All of us we like to get into the tiniest of details regarding the sports we are passionate about. Trying to get under it's skin to see some logical cause and effect that others may have not in order to be more knowledgeable about something we care so much about.
This thread is NOT about that.
This is about those moments that are about raw emotion. Moments that as a neutral moved you as if it the team suffering was your own.
For me the semi final between Australia and South Africa in 1999 was just that (at least the more I look back on it).
Getting the job done
Lance Klusner seemed infallible in that tournament. He was a man mountain of a batsman at the time who closed matches like no other. With a batting stance that resembled that was more baseball and less cricket, he was a pain to bowl and when in the right mood. And in the 1999 world cup he was in the right mood.
It's true that he didn't pile on a huge amount of runs but his role was primarily of a finisher and he did that amazingly well. At an average of 140.50 and a strike rate of 122, he was dismissed a grand total of TWO times that tournament. Than man would not be moved.
Chokers Gonna Choke?
But during the ride that was that amazing feat came this moment. Semi final against Autralia, the stage was set for South Africa's golden era of cricketers to take their place at the pinnacle of the game. This was a team that had everything to be the best. In addition to their vast array of all rounders they had the best fielder in the world and Alan fecking Donald, one of great fast bowlers and also one of the scariest.
And like in most games before this Klusner once again showed his brilliance and nerves of steele. It was all set up for him to write his names into the history books of South African cricket and indeed South Africa itself. And he delivered. In a short but quick knock he blew the wind out of the Australian sails. Noone had an answer to him at this moment. He was writing his own script and a fairly dramatic one at that.
But in the space of a few minutes something strange transpired and South Africa were out of the world cup. From a position of not absolute but relative certainty they had lost. The Australian players were delirious out what looked more like shock than expectation, and the South Africans torn.
This moment was possibly the one that decided which team would dominate world cricket and World Cups for the next decade. Australia won 3 on the bounce. I'd suggest that had it been SA that won that tight affair they may have gone on to dominate cricket the way the Australians had.
This particular rolling stone did gather moss. The term chokers continued to become synonymous with them no matter what they did and how well they did it. I'll leave it up to you guys to decide whether they did indeed choke that day against Australia. All I will say is that can someone who delivered the knock out blow so often where anyone else would have panicked be a choker?
This thread is NOT about that.
This is about those moments that are about raw emotion. Moments that as a neutral moved you as if it the team suffering was your own.
For me the semi final between Australia and South Africa in 1999 was just that (at least the more I look back on it).
Getting the job done
Lance Klusner seemed infallible in that tournament. He was a man mountain of a batsman at the time who closed matches like no other. With a batting stance that resembled that was more baseball and less cricket, he was a pain to bowl and when in the right mood. And in the 1999 world cup he was in the right mood.
It's true that he didn't pile on a huge amount of runs but his role was primarily of a finisher and he did that amazingly well. At an average of 140.50 and a strike rate of 122, he was dismissed a grand total of TWO times that tournament. Than man would not be moved.
Chokers Gonna Choke?
But during the ride that was that amazing feat came this moment. Semi final against Autralia, the stage was set for South Africa's golden era of cricketers to take their place at the pinnacle of the game. This was a team that had everything to be the best. In addition to their vast array of all rounders they had the best fielder in the world and Alan fecking Donald, one of great fast bowlers and also one of the scariest.
And like in most games before this Klusner once again showed his brilliance and nerves of steele. It was all set up for him to write his names into the history books of South African cricket and indeed South Africa itself. And he delivered. In a short but quick knock he blew the wind out of the Australian sails. Noone had an answer to him at this moment. He was writing his own script and a fairly dramatic one at that.
But in the space of a few minutes something strange transpired and South Africa were out of the world cup. From a position of not absolute but relative certainty they had lost. The Australian players were delirious out what looked more like shock than expectation, and the South Africans torn.
This moment was possibly the one that decided which team would dominate world cricket and World Cups for the next decade. Australia won 3 on the bounce. I'd suggest that had it been SA that won that tight affair they may have gone on to dominate cricket the way the Australians had.
This particular rolling stone did gather moss. The term chokers continued to become synonymous with them no matter what they did and how well they did it. I'll leave it up to you guys to decide whether they did indeed choke that day against Australia. All I will say is that can someone who delivered the knock out blow so often where anyone else would have panicked be a choker?
