their chances of reaching the
semi-finals alive. The second game of the day promised much of the same
potential drama, with the Dutch drawing confidence from their most recent display
of explosive hitting in the qualifying stages. Whilst Sri Lanka would remain
firm favourites for the contest, the Netherlands' world record 19 sixes that
they clubbed in pursuit of Ireland's formidable target of 189 three days prior,
was testament to the unpredictable nature of this shortened form of the game.
It was JP Duminy and Ross Taylor, however,
who provided the fireworks on this occasion, guiding their teams to what would
be the most thrilling finale the tournament has seen so far.
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| JP Duminy improvises on his way to 86* |
Put into bat by Brendon McCullum, South
Africa began cautiously, and the early loss of dangerous wicketkeeper-batsman
Quinton de Kock placed the Proteas on the back foot. Fellow opener Hashim Amla
steadied the innings as he set about making a run-a-ball 41, but his inability
to accelerate during his time at the crease placed the onus on the rest of the
South African top order to score quickly. Captain Faf du Plessis and AB de
Villiers both fell cheaply as they tried to push the innings along, and the
eventual loss of Amla in comical circumstances was perhaps a blessing in
disguise.
Indeed, the stage was now set for would-be
man of the match JP Duminy. The 29 year old took to the New Zealand attack with
clever improvisation, scoring an unbeaten 86 of just 43 deliveries to propel
his team to 170 for 6 from their 20 overs. Duminy was naturally a big part of
the Proteas' explosive finish, and together with a supporting cameo from Albie
Morkel, helped amass 70 runs off the final five overs, with Kiwi seamer Tim
Southee bearing the brunt of the onslaught.
The nature of New Zealand's reply
reflected their efforts against England in the rain affected match two days
earlier, as Kane Williamson and Martin Guptil swiftly guided the Black Caps to
57 without loss after 7 overs. However, the quickfire dismissals of both Guptil
and McCullum slowed the Kiwi assault, bringing Ross Taylor to the crease amidst
renewed South African confidence.
Williamson and Taylor hit five sixes
between them as they pushed the score past 130, and the loss of Williamson for
51 in the fourteenth over did little to mask the increasingly comfortable
equation facing the New Zealand middle order in the last five overs.
However, while Taylor raced to his fifty,
wickets were falling around him, and Protea spinner Imran Tahir bowled a tight
spell to stem the flow of runs. An expensive penultimate over from Morne Morkel
seemed to have proved too costly, but New Zealand still required seven from the
final six balls.
It was South African paceman Dale Steyn who
was the hero at the death, however, as he took two for four in the last over of
the match to leave the Black Caps short by just three runs. The pace and accuracy
of Steyn had seen him dispose of big-hitting Corey Anderson in the 18th over,
and he fittingly capped off an outstanding bowling display under great pressure
by running out Taylor, after the latter could only punch the final ball of the
match back down the track.
The South African on-field celebrations
following their victory were indicative of how important it is to avoid losing
consecutive games in the group stages. The extraordinarily tight finish seemed
apt considering their desperation for a win, and by drawing level on points
with New Zealand, the Proteas have thrown Group 1 wide open.
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| Lights out: Steyn caps off a brilliant performance |
The best game of the tournament thus far
was always going to be a hard act to follow, but a woeful performance by the
Netherlands ensured that their clash with Sri Lanka failed to reflect any of
the quality that preceded them. If South Africa and New Zealand had exceeded
the expectations of the Chittagong crowd, the Netherlands performance fell way
short, and the ensuing evenings 'entertainment' was anything but.
Having been put into bat the Dutch set
about compiling a scorecard that makes for very painful reading, and opener
Stephen Myburgh lasted just three balls before a heave at Nuwan Kulasekara was
caught by Lasith Malinga on the third man boundary. After Kulasekara completed
a wicket maiden, Angelo Mathews took two wickets in two balls to leave the
Netherlands 1-3 in the second over.
While the bowling was tight, the Dutch
approach to their innings was rash, and you couldn't help but feel that the
confidence from their stunning display against Ireland was having an adverse
effect on their ability to construct a competitive total.
Their qualifying efforts had grabbed
headlines, and with the famous victory over England in the 2009 competition
still lurking as a reminder of the potential of the men in orange, the
spectators undoubtedly expected a more impressive start.
However, between Ireland and Sri Lanka
lies a huge gulf in class. Chasing down 190 against the former ultimately
counts for little when facing a Sri Lankan team that is not only the highest
ranking T20 side in the world, but is also enjoying a run of 13 victories in
all formats of the game.
With the Netherlands three down and
Mathews on a hat trick, yet more disappointment was in store for the crowd, as
floodlight failure caused a significant delay to proceedings. The spectators
had gone from seeing poor quality cricket, to no cricket at all, but the
darkness at least put the Dutch players out of their misery, if only
temporarily.
After an exceptionally long wait, there
was to be no hat-trick for Mathews, although he added to his stellar figures by
trapping Peter Borren lbw in his next over. At 9-4, any real recovery was
beyond the Netherlands and even Tom Cooper's valiant 16 was not enough to prevent
the Dutch from recording the lowest total in international T20 history by some
margin.
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| Another one bites the Dutch: Mudassar Bukhari is bowled as the Netherlands stumble to 39 all out |
After a clinical performance with the ball to bowl their opponents
out for just 39, Sri Lanka easily knocked off the 40 required in half the number of overs,
losing only Kusal Perera for a quickfire 20.
The differences between the two games are striking,
with one match decided with the very last ball, and the other requiring only 15
overs out of a possible 40 in order to get a result.
The South African victory earlier in the
day epitomised what this form of the game is all about. Improvisation and power
with the bat, exceptional death bowling and moments of brilliance in the field
- the latter illustrated by the efforts of de Kock behind the stumps. Both
sides played their part in a memorable game that displayed excitement unlikely
to be matched as the tournament progresses.
This stands in stark contrast to the match that brought day nine of this competition to a close. Here, only one side turned up, and any memories of this encounter will be for all the wrong reasons. The extent to which the associate nations are out of their depth is staggering, and it is a shame that the real quality cricket on display in such a tournament can be marred by mismatches that provide little, if no contest.
