CRICKET: Jon Swift
ONE of the oldest maxims in cricket, whether it be the one-day pyjama game or the more serious stuff of five-day tests, is this: you have to get the runs on the board to have any chance of succeeding.
It is a truism which was rubbed into the noses of the South African side in the disastrous one-day whitewash in Pakistan last year. It was again brought forcibly home by the high-riding Australians in the opening game of the centenary quadrangular one-day series at Basin Reserve in Wellington this week.
Certainly the three-wicket defeat at the hands of the Aussies is one which will rankle in South African ranks for a while. The target of 124 to win set by Hanisie Cronje’s men was never going to be anything like enough.
So it proved. Mark Taylor’s Aussies virtually cruising to victory in 43.2 overs with three wickets to spare, despite some fine bowling by Fanie de Villiers and Eric Simons and a superb ball from Pat Symcox to dismiss Mark Waugh for 11.
There was still a dim ray of hope after De Villiers had dismissed Taylor for 24 and the young find Greg Blewett was run out by Dave Callaghan for 14, leaving the Australians at 39 for three.
But when Steve Waugh (44) and wicketkeeper Ian Healy (18) got together there was never any real doubt that the South African attack was on a hiding to nothing.
The South African batting again faltered and spluttered. Gone was the fluidity which had marked a resurgence in this department during the final two tests against the touring New Zealanders in South Africa.
Seemingly departed was the determination to start, consolidate and build innings and partnerships which had led to such success in both one-day and Test format against the Pakistanis.
A run down the South African scoreboard told a sorry tale. The fact that the pitch was hardly of the pristine variety added to what the South Africans had already fully explored in theory before leaving for New Zealand – – Kiwi pitches offer little in terms of pace and lift.
There can be little argument though that the destroyer in chief of the South African batting was Paul Reiffel, who ended the game with four wickets for 27 runs in the 8.2 overs he bowled. Paceman Glenn McGrath also weighed in with two wickets for only 25 runs off his full complment of 10 overs.
This performance alone, without introducing the fact that the feared spin twins Shane Warne and Tim May got one wicket less than Reiffel on a collective basis, would debunk the myth that seamers have no place on New Zealand soil.
Reiffel grabbed the scalps of openers Gary Kirsten and Mike Rindel and finished off by adding the wickets of De Villiers and Allan Donald to close the innings for a paltry 123 three overs and four balls short of the allotted 50.
Of the recognised batsmen, Kirsten and Rindel battled at the top end to get the ball away, as did Cronje, who weighed in with a sometimes chancy 22.
For Daryll Cullinan, the Warne-fuelled nightmare continues. It took the blond leg spin wizard just five balls to again confirm that he has the edge both in delivery and mental toughness to take Cullinan out every time.
With the possible exception of Jonty Rhodes who weighed in with a top score of 25 and the still far from well looking but ever dependable Dave Richardson’s 22 not out, there was little to point to the type of innings which the South Africans are capable of.
Clearly, there is much work to do and very little time to do it in.