West Indies v South Africa - Greatest Cricket World Cup rivalries
Shivnarine Chanderpaul compiled a sedate 60-ball 34, but Carl Hooper got things moving with a run-a-ball 40, before Ricardo Powell (40 not out in 18 balls) and Ramnaresh Sarwan (32 not out in 15 balls) turned it on towards the end as West Indies added 110 in the last ten overs.
South Africa, docked one over for slow over-rate, had a tough task but contributions by a number of batsmen kept it in the hunt. Herschelle Gibbs (24), Gary Kirsten (69) and Mark Boucher (49) did well, and then it came down to Lance Klusener and Nicky Boje. The man who could make the difference was Klusener, and he did his bit, smashing five sixes in a 48-ball 57 before being dismissed in the 49th over – the last. And, once he fell, South Africa fell too, a loss that went a long way in the team being knocked out in the first round.
Match 4: ICC Cricket World Cup 2007, Grenada
If West Indies handed South Africa defeat in what was South Africa’s home World Cup, West Indies was paid back in the same coin in 2007. The loss sent the home side out of its own party as a result.
It was the Super Eights, and Brian Lara, the West Indies captain, inserted South Africa at the National Stadium in Grenada, and then watched as AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, Herschelle Gibbs and Mark Boucher pounded his bowlers into submission. Graeme Smith fell early, but de Villiers then put on 170 runs with Kallis (81), and 70 with Gibbs, before falling for 146, scored from 130 balls. Gibbs continued, scoring an unbeaten 61 from 40 balls, and Boucher pitched in with a 23-ball 52, and West Indies had a chase of 357 lined up.
West Indies needed to score at over seven an over, but by the 12th over, it was 69 for 3. Wickets fell at regular intervals, and it was only Ramnaresh Sarwan’s belligerent 92 and a late blast from Daren Powell that took West Indies to 289 for 9 – 67 runs short of where it needed to be. It was a one-sided game all the way, and South Africa had levelled scores at 2-2 as far as World Cup matches went.
Match 5: ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, New Delhi
West Indies and South Africa met in a Group B game at Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi in the 2011 edition, and viewers were served up a one-sided contest, with West Indies never really threatening South Africa.
After being asked to bat, West Indies rode on Darren Bravo’s 82-ball 73 and contributions from Devon Smith (36), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (31) and Dwayne Bravo (40) to reach 222 before being bowled out in the 48th over. It was a dominant bowling performance on the whole from South Africa, with Johan Botha (2/48), Dale Steyn (3/24) and Imran Tahir (4/41) doing all the damage.
The target was never likely to worry South Africa, and it didn’t, even though Kemar Roach sent Hashim Amla back early and Sulieman Benn accounted for Jacques Kallis to leave South Africa at 20 for 2 by the end of the fifth over. AB de Villiers, however, was at it again, scoring an unbeaten 107 from 105 balls to guide the chase. He first shared a 119-run stand with Graeme Smith (45) and then had JP Duminy (42 not out) accompanying him to the end, which came in the 43rd over.
What to expect in #cwc2015
It’s 3-2 for South Africa in World Cup encounters between the two sides, and the West Indians would have to play out of their skins in Sydney on February 27 if they want to draw level with South Africa at 3-3.
South Africa is, without doubt, one of the most complete One-Day International teams in the world at the moment, and among the frontrunners to lift the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup trophy. West Indies, on the other hand, is among the middle-rungers, and will come into the tournament after suffering a 4-1 loss against South Africa in January 2015.
The neutrals’ prediction might be for South Africa, but as the West Indies showed in 1996 and 2003, predictions on paper count for little and individual brilliance can carry the day spectacularly. A few mighty blows from Chris Gayle, a few other performances of note, and, who knows what the people at SCG will get to witness.
