A B de Villiers hits a fifty

A B de Villiers hit 54 for South Africa against Sri Lanka. No-one else passed fifty, so we're singling him out.

A lot of people are pretty turned off by the low scores in this Champions' Trophy, but we're finding it refreshing. Quite often there'll be one batsmen who makes a score and the remainder won't get out of single figures. Are the batsmen who prosper better-equipped? Maybe there's a wealth of flat-track bullies in international cricket these days due to the better pitches. Perhaps they're all being found out in more testing conditions.

Either way, certain batsmen are adapting and the majority aren't. A B de Villiers is a canny sort of batsman and he did enough yesterday. He's been opener, wicketkeeper and batted just about everywhere for South Africa. He's clearly a flexible sort of a bloke and that's doubtless his strength in testing conditions.

Makhaya Ntini does some strike bowling

We forgot about Makhaya Ntini when we said that Shane Bond was flying the fast bowling flag the other day. Give the flag to Makhaya, Shane.

We became an Ntini convert in April when he seemed to have completed the transition into a fully-fledged strike bowler. He took five wickets in five overs today utterly demolishing Pakistan. It was clearly Ridiculous Pakistan who had turned up, as opposed to Sublime Pakistan, but still. Well played that man.

Pakistan were all out for 89. Earlier in the day South Africa were 42-5, so it was quite a comeback to post 213 and then defend it with ease. It partially vindicated their policy of batting down to number nine. Although as we see it, Ntini's performance vindicated the policy of selecting your best bowlers.

The Justin Kemp Tactic

We've known about the Justin Kemp Tactic for quite some time now. It's South Africa's only one-day tactic and, if we're perfectly honest, it's exactly the same as the Lance Klusener Tactic.

It runs as follows. South Africa's top-order batsmen steadily build a platform and when a wicket falls with about 10 or 20 overs to go, Justin Kemp is launched from said platform by a thermonuclear detonation in his special 'rocket shoes'.

Today Justin Kemp hit exactly 100 not out off 89 balls. It wasn't a classically executed example of the Justin Kemp Tactic, in that he came in a bit early and a bit low in the order. However, from then on, things went swimmingly.

We like Justin Kemp. He likes to swing the bat.

Nicky Boje retires

It's a harsh world where Ashley Giles gets vilified for being a middling spinner who can bat a bit. So how come Nicky Boje was never held in such low esteem. Here's a player who managed to play 43 Tests and averaged virtually the same figure with the ball.

The only possible explanation for Nicky Boje's repeated inclusion in South African Test sides was that they were experimenting to see just how many batsmen they could field before anyone noticed. Because Nicky Boje was a batsman, really, wasn't he? He was probably the best number nine batsman there's ever been.

We've nothing against Nicky Boje per se. We just feel that he's emblematic of South Africa's innate conservatism of selection. Much as Ashley Giles is for England, currently.

Nicky Boje was of course implicated in the Hansie Cronje match-fixing scandal. We wouldn’t be the first to question whether it was physically possible for Nicky Boje to underperform.

Makhaya Ntini is still one of our favourites

Not so long ago, we quite genuinely lost our temper with people pronouncing singer-songwriter Paolo Nutini's name exactly how it's supposed to be pronounced. We blithely assumed that it was spelt 'Ntini' and pronounced accordingly. We've since refined our view. We now believe that Paolo Nutini's name is both pronounced AND spelt wrong.

Earlier in the year, we went Makhaya Ntini mental for about a day. We haven't lost interest. Well, we have a bit, but that's only natural. We get a bit over-enthused about things when we're 'in the moment'. Afterwards we become more reasonable and less frighteningly intense.

South Africa have beaten India in the second Test and Ntini was 'the man'. There's been proper cricket in this series with lots of scores of 200-and-odd and none of the massive scores that are becoming increasingly common. Bowlers help in this regard. Makhaya Ntini is a particularly good one.

Ntini took a tidy 3-41 in the first innings but followed that up with something even better. He took India's first five wickets and reduced them to 83-5. If only he could have picked up a couple more, but sadly not. He finished with 5-48.

Makhaya Ntini: Better than drinking port while watching the Sopranos.

Note to Ntini's agent: You can use that.

Makhaya Ntini takes five wickets

Makhyaya Ntini took five wickets again today. This happens quite often and we always draw attention to it, but then realise that we haven't actually got anything to say.

It was 5-83 against Pakistan today, which is really good, but not, you know, earth-shattering.

Have we mentioned the thing about how we thought people were pronouncing Paolo Nutini's name wrong because of Makhaya? We have? Oh, er, we're pretty much out then. Maybe we should just toast him, being as it's a Friday night.

To Makhaya Ntini!

Shaun Pollock - a couple for not much

If you asked us whether we were angry or amazed about Shaun Pollock, on balance we'd have to say that we were angry.

He started off as a genuinely fast bowler and a batsman of pretty sizeable potential. As time has gone on, he's become slower and slower, eventually settling for being a bore 'em out line and length merchant. He's also never been given as much batting responsibility as he perhaps warrants. His Test average is 32, yet he bats at eight.

It's not really his fault that he's been South Africa's most reliable bowler in an era of bulging fixture lists. This is probably what's affected his bowling most. The massive workload had to take its toll. But regardless of the reasons, his bowling has declined from being dynamic and proactive, to being patient and geared towards others' mistakes. More boring, in other words.

It's also not his fault that he's asked to bat at eight, but it's this as much as anything that puts us off him. He seems emblematic of South Africa's innate cricketing conservatism. They always bat way down the order, much happier to draw matches than risk defeat.

Shaun Pollock took 2-13 off all ten overs against Pakistan today. That's why we're writing about him. That makes us amazed. You see it's not that we don't like him. He's just disappointed us over the years. He's disappointed and yet he's still one of South Africa's all-time greats.

To briefly return to South Africa's cricketing conservatism, we think Graeme Smith, as South Africa's captain, seems to be changing this attitude. We've got quite a bit of time for Graeme Smith, unlike many people.

Shaun Pollock takes more wickets against Pakistan

We've really got to buck our headlining ideas up. It's the World Cup soon.

We should be at the peak of our game and look at today's work: A workmanlike update listing England's World Cup squad; a morass of statistics about Rahul Dravid that no-one will be able to read in one sitting without clawing at their own hypothalamus; and this - effectively 'Shaun Pollock takes five wickets' stretched out beyond all reason.

Shaun Pollock took the first five wickets in Pakistan's innings, finishing with 5-23 off ten overs. Those wickets included Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf and Inzamam-ul-Haq. Three fine, fine batsmen.

Paul Collingwood's got competition for the Best World Cup Ginger in a few weeks time.

Thandi Tshbalala - a South African spinner (no, really)

South Africa are playing a spinner. The lines of communication must have been severed inside Castle South Africa (which is where the South African cricket team is controlled from) because South Africa never EVER pick a spinner.

Today, against India, they have. And he's got a cool name. He's called [copy, paste] Thandi Tshbalala and he's an off-spinner.

'What about Nicky Boje?', you ask. 'He was a spinner'.

No, he wasn't.

'Yes he was. Look at this page from Cricinfo.'

No... He wasn't...

'Okay. What about Paul Adams then?'

Was he? Was he really? We wouldn't like to venture what he was.

Even Kevin Pietersen was considered a spinner back when he was South African. Look. He even batted at nine like spinners are supposed to.

Picture from Cricinfo

South Africa's and Australia's mental scars

It's the World Cup semi final between Australia and South Africa today. Everything we read seems to revolve around South Africa's mental scarring from the 1999 World Cup semi final.

In summary: Pressure mounts, bit of crazy running, scores tied, Australia win because they finished higher in the group stages or because they'd previously beaten South Africa. One or the other - we can't be bothered checking which.

What no-one seems to be mentioning is Australia's mental scarring after South Africa chased down 435 in a one-day game last year. That led to Ricky Ponting predicting that the future of one-day cricket was a team of six-hitters. Australians always cite that game when discussing modern one-day cricket. We think they're rattled.

So South Africa will be nervous about chasing a total and Australia will be nervous defending one. Looks like South Africa will be batting first.

With so much mental scarring on display there'll scarcely be a single fully-functioning human brain in the two sides put together. It is Australia against South Africa after all. (We're joking - there are literally dozens of intelligent thinkers from those two fair nations. Dozens.)

Fat South Africans

Watching New Zealand against South Africa yesterday, we were reminded of a line in the film Grosse Point Blank. Joan Cusack's character, Marcella, describes her high school reunion thus: "It was almost as if everyone had swelled."

Don't get us wrong, the South Africans aren't Mark Cosgrove fat or Ian 'Fatty' Austin fat. They're not the good kind of fat. They're paunchy and middle-aged looking.

Mark Boucher's definitely got a bit of middle-aged spread. Andrew Hall should change his surname to 'Ball' he's becoming so pot-bellied and spherical. Jacques Kallis has always been receding, but he's distinctly sturdy looking now as well.

If England's official sports snack is the Jaffa Cake, South Africa's must be rendered pork fat.

The serious side of this is that while Australia fielded only two players under 30 the other day - Michael Clarke, 26 and Shaun Tait, 22 - none of the other nine looked at all flabby. South Africa look soft and not just physically.

New Zealand's varied attack outguns South Africa's one-dimensional one

A lot of people sneer at New Zealand's medium-pacers. 'Dibbly dobbly' is usually the phrase of choice.

At least New Zealand's bowling attack is varied and that's one of the main reasons they beat South Africa yesterday (that and best use of the pitch).

Shane Bond and James Franklin made early inroads into South Africa's batting line-up. Bond in particular bowled some absolutely unplayable deliveries. After that, the pitch flattened out.

'Mixing it up' is a phrase often used in one day cricket. It's usually used to describe the approach of a particular bowler. Yesterday, Stephen Fleming mixed it up with his bowling changes.

Having gone through a quick bowler, a swing bowler, a tall bowler, two spinners and a medium-pacer, Fleming eventually turned to Craig McMillan's medium-pace off-cutters. It was one style of bowling too many for Herschelle Gibbs and Ashwell Prince. Looking not unlike a Kiwi Ramesh Powar, bowling with his sunglasses on, McMillan went on to snaffle Mark Boucher's wicket as well.

To return to the sneering of the opening sentence, there's a huge difference between bowling medium-pace because you're not as quick as you used to be - as exemplified by several of the South Africans during the same match - and deliberately bowling medium-pace.

If you're a born medium-pacer, you devise tactics for success; spin, slower balls, general deception. A downgraded fast bowler is of no use to anyone. He'll try and blast out batsmen but he hasn't the pace.

A medium-pace fast bowler is a weapon blunted. A genuine medium-pacer has never once been sharp, but has still managed to carve a niche.

AB de Villiers finds his feet

Both in terms of his World Cup performances and literally too after a few bouts of debilitating cramp during his colossal innings of 146 off 130 balls against the West Indies yesterday. We say 'debilitating', but it only seemed to spur him on. Maybe 'invigorating cramp' would be a better phrase.

AB de Villiers is a talented batsman. He first appeared when England toured South Africa a couple of years ago. He acquitted himself reasonably despite some whimsical alterations to the batting order during that series. He opened; he batted in the middle order; he batted at seven; and if we're not mistaken, he actually kept wicket as well.

These days he's an opener and at 23, he'll be around for a good long while, by the looks of it.

We're using that picture on the right because he looks like a dork and we like pictures where people look like dorks - whoever they are. It also vaguely hints at how he's an all-round sportsman who was good at tennis and various other sports which are nowhere near as good as cricket.

He also seems to be a throwback to that era when South African cricketers always erred towards the ginger.

Lasith Malinga's hat-trick-and-a-bit is in vain

How can one so seemingly puny, propel the ball so fast? With masses of effort it can be done, it seems. Lasith Malinga took four wickets in four balls, but Sri Lanka failed to beat South Africa as the Proteas got home with only one wicket to spare.

We still think that Sri Lanka have got a good chance in this World Cup, but they do have some weaknesses. Their most glaring is that their four best batsmen occupy the first four batting slots. This is true of many sides, but it's more true for Sri Lanka. Take four wickets early on and they're stuffed.

That's essentially what happened against South Africa, although Tillekeratne Dilshan and Russel Arnold pulled it back against South Africa's 'spinners'.

Chasing 210, South Africa were what is always described as 'cruising' at 206-5. 'Cruising' sounds so much better when you put it in inverted commas. What are we saying about the South Africans? We're just saying that they were 'cruising'. The South Africans won't mind us saying that, will they? Why would they? They WERE 'cruising'.

Anyway, it was at this point, with South Africa needing just four to win, that Lasith Malinga decided it was time to take a hat trick and then another wicket, the very next ball, just for good measure. Watch a video of Lasith Malinga's four wickets in four balls here.

South Africa were no longer 'cruising', but unfortunately for Sri Lanka and Sri Lankophiles the world over, they couldn't take that final wicket.

South Africa qualify for the Super 8 phase

Once again, South Africa have swept aside a weaker nation and they've booked their place in the Super 8 phase of the World Cup as a consequence.

After first restricting Scotland to 186-8, South Africa then overhauled that total in just 23.2 overs. On the face of it, it was easy and South Africa are looking very professional, particularly when you compare their matches to England's ramshackle win against Canada.

However, South Africa should pay close attention to the closing overs as Scotland rattled along at about ten an over for the last five. If Scotland can do that, what might Australia do in the group decider?

South Africa's team looks good overall, but they're completely devoid of spin bar Graeme Smith's part-timers. In a fair world, that'll come back to haunt them. Is the world fair? Find out in the Super 8s or possibly the semi final.

Justin Kemp, South Africa - World Cup player to watch

Slow, low pitches and short boundaries. Justin Kemp should get runs. They should probably change cricket's scoring system, in fact, because he's unlikely to do much running.

South Africa aren't sticking to 'the Justin Kemp tactic' so rigidly of late, but it's still there, on the backburner. Chances are it'll get an airing or two during the World Cup.