Why Hansie Cronje declared at zero on the 5th day #euphoriacricket
- 5 months ago
During England's tour of South Africa in 1999-00, the hosts were leading the Test series 2-0 as the fifth and final test match approached at Centurion. South Africa posted a total of 155/6 on the first day before rain halted play. The second, third, and fourth days were completely washed out. With only the final day remaining, the match seemed destined for a draw.
South African captain Hansie Cronje talked to Alec Stewart, the English wicketkeeper, before the start of the fifth day's play and placed an offer for England to chase down 270 in 73 overs. The English team wasn’t ready to accept the deal. Hussain, coach Duncan Fletcher, and senior pros Micheal Atherton and Stewart agreed that they would not decide until they had seen how the wicket played on that day. They were sceptical about how the pitch would behave after 3 days of rain. South Africa started batting, and after about 40 minutes of play, Nasser Hussain observed Shaun Pollock and Lance Klusener batting comfortably, so he sent a message to the South African captain inquiring whether the offer was still on. Hussain intentionally asked to chase 250 so that even with bargaining, the target wouldn’t be more than 260. However, Hussain was surprised by the ready acceptance of the deal by Hansie Cronje. Finally, the target was set at 245 in 76 overs rather than the original 270 in 73 overs. But this target also had to change because of a four-hit in the 72nd over of the South African innings. South Africa declared their first innings at 248-8. England forfeited their first innings, and South Africa forfeited their second innings, effectively setting a target of 249 for England in their second innings.
The Chase
England’s chase started shakily as Atherton snicked Pollock early. After a stable partnership, Mark Butcher was deceived by a slower ball from Klusener, and Hussain hit another slower from Pollock straight into the hands of cover. When Chris Adams fended a short ball from Hayward to Mark Boucher in the 38th over, it was 102 for 4. The Englishmen were by now having second thoughts about accepting the challenge. Michael Vaughan demoted down the order for his slow batting earlier in the series walked into bat after the 4th wicket fell and joined Alec Stewart in the middle. Everyone expected them to go for the draw, but the spirit of challenge had made its way into their veins. Vaughn played beautiful drives through the covers picking up boundaries. At the other end, Stewart was steadily picking up valuable runs.
They countered the South African attack and put up a partnership of 126 runs taking the score to 228. England needed 21 runs with five wickets in hand, victory seemed right around the corner, and that is when panic started making waves in the English camp. Stewart was caught behind off Hayward. All-rounder Darren Maddy, a replacement for Andrew Flintoff, was run out after taking on Kirsten’s arm for a second run. Two balls later Pollock got Caddick, Vaughn also couldn’t cont
South African captain Hansie Cronje talked to Alec Stewart, the English wicketkeeper, before the start of the fifth day's play and placed an offer for England to chase down 270 in 73 overs. The English team wasn’t ready to accept the deal. Hussain, coach Duncan Fletcher, and senior pros Micheal Atherton and Stewart agreed that they would not decide until they had seen how the wicket played on that day. They were sceptical about how the pitch would behave after 3 days of rain. South Africa started batting, and after about 40 minutes of play, Nasser Hussain observed Shaun Pollock and Lance Klusener batting comfortably, so he sent a message to the South African captain inquiring whether the offer was still on. Hussain intentionally asked to chase 250 so that even with bargaining, the target wouldn’t be more than 260. However, Hussain was surprised by the ready acceptance of the deal by Hansie Cronje. Finally, the target was set at 245 in 76 overs rather than the original 270 in 73 overs. But this target also had to change because of a four-hit in the 72nd over of the South African innings. South Africa declared their first innings at 248-8. England forfeited their first innings, and South Africa forfeited their second innings, effectively setting a target of 249 for England in their second innings.
The Chase
England’s chase started shakily as Atherton snicked Pollock early. After a stable partnership, Mark Butcher was deceived by a slower ball from Klusener, and Hussain hit another slower from Pollock straight into the hands of cover. When Chris Adams fended a short ball from Hayward to Mark Boucher in the 38th over, it was 102 for 4. The Englishmen were by now having second thoughts about accepting the challenge. Michael Vaughan demoted down the order for his slow batting earlier in the series walked into bat after the 4th wicket fell and joined Alec Stewart in the middle. Everyone expected them to go for the draw, but the spirit of challenge had made its way into their veins. Vaughn played beautiful drives through the covers picking up boundaries. At the other end, Stewart was steadily picking up valuable runs.
They countered the South African attack and put up a partnership of 126 runs taking the score to 228. England needed 21 runs with five wickets in hand, victory seemed right around the corner, and that is when panic started making waves in the English camp. Stewart was caught behind off Hayward. All-rounder Darren Maddy, a replacement for Andrew Flintoff, was run out after taking on Kirsten’s arm for a second run. Two balls later Pollock got Caddick, Vaughn also couldn’t cont