Times Media
TELFORD VICE, Hamilton
“THAT tag will never go away,” Allan Donald said on Thursday in answer to a familiar question. No, he was not talking about the C-word. Instead, he was talking about the F-word.
“We’re always coming here as favourites,” Donald said. But, soon, he brought the C-word into the conversation himself: “I suppose your next question will be how we deal with the chokers’ tag.”
Funny he should mention it ...
“We embraced that four years ago,” Donald said. “It’s something we have taken on board; we’ve faced it right from the word go. It will never go away until we win an ICC (International Cricket Council) event. We’ve got to come out here and prove it.”
SA have the chance to start doing exactly that when they take on Zimbabwe at Seddon Park in Hamilton in the early hours of tomorrow morning in the first of the six pool matches they will play in the next month.
The Zimbabweans would seem to be little more than points fodder for SA, having won just two of the 36 completed one-day internationals the teams have contested.
But, under new coach Dav Whatmore, they beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets in a warm-up match on Wednesday. On Monday, they had New Zealand on the ropes at 157/7 when rain ended the game.
In their own warm-ups, SA had to fight hard to beat Sri Lanka by five wickets and crashed to defeat against New Zealand by 134 runs.
More evidence of Zimbabwe’s serious approach came with their postponement of Thursday’s training session to late afternoon to acclimatise to playing at night. Just 94 of their 437 ODIs - less than a quarter - have been day-night games. SA have played 251 of their 528 matches in the format - almost half - under lights.
Still, anything less than a resounding win will represent failure for SA. Donald betrayed that open secret when he talked himself into a tangle about the Zimbabweans.
”All these so-called minnow teams ...,” he began before realising his mistake and backtracking like a penguin on ice. “ ... And Zimbabwe are no minnow team. They’re a full member of the ICC and they’ve always found a way to scrap.
“There’s no way anyone in this World Cup will disrespect Zimbabwe because some of these teams are going to upset a team throughout this World Cup. We’re taking them absolutely very seriously.
“They’re tough, gritty. They find a way. They’re the sort of team that never really go away.”
Nice, but too late. However, with De Villiers and Hashim Amla at the top of the batting rankings and Quinton de Kock at No. 10 - the only other side with three players in the top 10 are India - SA are a threat to every attack at the World Cup.
SA, Pakistan and Australia each have two men among the top 10 bowlers. SA’s prime pair are Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel. But Donald knew the South Africans would need the best their bowlers could give.
“The pitches are going to be pure; they’re going to be very good,” he said. “So taking wickets up front in the powerplay is going to be massive for everyone.
“That ball’s got to swing; we’ve got to find a way to get that ball reversing.”
SA’s leading exponent of that art is Steyn. However, he conceded 40 runs in seven wicketless overs against Sri Lanka and was listed as “rested” for the New Zealand game.
When SA warmed up on Thursday with a game of football, Steyn was nowhere to be seen. He did join the training session later, in the company of Farhaan Behardien - who missed the New Zealand match with a stiff back.
Should South Africans be worried?
“Everyone’s fine; everyone’s ready to go,” Donald said. “In the previous game we rested Dale, making sure he’s 110% ready to go. It was more from a freshness point of view.”
Then Donald said out loud what everyone has been thinking for weeks now: “The World Cup is right here. Let’s just get on with it.”
The phony war is over.
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