South Africa on top of the cricketing world with World Test Championship win

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South Africa has finally shed that dreaded word “chokers” and replaced it with “champions.”

The Proteas claimed the new, welcome label after stunning Australia in the World Test Championship at the home of the game, Lord’s. The chokers tag haunted South Africa for some 27 years and the victory over the high-flying Australians has now buried it forever.

Few, if any, gave South Africa a chance as the Aussies paraded their high-powered pace attack of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and skipper Pat Cummins, who had never lost a final when they played together.

They, in fact, did star at Lord’s, but Temba Bavuma and man-of-the-match Aiden Markram turned the tide against the Baggy Greens. The Proteas also had a lot of firepower of their own as they unleashed Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and Marco Jansen to subdue the overwhelming favourites.

“While we were batting, we could hear the Aussies using that word: Choke,” said Bavuma, the South Africa captain. “We came in with a lot of belief and a lot of doubters. Here’s an opportunity for us as a nation, divided as we are, to unite.”

That’s so true. The apartheid rulers of that country used sport to drive a wedge among the different communities. But it backfired internationally by 1990 when the country was expelled by every major sports federation. The Olympic movement had put the boot to the country in 1970, but what rocked the country came in 1968, when a cricket tour by England was cancelled because it had included a coloured all-rounder Basil d’Oliveira in its lineup.

In fact, certain sections of the Marylebone Cricket Club tried to get the selectors to drop d’Oliveira, but that wasn’t going to happen as the English press went to town on this affair and MCC was forced to back down. Much to the chagrin of South Africa president John Vorster, he was forced to step in and cancel the tour. That resulted in South Africa being banned from Test cricket for 22 years.

Dolly, as he was popularly known, could have walked into the South African team, but this brilliant all-rounder had to settle for captaining a non-white South African team as well as the soccer team. This superb player left for England in 1960 and, within no time, he starred for his county club Worcestershire and was capped 44 times by his new country.

I had the opportunity of watching the great d’Oliveira in action when he led a star-studded non-racial international team to Nairobi in 1965 and it included West Indies great Rohan Kanhai, who carved out a century versus Kenya.

D’Oliveira was one of dozens to fall victim to the apartheid system. The one incident that stunned me and the world was the treatment Makhaya Ntini — the first black to represent his country — had to endure while representing his country from 1988 to 2011. He carried on despite being treated with disdain by his very own teammates.

Ntini detailed how his teammates would never sit next to him when the squad gathered for lunch, dinner or breakfast. Ntini also mentioned he would hand his bag to the bus driver on the way to the stadium and then run all the way. The same on the way back.

“People never understood why I was doing that and I would never say to them this is why I am doing this — to avoid A,B,C, D.”

This was a pathetic way to treat one of the country’s greatest players, but Ntini like many others endured this humiliation.

Hopefully, Bavuma can put the past to rest in a country where segregation still exists despite gaining its independence.

South Africa ended the long drought by claiming an emphatic five-wicket victory inside five days. Australia 212 (Beau Webster 72, Steven Smith 66, Rabada five for 51, Jansen three for 49) and 207 (Starc 58 not out, Rabada four for 59, Ngidi three for 38). South Africa 138 (Cummins six for 28) and 282 for five (Markram 136, Bavuma 66).

CANADA FLYING HIGH

Canada is well on its way to qualifying for the World Twenty20 Cup to be played in India and Sri Lanka in 2026. Canada defeated the Cayman Islands by 59 runs for its second win in as many matches in the Americas qualifier being played at King City. Canada opened its account by thrashing Bermuda by 110 runs on Sunday. It next faces the Bahamas on Wednesday in the eight-day double-round-robin format and, on current form, appears unbeatable. Kanwarpal Tathgur scored an unbeaten 53 as Canada defeated the Cayman Islands to lead the home team to 162 for five and then restrict the visitors to 103 for nine. Opener Yuvraj Samra (28) and captain Nicholas Kirton (42) put on a 47-run partnership. Shivam Sharma led the Canadian bowlers with three wickets. Canada faces the Bahamas on Wednesday, Cayman Islands on Thursday, Bahamas on Saturday and Bermuda next Sunday. In the opener Samra made 65 to help Canada hoist 205 for five and Bermuda was shot out for 95. Samra hit five fours and four sixes in his 35-ball knock before Harsh Thaker weighed in with an unbeaten 49.

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