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thesouthafrican.com | 08 - 15 April 2014 |
Sport
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Long wait continues for the Proteas
| The long wait for ICC silverware continues for the Proteas after they lost to India on Friday but coach Russell Domingo remains positive and is looking ahead By Jeremy Bortz Although there may have been lower expectations at this past World Cup than previous ones, the pain of defeat is as present as if we had been tournament favourites. The Proteas have now lost in the semi-finals of seven global ICC tournaments – three World Cups, two Champions Trophies and two World Twenty 20s – and are the only major nation not to have won an ICC event in 16 years. This seems incomprehensible with the talent we have, and there are really no answers to explain why this is the case.
Credit must go to Vihrat Kohli; his fine knock of 72 not out, off 44 balls, ensured India were never really in any danger of failing to chase down a competitive total of 172. The bowlers failed to execute properly, however, and conceding nine wides in this short format of the game is always going to make life difficult. For the Proteas, two players in particular had an outstanding tournament. JP Duminy was the first, topping the Proteas’ runscoring list, accumulating 187 runs at an average 62.33, and a strike rate of 140.60. The second was legspinner Imran Tahir who picked up
Winter time set on fire with red hot touch action
| As the old saying goes – time flies when you’re having fun by Jessica Powell And don’t we know it, because it’s WINTER FINALS TIME ALREADY! That’s right, after 7 hard weeks of fighting it out, and giving it their all – teams are now on the countdown to the ‘battle royale’ of the O2 Touch Winter League 2014 finals. With 2014 bringing out some amazing weather each Sunday games were played, the Winter League has been very different this year compared to last (when it was being played in the snow!). With the banners flying and team spirit’s soaring even higher – this Sunday will see some sure fire action hitting the pitches. With 2 Mixed divisions and 1 Men’s – there is going to be some great skill showcased on the pitches. Going into the Division 1 Final are two of London’s Sunday league rivals – Hot Custard and Chili Mixed. Chilis are going into the final having won 5 of the 6 games played (drawing to Gurus) and Hot Custard have won 4 from 6, with the other game results being losing one and drawing one (also Gurus). Both teams showcase some extremely skilled players, some who even represent on a National level. Taking the pitch for the Hot Custard team will be England Representative players such as Adam Reid, Angela Verniquet and James Robinson – who will all bring some extremely valuable talents to the pitch. Aussie fire powers Leigh Wylie & Christian Alonzo will no doubt also be dazzling the opponents with some fancy footwork. Division 2 Finals are between Sparky the Wonderdog and Baa Baas. Going through the season undefeated, team Sparky the Wonderdog will be feeling pretty confident about this final – but, Baa Baas won’t be going down without a fight! Both teams are regulars in our Spring and Summer
competitions and have a lot of playing experience behind them. So, this will be a fight to the finish! In the Men’s final, it’s the undefeated GT-RPM (Gurus Touch) taking on Hot Custard Men’s. Talk about grudge matches! Both these teams are long standing, competitive London based clubs – who both have players who regularly compete in both national and international competitions. Neither team will be going down without a fight – 100% effort – everything you have – leave it on the pitch! All finals and games this Sunday will show people passing by – what touch is about. Playing harder, and then partying even harder when it’s done! Presentations will be done at GIGALUM after the days games have finished. With BASEMENT JAXX playing at Gigalum that day also – this will be a finals day to remember! But don’t worry as you haven’t missed out because there is still time to register for our 2014 Spring and Summer Leagues starting on 28th April 2014. Teams and Individuals welcome! For more information go to www. in2touch.com/uk or contact Jess at jess@in2touch.com.
12 wickets at an average of 10.91. Dale Steyn, too, bowled magnificently at times, especially against New Zealand, while AB de Villiers underlined once more why he, without doubt, is one of the world’s premier batsman. Despite the loss, coach Russel Domingo remained positive. “It was very disappointing to lose to India,” Domingo said. “But we played good cricket for most of the game. We made a few basic errors which proved costly.” Domingo went on to say wholesale changes were not the answer and many of these players would be in Australia and New
Zealand next year (for the 50 over World Cup): “There is a good future for this team. It is a major positive that the majority of this team form the nucleus of the one-day team as well… we can build on that,” Domingo said. “It’s disappointing to exit the tournament because we believe we are good enough to win tournaments like these, but we are on the right track. We played some good games under pressure earlier in the tournament and the way we handled some of those tough situations can only stand us in good stead going forward,” he said. The South African women’s
cricket team also bowed out of the World Twenty20 in the semifinals on Friday, losing to England in Dhaka by nine wickets, with 19 balls remaining. It was only the second time that the women’s Proteas had made the semi-finals of an ICC tournament. Previously they had played in the final four of the 2000 World Cup. And so the countdown begins again ... it’s 315 days until the Proteas play their first match of the World Cup against Zimbabwe in Hamilton, New Zealand. Until then, they have another meager international calendar to get ready for next year.
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