The night the albatross was lifted Part one

I am not a particularly emotional fella. Maybe a little. Never cried watching Oprah, or Titanic. Okay, Mufasa dying in the Lion King got me a little. Every single time I watch the damn film. But there was something about the performance the South African cricket team put up against a very game Sri Lankan team which brought tears to my eyes. Too understand why, you need to understand South African cricket. It’s methodical, it’s structured. It’s about winning. That is all. It’s also had an albatross around its neck since before I was born. Nobody, but nobody could have imagined the night the weather wreaked havoc with our aspirations in Sydney ’92 that it would be nearly exactly twenty-three years before we would win a knock out match in the World Cup. My first experience with the World Cup failure was that night in Durban when rain and rather strange scientific calculators conspired to prevent us from succeeding against the Sri Lankans. We didn’t lose, but we didn’t win either. And more importantly, in a high pressure situation, we didn’t execute skills which any you could be reasonably expected to execute. In this case, the skill was typing numbers into a computer. We choked. That wasn’t our first brush with asphyxiation of course. The 1999 world cup was characterized not by the final, but by two incredibly bizarre mistakes to make by the South African team. No one will ever know why Herschelle Gibbs, as good a fielder as the world has ever seen, felt the need to celebrate before the ball was completely in his control. Steve Waugh didn’t really tell him, “you just dropped the world cup”, but he didn’t have to. Hindsight and history did a pretty good job of getting that point across all on their own. The Semifinal is often regarded as the essential gold standards in which all ODI games are judged. Rightfully so too, it was an outstanding match with fabulous performances from all-time greats, a fantastic knock from the player of the tournament, and an ending so dramatic, you wouldn’t believe it . We also choked away a win having done a remarkable job to even get ourselves to a place where victory was not an improbable theory. Come 2007, we didn’t choke, so much as have a brain fade the size of which can’t really be quantified. It beggars belief that in the middle of a collapse in Calypso, not one player thought it prudent to maybe try get themselves in first,. Assess conditions. Try not follow the guy who just got dismissed. The idea eventually came to mind, of course. At about 27/5. 2011 Was an ever bigger disaster. Kallie of all people tried taking on the biggest player in the team, on the longest boundary on the ground. It did not end well. Fantastic catch mind you. Faf got into a melee, and elimination swiftly followed. It has been a long journey to that world cup KO match win. One which includes failures in ICC Champions Trophy events, and other failures on smaller scales...

Sri Lanka vs South Africa

The first semi final of the 2015 cricket world cup promises to be an intriguing affair. South Africa vs. Sri Lanka has traditionally proven to be extremely close competitors at One day international level. How close you ask? Well, Sri Lanka has win twenty nine matches to South Africa’s 28. Razor-thin really, between the two of them. An interesting sub plot in this match is the fact that this might be the last time Kumar Sangakarra steps onto a cricket pitch in pajama gear. In my opinion, the greatest batsman since Don Bradman, it would be fitting if Kumar could lift the trophy, owning two runner-up medals already. Cricket however, doesn’t really do fitting. After all, Don Bradman himself needed only four runs in his final knock to retire averaging 100, and as we all know, he went for a duck. Probably wished he retired just before the match on his way out. No, this isn’t really a sport which deals in poetic justice. Warne had to retire from ODI having failed a drug test. Hansie was retired at the proverbial hangman’s noose in the King’s Commission. What chance then, does old Sangakarra have of attaining the fairy tale ending? There’s a view, which has merit, that he already has the fairy tale ending. After all, no other batsman has scored four hundreds in four consecutive cricket games. But Sangakarra is a great team man, and individual accolades, while great, are probably not the reasons for him giving this world cup thing one final go. It is therefore unfortunate that Sri Lanka has lost, rather convincingly, their only two matches against pre-tournament favourites. Both New Zealand and Australia went to town on Sri Lankan bowling, amassing over 700 runs in 100 overs against a rather limited attack. Even England, managed to knock three hundred past this attack. This does not bode well going into a match against the only team in history to score 400 in back to back matches. Yes, South Africa cannot chase, but they’d be licking their lips at a chance of batting first against this Lankan attack. It is my opinion that if South Africa bats first, they have a 60-40 chance of winning the match. If Lanka bat first, they have a 65-35 chance of winning. I’m not a fan of cricket matches being decided on the toss, but we may very well have Kumar Sangakarra’s future decided by a head or tail call.

Manny vs Mayweather

As many of you would know by now, it’s on!! The fight of a generation has finally been confirmed. May the second will see Manny Pacquiao take on Floyd Mayweather in what will undoubtedly be the highest grossing boxing event in the history of the sport, and almost certainly the highest grossing sporting event ever. Whilst the fight would certainly have been a greater sporting spectacle in their respective primes, it may still be a great event even now. With his blistering footwork and lightning hand speed, a peak Manny Pacquiao was the proverbial Filipino buzz saw, popping in and out of the pocket like a mole in the hole. He certainly seemed nigh on invincible when he took on, and out Oscar dela Hoya and Miguel Cotto. Floyd Mayweather didn’t seem quite as invincible in his respective clashes with the two, but the absolute pasting he gave Juan Marquez in their 2009 fight gave credence to the idea that Floyd would destroy Manny if they ever fought. It is a slightly amusing idea… boxing isn’t a sport where fighter A beats fighter B because fighter A beat fighter C and fighter B lost to fighter C. It also ignores the basic fact that Marquez has had a bit of a ‘mare against Manny in any case. Even if you make a case for him having won all their bouts, you still have to concede Pacquiao has broken his nose, concussed him, and knocked him down five times over 41 rounds. Hardly damning evidence. In my opinion, this fight could live up to its billing. Manny’s hands aren’t what they were many moons ago, but his foot speed is still blinding. Floyd’s feet don’t dance out the pocket like they used to, but he still possesses the best brain in the business. If they are matched up reasonably for hand speed, I think Pacquiao’ superior feet may seal the deal for him. I am going to go Manny by a very close decision, or possibly late knock out