Zimbabwe scores a last ball win

By Ted Corbett

DURBAN, FEB. 3. South Africa has one of the great crowd pullers in the modern game in the multi-skilled Lance Klusener. So why is it reluctant to use him in a greater variety of roles?. As it lost to Zimbabwe by two wickets off the last ball - leaving all three teams (England being the other country) with four points and with only three matches remaining - it was abundantly clear that it must make the most of this thrilling all-rounder.

The South Africans may even wonder if his shoulder charge which he demonstrated against the Zimbabwe captain Andy Flower could become a permanent part of their battle plan.

Instead of experimenting South Africa failed to seize the opportunity to push him higher up the batting order and Klusener was also left out of the bowling attack until the 21st over. He rubbed home the lesson by making 65 from 84 balls and taking a wicket with his second ball.

That wicket, a contentious lbw decision against Murray Goodwin, gave him 100 one-day International wickets to go with 1,000 runs by his 70th match - a double that leaves him second to Shaun Pollock who achieved the feat in 68 games and ahead of Ian Botham (75 matches). What else does Klusener need on his CV to persuade his bosses he is the most potent weapon in their armoury?

The two innings were curiously similar as neither batting line-up moved into top gear until the last ten overs. Jacques Kallis and Klusener put on 53 as the major contribution to their innings while their captain Andy Flower, who hit 59, and Gary Whittall with 39 put Zimbabwe on the track for its dramatic victory, the first over South Africa in this country.

``It was pretty nervy out there,'' said Flower, the man of the match. ``If we had lost we could have gone out but we are right back in it and the series is set for a dramatic ending.''

It will hardly be tighter than the last over of this match when only four were needed for a Zimbabwe victory. Three of the balls from Jacques Kallis produced no runs and the final run was a scramble from a blind slog.

Zimbabwe might have won more easily if it had not had its world turned upside down by three poor lbw decisions against Grant Flower, off his first ball, Goodwin and Stuart Carlisle. It is sad to say, but with the exception of the last few overs, the match was played by both sides without enthusiasm.

Of course this tournament is heavily weighted in favour of South Africa; but not as home flavoured as the Carlton and United series in Australia. Watching that series on television here it is easy to admire the zip, the energy and the fury that goes into the Australian performances.

South Africa's openers Herschelle Gibbs and Louis Koen put on 40 as the sixth wicket fell at 112 and it looked as if the stereotyped thinking and run-of-the-mill batting had produced nothing more than a deep hole. Kallis batted with his usual calm, if without any great enterprise, and his 52 off 96 balls was the backbone of a innings that did not get airborne until Klusener appeared. What are the thinking processes in a dressing room which cause Klusener, with his threat of violence and his incredible strength, to arrive on the scene and strain every muscle to change the course of events. For the first half of his knock Klusener could hardly get the ball away but eventually the old devil emerged in a series of hammer blows. Two sixes brought the crowd to their feet but South Africa's 222 for seven was a timid effort. The sight of Klusener coming in at No. 3 might have been enough to panic Zimbabwe but the South African leadership preferred the orthodox approach.

The series table (read as Team, played, won, lost, points, run rate): Zimbabwe: 4, 2, 2, 4, 0.11; England 4, 2, 2, 4, 0.03; South Africa 4, 2, 2, 4, -0.19.

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