10.55am
DURBAN - South African captain Shaun Pollock conceded that a miscalculation in the dressing room cost his team the chance of victory over Sri Lanka after Monday's rain-affected tie sent the hosts tumbling out of the World Cup.
With rain falling and the game set to be cut short, Pollock
said 12th man Nicky Boje had got a message to Mark Boucher in the middle that, in the case of a revised target, 229 runs would be needed for South Africa to win. In reality, 230 were required.
Boucher hit what proved to be the penultimate ball of the match from spinner Muttiah Muralitharan for six to take the score to 229, then defended the final delivery of the over.
"Boje wasn't able to get out there and give them the piece of paper to keep, but the message that was portrayed was 229," a clearly emotional Pollock said afterwards.
"But you can't look at that and worry about that. He (Boucher) didn't know the game was going to finish after that ball.
"There was a lot that went on after that ball before we came off. If we'd faced one more ball of the next over and got one off that, we could have been through. There are lots of ifs and buts."
However, Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya said he was fully aware that 229 was enough for the tie.
"We knew that it (229) was for the tie -- I had the sheet in my hand," he said with a grin. "I had the sheet when it started to rain."
Pollock, who could be seen with his head in his hands as the rain continued to fall, said his squad felt the downpours had abated enough for the teams to return to the field and complete the match.
"We just felt that it had got to the stage where it was raining the same. There's no rule that says you can't go out if it's spitting. But they (umpires Steve Bucknor and Srinivas Venkatraghavan) decided it was unfit for play and you have to by the umps' decisions.
"You can look at all the ifs and buts but in the end it doesn't help much."
Sri Lanka had posted a total of 268 for nine after winning the toss. Under the Duckworth-Lewis scoring system, victory targets can be revised up or down, depending how much time is left and how well the chasing team has been batting, if matches are curtailed by rain.
Monday's extraordinary finale was an eerie repeat of the 1999 World Cup in England, when South Africa were eliminated in the semi-finals after a tie with Australia. The Australians went through because of their better record in previous games.
Pollock, who was in that 1999 side which lost to the Australians at Edgbaston, added of Monday outcome: "It's got to rank up there as possibly the most disappointing thing.
"Two ties in the last two World Cups and out of both of them. The guys are gutted. I felt we deserved better on the day."
Chasing 269 for victory, South Africa captain Shaun Pollock and Mark Boucher added 63 for the sixth wicket to take their side to 212 for six. Pollock was brilliantly run out by Muttiah Muralitharan, but Lance Klusener and Boucher edged the hosts to 229 for six when persistent rain forced the players off.
Confusion reigned as officials sought the Duckworth/Lewis sheets and it soon emerged that the match would end in a tie if the players were unable to return.
Boucher had struck Muralitharan for six to reach 45 not out and he then failed to score from the last ball of the 45th over, which became the final delivery of the match. A single would have brought South Africa victory and a place in the next round.
The umpires returned to the arena around 35 minutes later and asked the ground-staff to remove the covers but within moments the heavens opened up again and the officials left the field for the last time.
Marvan Atapattu was Sri Lanka's batting inspiration with a sparkling 124, the opener sharing a fourth-wicket partnership of 152 with Aravinda de Silva that laid the foundations for an imposing total of 268 for nine.
It could have been higher, but South Africa dismissed both batsmen in quick succession before taking a flurry of late wickets to peg the Sri Lankans back.
South Africa openers Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs shared a fluent partnership of 65 before Smith, on 35, pulled a De Silva long-hop straight to deep mid-wicket.
Gary Kirsten and Jacques Kallis fell cheaply and when Gibbs was bowled by Muralitharan for 73 the hosts were in trouble at 149 for four.
But Pollock and his vice-captain Boucher led the recovery with a sensible run-a-ball partnership that had put the South Africans in position to push for victory when the rain came down.
SOUTH AFRICA V SRI LANKA SCOREBOARD:
Sri Lanka:
M Atapattu c sub b Hall 124
S Jayasuriya run out 16
H Tillakaratne c Boucher b Kallis 14
M Jayawardene c Boucher b Hall 1
A de Silva c Smith b Ntini 73
R Arnold b Pollock 8
K Sangakkara c Pollock b Kallis 6
C Vaas run out 3
M Muralitharan b Kallis 4
D Fernando not out 1
Extras (2lb, 11w, 2nb) 18
Total (for 9 wkts, 50 overs) 268
Fall: 37, 77, 90, 242, 243, 258, 261, 266, 268.
Bowling: S Pollock 10 overs 1 maiden 48 runs 1 wicket (2w, 1nb), M Ntini 10-0-49-1 (3w, 2nb), M Zondeki 6-0-35-0 (3w), J Kallis 10-0-41-3 (1w), A Hall 10-0-62-2 (1w, 2nb), L Klusener 4-0-31-0 (1w, 1nb).
South Africa:
G Smith c Gunaratne b de Silva 35
H Gibbs b Muralitharan 73
G Kirsten b de Silva 8
J Kallis b Jayasuriya 16
B Dippenaar b Jayasuriya 8
M Boucher not out 45
S Pollock run out 25
L Klusener not out 1
Extras (4lb, 12w, 2nb) 18
Total (for 6 wkts, 45 overs) 229
Fall: 65, 91, 124, 149, 149, 212.
Bowling: C Vaas 7-1-33-0 (1nb), P Gunaratne 6-0-26-0, D Fernando 1-0-14-0 (1nb), A de Silva 8-0-36-2 (1w), R Arnold 4-0-16-0 (1w), M Muralitharan 9-0-51-1 (1w), S Jayasuriya 10-0-49-2 (3w).
Result: Match tied under Duckworth/Lewis method.
- REUTERS
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10.55am
DURBAN - South African captain Shaun Pollock conceded that a miscalculation in the dressing room cost his team the chance of victory over Sri Lanka after Monday's rain-affected tie sent the hosts tumbling out of the World Cup.
With rain falling and the game set to be cut short, Pollock
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