da fezbet： “A clinical and professional performance plus a proud moment,” was the wayShaun Pollock summed up the feelings of the team after winning the secondCastle Lager/MTN Test against Pakistan by an innings and 142 runs in CapeTown and in so doing
Keith Lane05-Jan-2003″A clinical and professional performance plus a proud moment,” was the wayShaun Pollock summed up the feelings of the team after winning the secondCastle Lager/MTN Test against Pakistan by an innings and 142 runs in CapeTown and in so doing wrapping up the series two-nil.”It is good to win in this fashion, which means that the work we have put inover the past months has paid off”, Pollock added in praising his team forthe way they had batted, bowled and fielded during the last three series played.Winning six out of six Test matches, four of them by an innings, has helpedSouth Africa displace Australia at the top of the ICC Test Championshiptable.Pakistan were completely outplayed in the series. They were out-batted,out-bowled and out-fielded by a professional team cresting the wave afterrecent convincing victories.”We were very poor in our batting, bowling and fielding throughout the Testand one-day series,” said Waqar Younis, “never taking the chances that wereoffered we performed very badly.””We now have a fair idea of the conditions in South Africa and will have togo home, gather ourselves and return more positive for the World Cup.” Waqarsaid.Chances they were given, Man-of-the-match, Herschelle Gibbs gave two in hisrecord 228, on 29 and 99, while Graeme Smith went on to make 151 after beingdropped on 54.These chances may have made a difference to the margin of victory, but itwas the Pakistan batting that left the visitors in the lurch.Apart from the young and relatively inexperienced Taufeeq Umar, making 135and 67 and who has a great future in Test cricket, the remaining batsmenjust never showed enough application or concentration. Far too many batsmengot themselves out after reaching thirties and forties when big scores wereexpected from them.Inzamam-ul-Haq and Yousuf Youhana arrived in South Africa with tremendousreputations, but left with their images severely tarnished. The work horses of the Pakistan middle order had failed miserably and the team suffered accordingly. Batting on a pitch that was made to order for thebatsmen, no excuse can be given for the inability to bat for long periods.The bowling was also of a poor standard, never fully coming to grips withthe South African conditions. They bowled down the wrong channels and attimes were far too short. Saqlain Mushtaq ended the series with the bestaverage amongst the Pakistan bowlers – 52.00 – but showed a definite lackof penetration.In the last seven Test matches Pakistan have lost five, three by an innings,which does not bode well for either their bowlers or their batsmen.South Africa in comparison were magnificent in both disciplines. Scoringnearly a 1,000 runs and taking all 40 wickets in the two Tests put themmiles ahead of their opponents.Man-of-the-Series, Makhaya Ntini, after taking 12 wickets against SriLanka, improved on that taking 13 wickets in the two Tests. Always a threatwith his length and pace, he gave all the Pakistan batsmen a torrid time atthe wicket. “I have enjoyed it and feel wonderful that everything is comingtogether, to bowl with Polly (Shaun Pollock) has been a dream throughout mycareer,” Ntini beamed on collecting his award.Mornatau Hayward and Shaun Pollock were just as menacing, making vitalbreakthroughs when things seemed to be slipping away.Gibbs, Smith, Gary Kirsten, Jacques Kallis, Boeta Dippenaar, Neil McKenzie,Mark Boucher and Pollock all featured with the bat. Records were set, andpersonal milestones were made with each batsman spending valuable time atthe crease and building confidence.The only negative for South Africa being the amount of verbal abuse that isforthcoming from some of the bowlers. Television cameras zoom into bowlerson their follow through making it fairly easy to lip read what is beingsaid. A bit of sledging is all part of the game, but surely some of theplayers are overdoing it, especially when you win by an innings.