Debasis Sen at Lord’s
South Africa are 69 runs away from scripting a historic feat by winning their first global cricket trophy this century. When Wiaan Mulder was dismissed by Mitchell Starc, caught in the covers by Marnus Labuschagne, the mostly South African crowd was clearly disappointed. With the Proteas 70-2 in pursuit of a daunting 282, the Aussies were already celebrating in the stands.
But Temba Bavuma, the Proteas’ captain, who was batting with an injured hamstring, and Aiden Markram had other ideas. When stumps were drawn on Day 3, the South African fans were already having a beer party. For the Aussies, it was something they found hard to believe. Neutral Tests aren’t supposed to be big crowd-pullers, especially without India playing, but Chris Kerr, head of Media Operations for the ECB, informed this correspondent that Friday’s crowd was a near-capacity 28,000, marginally up on the 27,000 that attended each of the first two days.
For South Africa, who have seen so much heartache at world events since readmission in 1991, Saturday morning could be their finest hour. As they wrested control of the match with a 143-run partnership for the third wicket, there were some familiar faces watching. Dale Steyn was on the receiving end in the famous Auckland World Cup semi-final a decade ago – the picture of him on his haunches, disconsolate, is unforgettable. But here he was at Lord’s, having watched his successors – Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi, in particular – rip through Australia’s second innings to set up the run chase.
Mohammed Moosajee was with the team for 16 years, first as doctor and then as manager. Lerato Malekutu was media manager for a decade. Each of them had experienced the cruel luck that had often befallen the Proteas on the big stage. For them, like Steyn, victory will be especially sweet.
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Having visiting Lord’s since 2007, the iconic venue has seen several facelifts, the latest being the food village at the Nursery End. It was disappointing for the Indian fans, as Shubman Gill and his boys were busy playing an intra-squad match a few kilometres away from Lord’s at Beckenham. But for a disastrous meltdown in the last two series they played – at home to New Zealand and away to Australia – India would have made a third straight WTC final.
When it comes to Indian food though, there were quite a few stalls in and around the iconic venue. It goes without saying that there will be more Proteas fans tucking in to the delicacies on offer than their Aussie counterparts, as they glimpse a historic win by lunch on Saturday.