Kallis and Klusener rescue act as South Africa reach final
Port Elizabeth - South Africa's batting dept, so durable during the World Cup, has skated on ice thinner than you would care to imagine this triangular series. They qualified for the final at St George's Park yesterday, however, when the K2 factor came to their rescue yet again.
Just as well South Africa can rely on the talents of man of the match Jacques Kallis and Lance Klusener: falling back on these two as they have often done to restructure something from nothing is finding the right Lego pieces to fit together in the right sequence.
With Shaun Pollock producing his best bowling performance of the series with three wickets up front, South Africa won their final game of the league series on a pitch as dodgy as any drought riddled Karoo cabbage patch you are likely to find.
Little wonder Hansie Cronje admitted about being "a little bothered at lunch" about defending a total of 204. All he has to worry about now is whether the opponents at the Wanderers on Saturday are England or Zimbabwe.
He did agree though that it was going to be a low-scoring game considering the state of the surface prepared for the match. It was more like the old St George's Park sand pits of the 1980s and the UCB need to seriously start thinking about correct pitch preparation at such venues. Batsmen battle to play their strokes and anything above waist high could automatically be classed as a bouncer.
South Africa ran into problems early on when there was the sort of misunderstanding which can undermine any partnership co-ordination. Herschelle Gibbs, looking in fair nick, was stranded more at Louis Koen's end than mid-pitch and, as we know laying the blame in this case is with the non-striker.
Yet at 106 for five with Jonty Rhodes and Cronje already perishing with top-edged strokes when engaging in the risky pull shot, the old firm of man of the match, Kallis and Klusener had to do their Lego rebuilding act yet again this series.
Kallis, though, starting off with two boundaries off Henry Olonga which made a mockery of the pitch conditions, looked in touch: more so than Klusener who had to bat on a pitch which, pour a little water on it, might have been better for making mud pies than scoring runs.
Yet Kallis did his job. He did it well, too. So far his batting most of this series has been the difference between South Africa's success and failure. Batting him at three is preferable to shoving a pinch-hitter when the move is unlikely to work.
He worked the singles well with Klusener as the pair set about to rebuild the total and a partnership of 58 was as good as we were going to get in this match although Neil Johnson and Andy Flower posed a few problems when their partnership started to bloom in the afternoon heat.
With Klusener gone it was left to Kallis to plunder what runs he could and his first boundary in 30 overs gave South Africa a chance to get above the 200 mark.
Gary Brent, so economical, went to 16 in an over, and when he hammered Olonga for six off the last ball of the innings South Africa were looking more in control than they had been throughout the game. The six took Kallis to 98, which under the circumstances was as good as a big 150 on a pitch of reliable bounce and quality.
With Pollock taking two quick wickets Grant Flower for a duck in the first over and Craig Wishart in his next over - South Africa had their northern neighbours in early trouble and they did not get themselves out of it, despite Johnson's half-century and the partnership with Andy Flower.
Cronje had a hand in getting rid of Johnson with a difficult if well-judged catch over his left-shoulder off Klusener's bowling. And the way Henry Williams wrapped up the tail South Africa lifted themselves into the credit balance in terms of net run-rate and to the top of the log.
Which makes Wednesday's game between England and Zimbabwe at Centurion all important for England and yesterday's vanquished Zimbabweans.
