It was the sort of finish television producers dream of: a sensational end with all three results possible until what should have been the last ball. For a scrappy match, it was thoroughly absorbing. Throughout 99 overs, the play never rose above mediocre for longer than 15 minutes at a stretch, and though it's hard not feel a touch of sympathy for West Indies, they were deserving losers. Nine times out of ten, tight matches such as this are won by the side more used to winning and more adept at keeping their wit and nerve under pressure. Throughout the match, West Indies created enough opportunities for themselves - but South Africa, by just being professional and composed, found a way out.

Merv Dillon's last over was a microcosm of what went wrong with West Indies in the match. South Africa had to score 13 to win off six balls. Dillon took two wickets - but amazingly West Indies still lost. Good bowlers operating in situations like this know instinctively that they must do no more than keep the ball full and on the stumps. Yet Dillon's first ball was a full-toss, which Shaun Pollock deposited over long-on for six. It was a wonderful strike under pressure, but Pollock had merely taken advantage of a gift that should never have been presented to him.

Four balls later, Dillon committed one-day cricket's most cardinal sin by bowling a leg-side wide when Nicky Boje had to score three runs from the last ball. Alan Dawson, with only four international matches behind him, had the intelligence to scamper a bye, then sealed the match with a sliced boundary to third man off the extra ball. Dillon ended up with four wickets, but his two bad balls in one over cost West Indies the match.

Talent-wise, this West Indian side isn't as poor as their record suggests. With Brian Lara, Carl Hooper, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, their batting line-up is as good as most, and all of them shone briefly today. But there is an elementary naiveté about West Indies' current cricket that is baffling, because they play a lot of matches.

At the top of the innings, there was extreme bravado at one end and extreme stodge at the other. Chris Gayle batted as if he had a score of 400 in sight, and Chanderpaul stonewalled as if he was still trying to save a Test match. If the West Indians were playing to a plan, it wasn't a smart one - and one-day cricket these days is all about smartness.

All the West Indian batsmen got in, played some handsome strokes, and then threw their wickets away. If one of their top order had managed to hang around till the end, they would probably have made 260, which would have been enough.

South Africa are a side on the decline at the moment. Their great players, Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock - and even Lance Klusener in a one-day context - are well below their best. Their batting, without Gary Kirsten, is shaky at the top. But they still retain their professionalism, and today, it was just about enough to keep them alive.

Sambit Bal is editor of Wisden.com India and Wisden Asia Cricket magazine.

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