Iceman’s Realm

The series has been sealed.  The South Africans have won the tournament for the first time ever in Australia. Apparently, they deserve the number one spot. Be it the test matches or the ODIs, the South Africans have dominated quite comprehensively. Apart from their dismal show in the twenty-20s, they are no doubt a strong team sans Graeme Smith. And not wanting to wait till the series ends, they have proved it in the 4th ODI itself. Having chose to bat first for the fourth consecutive time in the series, the Australian skipper never expected this dingy performance from his team. Having just 222 runs on the board, a comprehensive South African victory was always on the cards. The Australian bowling wasn’t that good either. Apart from James opes no bowler was economical, all went for plenty of runs right from the start of the innings. Hashim Amla and Herschelle Gibbs provided a wonderful platform in their run chase. In the end, it was an easy run chase for the visiting team, completely one-sided. South Africa won the match quite comprehensively with 8 wickets in hand and more than 10 overs to spare. The final encounter between the two teams may not be that intrigiung after all, for the visiting team has already clinched the series. Nevertheless, a good game is in the offing - on the one hand, Australians endeavouring to end the tour on a winning note and on the other hand, South Africans trying to completely dethrone the world champions from the number one spot. Let’s wait and watch.