Winning the gold medal at the Commonwealth games is fantastic. Beating New Zealand in the final is priceless.
As Supersport puts it:
Their 17-12 victory meant that the Kiwis lost their first ever match in the Commonwealth Games, after going through the previous four Games unbeaten and winning gold on each occasion.
Will Proteas hold the fort?
Armchair critics asked whether the home side did not delay the declaration too long, while others wondered how dangerous spinners could be to batsmen in failing light. They forget that there is also a danger to fielders in the (unlikely) event of an aggressive shot by the batsmen.
One comment on Cricinfo that really made me smile, reads: “
Why is everyone whining when they have gone for bad light, I know spinners were bowling but it’s a dark red ball and if batsmen can’t see the ball properly they can lose their wicket which can be a disadvantage to the batting team.”
Oi!
With 41 overs remaining at the time of writing, and the likelihood of bad light reducing this even further, it appears that South Africa may just sneak a series win in Sri Lanka. As my colleague Bobby Londt points out, the last time Sri Lanka lost a series at home was in 1993. No prizes for guessing who they lost to. Brett Schultz and Alan Donald annihilated the tea farmers to secure the series win.
Sharks Falter
What a sad way for the Sharks to end a rugby series in which they headed the log for most of the time. Jake White’s plea for a new format concerning the finals on Friday made me wonder if this is not also the way the team felt. One got the impression that they ran on, believing that the match was a forgone conclusion, and just went through the motions.
The reality is of course that they actually lost the competition a few weeks ago when they were beaten by the Cheetahs and the Stormers. It was really a “mission impossible” that they embarked on after not winning a home semi-final.
It was sadly embarrassing to see how the men from Durban faltered, and were being out-brained by the Crusaders. As one Sharks supporter commented in an email: “We adapted the old mantra to read: we saved our worst for last.”
Tim Clarke Hoists the Jolly Roger
One Lone Shark who did not let the Piesang Republiek down was Tim Clarke who beat Jim Furyk by one shot after being four shots behind after a bogey at the first hole at the Canadian Open.
Dis maar ‘n skrale troos vir die manne van KZN, maar al ons kort slaners van die gholfbal put baie moed uit sy ongelooflike kortspel.
Soos die gesegde lui: lengte is nie al wat saak maak nie.
