Brian Lara's brave men conquered the sub-continental powers with grit and determination and had a fair chance Sunday till the 27th over but then the game gradually slipped away from them. A very resolute and professional attitude of the Proteas saw them through. Both Daryll Cullinan and left-hander Mike Rindel went about their job with aplomb until Keith Arthurton dislodged the stumps with a direct throw before Cullinan could reach home.
The experiment with Boucher was a flop but Jacques Kallis together with Rindel took the score to 118 until he decided to do a little catching practise with Phil Simmons. Cronje stepped in at an important moment of the innings and engaged himself in the repair job.
But a bad call saw Rindel, who was playing extremely well and only one short of a deserving half century, stranded almost half way to a direct hit by another left-hander, Arthurton. At the end of the match Cronje admitted that he almost made the task difficult by giving a bad call to Rindel. Cronje may not technically be a highly competent batsman, but he proved himself a very sensible human being. It takes tons of courage to admit one's own fault. Perhaps this was a good reason for him to be a great leader.
Dale Benkenstein played very sensibly to lend crucial support to his captain and when he departed at 211, the South Africans were under pressure again. But Derek Crookes, who had done the biggest damage to the West Indies earlier in the day by bowling Lara out, showed no signs of nerves and with Cronje he saw his side through to victory remaining unbeaten on a 77-ball 61.
It was a pleasant day and when the Caribbeans were put to bat on another usual slow track. Cronje followed the game plan right from the first delivery bowled by off-spinner Pat Symcox. He bowled exceptionally well to his field, so did all the bowlers except Crookes. The field placing was so meticulous that both Clayton Lambert and Phillo Wallace found it difficult to penetrate. Wallace presented another scintillating innings to the capacity crowd, the fourth century of the tournament. Shivnarine Chanderpaul found the going too tough and Lara made his intention very clear as he missed a big hit off the first ball he faced but did not last long as Crookes bowled him round his legs to end his misery. Carl Hooper tried to keep the innings together but Jacques Kallis, the wonderful allrounder, was at his best with the ball taking five wickets.
The South Africans proved once again that they are, perhaps, the best one-day side at this moment. Without five of the big names in world cricket, Cronje's men proved beyond doubt that it did not take genius to win matches. He assured that they would like to come back to play cricket here.
Many many congratulations to South Africa and better luck to all the other teams that played here and were the source of joy for us.
Tailpiece: There was a small matter of printer's devil in this column yesterday. West Indies scored 140 against India in the 1983 World Cup final. The additional three runs to the total was the work of the 'devil' for which we apologise.