3rd ODI: West Indies v South Africa

[Ninjaman]

Hurts even more when you consider that we actually DID score the runs to win the game.

[Occasional Fan]

Are you telling me that someone ran a couple of short ones? That really is too bad! Being bowled out two runs short of the target is tough, but that sort of contribution one can really do without!

[Paoli]

Good on ya Charl, its tha stuff we all dream about isn't it, taking a hatrick of the last three balls to win the match.

I'm not going to say I feel sorry for the Windies, because the way I saw it, they weren't three "pearlers" from Langeveldt, they should've dealt with one of them, so in reality the Windies only have themselves to blame. Must hurt though, Ninja?

[Teatime FatCat]

Originally Posted by Occasional Fan

Are you telling me that someone ran a couple of short ones? That really is too bad! Being bowled out two runs short of the target is tough, but that sort of contribution one can really do without!

No, Windies were given 2 runs instead of 4 when a fielder was touching the ball and the rope, and the umpires didn't refer it!

[Teatime FatCat]

Originally Posted by Paoli69

Good on ya Charl, its tha stuff we all dream about isn't it, taking a hatrick of the last three balls to win the match.

I'm not going to say I feel sorry for the Windies, because the way I saw it, they weren't three "pearlers" from Langeveldt, they should've dealt with one of them, so in reality the Windies only have themselves to blame. Must hurt though, Ninja?

I totally agree, two runs missed or not, that was an appalling display by the last 3 Windies batters, who should be ashamed of themselves. Charl bowled well, but they were not three unplayable balls. Powell and Bradshaw played shockers and should have been given a right bollocking.

[Occasional Fan]

Originally Posted by Teatime FatCat

No, Windies were given 2 runs instead of 4 when a fielder was touching the ball and the rope, and the umpires didn't refer it!

Ah-ha! Ddin't see that mentioned in the reports this morning. Thanks for clarifying, TTFC. The BBC report suggests that Kallis may have been caught behind before he was off the mark. Sounds as though the West Indies were pig unlucky. What a game to have been at though: I was at Newlands when South Africa beat England by 1 run in 2000 and came out of the ground with no fingernails.

[Pete]

Swings and roundabouts I guess. The opposite happened in the first ODI. Pollock chased the ball and threw it back, obvious to everyone that his foot didn't touch the rope, but the third umpire gave the West Indies 4 runs instead of 3.

[Mike]

Originally Posted by cricinfo

But it was Kallis's innings that will really rankle with the West Indians. Moments after Dwayne Smith had produced a sensational catch at gully to remove Graeme Smith (43 for 1), Kallis appeared to have been caught-behind for a third-ball duck, as Bradshaw found his edge with a perfect-length delivery. The umpire, Darrell Hair, however, thought otherwise and with that reprieve under his belt, Kallis's response was utterly typical.

Kallis went on to make 87 in a 194-run partnership with Boeta Dippenaar.

A bad umpiring decision has effected the outcome of the entire series. I've said it before and it deserves to be said again but I think the captains should be given a quota of appeals to the video ref (third umpire).

[Occasional Fan]

I don't agree with that, Mike: I'm happy enough with the umpire's decision being final. Some you win, some you lose, and there are two more games to go which South Africa look likely on present form to win, so I'm not even sure that the "wrong" decision will ultimately be shown to have any effect at all.

Interestingly, the BBC's report this morning attributes the failure to give Kallis out to umpire Eddie Nicholls. So - whose call was it?

[Ninjaman]

If anyone has read anything I've posted since the short time I've been here, you would know that I am the last person to ease up on any of these gys.

In fact, God/Buddha/Allah etc... help them if I was the coach!!!

Bradshaw, Powell and Collymore would be doing some hard manual work right about now!!

What happened yesterday should highlight what I have been trying to say about our players.

First off, I did say that we chase better than we set targets.

I would think the reasons for that are clear now.

Secondly, our defeat once again shows all who think it is a small matter of changing the captain, having team building matters and having belief that will stop oir downward slide, that it actually is going to take more than that.

Yes, Bradshaw, Powell and Collymore are not batsmen and can't be expected to hit more than 10 in any circumstance BUT as international cricketers, they should at least understand what they are doing and have some form of cricketing nous.

Langeveldt was ALWAYS going to bowl straight and full.

And thus the three of them could have just played with a straight bat.

Just work one of those balls away or even drop it at your feet and run as fast as you can!!!

Something other than trying to bang it out of the park!!!

This is the type of cricketing naivete that is ever so prevalent in the WI cricketer coming through today.

Games like this just show the folly of blaming one person or the captain for losses.

Yesterday, hurt but not that much surprisingly.

Hell, it's not like we've been winning a lot of things recently, is it?