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Shameful defeat for rudderless Gauteng

By Guy Hawthorne

27 January 1998


In what was a dramatic first in top-class cricket on South African soil, Gauteng yesterday lost seven wickets for no runs, in the space of 34 deliveries, as they were humiliatingly humbled by Northerns Titans in a SuperSport Series match at the Wanderers.

Of more concern to Gauteng than the 236-run margin of defeat will be the fact that an experienced batting lineup - with all the players having represented their country at some level - simply lacked the capacity to deal with a Fanie de Villiers-inspired Northerns attack that was, in a word, magnificent.

As well as Northerns bowled - and they did maintain a superb line and length throughout the calamitous collapse - the number of Gauteng batsmen who fell with futile flaps outside the off stump will have raised the ire of the home side's selectors.

Having been set 311 for victory by the Titans, in a minimum of 92 overs, Gauteng went from 12 for one wicket to 12/7 as Mark Benfield, Sven Koenig, captain Ken Rutherford, Derek Crookes, Neil McKenzie, Nic Pothas and Zander de Bruyn came and went to the open-mouthed disbelief of the sparse crowd.

De Villiers (33), who once again proved to the national selectors that there is no substitute for a classy swing bowler, was Northerns' destroyer-in-chief and went into the lunch break, with Gauteng on 17/7, with the impressive figures of 7-6-1-4.

He eventually finished with 4/11; left-arm seamer Greg Smith captured 3/16 and Steve Elworthy took 1/13 in a Gauteng innings which beat the previous record for their lowest score against their neighbours - 79 way back in the 1961/62 season.

``It was a pretty poor effort, really,'' said Rutherford in a classic case of understatement. ``To get bowled out for such a meagre total is very demoralising.

``It was a good four-day wicket. There was a bit there for the bowlers and if you got in as a batter, and got through 20 runs, it was difficult to get out. The players have been coached since the year dot and if they aren't up to it then we have to go out and find others who are capable.

``Look at out lineup. They are all SA A players or SA under-19 players. I've admittedly got the benefit of experience. I know what to do to get things right and some of the other players probably don't. Often to succeed you have to learn how to accept failure and some of our younger players are struggling to do that.

``I played for Otago in New Zealand when we lost, I think, five wickets for no runs. It's one of those things you sometimes have to accept. What I can't accept is the number of our top six batsmen that were caught in the arc behind the wicket playing exhuberant shots.''

Rutherford did admit that the loss of batting coach Jimmy Cook, who now heads up the Gauteng academy, might have had an impact. ``It's fair to say that losing our batting coach when we did was not an ideal situation. But, at the end of the day, the players at this level should be good enough to do the job.''Maybe one of the reasons for this sort of thing is the fact that it is all laid on at Gauteng. We are supplied with cars and kit and we have to ask ourselves if we are deserving of that. Right now, I don't think we are.''

The man-of-the-match award was presented to the entire Titans team, but the visitors passed it on to Martin van Jaarsveld who made 134 in the second innings.


Source: The Star
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Date-stamped : 25 Feb1998 - 19:15