Smacked between the mountains and the southern point of the Atlantic
Ocean , Cape Town is
one of the most beautiful places to visit. It is the gateway to a variety of
natural adventures and natural explorations – from mountain climbing and
botanical gardens to white shark and whale watching – Cape
Town offers you all to add an adventurous flavour to
your life.
A trip to the Table
Mountain is a must everyone. You
are sure to be seduced by the fantastic beauty observed from the mountaintop.
At the foot of Table
Mountain lies the Newlands cricket
stadium. If you are a cricket fan and visiting Cape Town
during the summer times, then you can’t even dare to ignore the cricket
carnival that takes place in the Newlands cricket stadium. The buzz around the
stadium, the impact of its massiveness and the view of the Table
Mountains behind the stadium is
certainly an experience of a lifetime.
Summer in Newlands is always sizzling. Summer in Newlands is
festive from a cricketing perspective and has witnessed some of cricket’s most
fascinating battles and epic performances over the years.
A great start for the Proteas
In the summer of 1967, Bobby Simpson’s Australia
were touring South Africa .
The Proteas notched up a massive win in the first Test at Johannesburg .
Despite trailing by 126 runs, the South African batsmen replied in a dominating
fashion in the second innings.
The top order fired through Eddie Barlow, Ali Bacher, Graeme
Pollock and HR Lance while the lower-order dented the Aussies bowlers through
DT Lindsay and PL van der Marwe. Lindsay scripted a polished 182 runs and the
Australians were left to chase 495 runs to win the first Test. But Trevor
Goddard’s six-wicket haul crushed the Australians and South
Africa took a 1-0 lead.
The Australian comeback
The second Test match was at Cape Town .
But at Cape Town the Australians
reply had been handy. They stormed back strongly to level the series in style. It
had been an easy win for the Aussies, but this Test match was significant due
to one man’s lion-heartedness and majestic carnage and that man was cricket’s
most gifted left-handed batsman, Graeme Pollock.
Batting first, Australia
posted a massive 542 with hundreds from Bobby Simpson and Keith Stackpole. Edie
Barlow for the first time picked up five wickets in a Test match. The South
African reply was shaky. Australia ’s
pace demon, Graeme McKenzie rattled through the Proteas top order and they
ended the second day reeling at 56 for 3. Graeme Pollock, who came out to bat
with an injured leg, was not out on 28 – 24 runs of which came from scorching
boundaries.
The one-legged masterclass
On the third day it was warm and sunny at Newlands. Beautiful sunshine and the deep blue sky over
the Table Mountain
gave an extreme intensity of colours, but that wonderful natural beauty
remained unnoticed due to one man’s majestic batting display.
Graeme Pollock came out to bat at 11 am .
As the game proceeded, Pollock witnessed the fall of two
wickets. HR Lances went back quickly to give the stage to Dennis Lindsay; the
hero of the first Test. Lindsay’s dismissal was pretty unusual. He attempted a
timid hook-shot off Renneberg’s bouncer – the ball rose sharply, struck the
shoulder of the bat and rebounded fifteen yards Lindsay’s forehead to Renneberg’s
outstretched hands as the bowler flung himself full length.
When the going gets tough, the tough gets going. The stage
was set for cricket’s most elegant willow-wielder to exhibit his extraordinary
talent. He conquered adversity by dishing out one of the most ruthless and
riveting knocks ever to be scripted at Newlands.
Graeme Pollock had come out to bat in his normal number four
slot, but was severely handicapped on the second day and relied on limited
movements while scoring his 28. Pollock had strained a thigh muscle amidst a
casualty list that included his brother Peter Pollock and Richard Dumbrill; South
Africa had fielded three subs for most of
the Australian innings.
Graeme Pollock took drastic measures and went on a rampage. A
left-hander’s front-foot is the right leg and that being handicapped, Pollock
shifted his balance on the back-foot and played his traditional cover drives
relying on the back-foot throughout his masterpiece.
Each time the ball caressed the cover-fields, Pollock’s
right toe was seen airborne as no balance being shifted there – it had been a
sight to watch. It was a treat for the cricketing Gods.
In the next four hours, partnered by Peter Van der Merwe,
the young maestro reached his fifth Test hundred in three and a quarter hours,
after facing only 139 balls. But Pollock’s carnage was unstoppable. He
continued to display astonishing courage and determination to give the South
African total enough respectability.
There had been cut, pulls and drives of highest essence. The
wickets kept falling at the other end, but the willow of Graeme Pollock didn’t
bother to take any defensive approach but it continued to murder the Australian
attack. When he finally nicked a wide one to HB Taber, Graeme Pollock had made
an eye-catching 209 with thirty elegant and powerful boundaries. The innings
built to crescendo with two Pollock brothers establishing a ninth wicket record
of 85 in 67 minutes.
Though Pollock’s actual grace was missing due to an injury,
but it was never short of a sheer pomp and sizzle. Those fluent drives through
the covers and square of the wicket on the back-foot indicated the quality of
Graeme Pollock’s batting abilities. Graeme Pollock’s adventurous knock was not
enough to avoid the follow-on.
Pollock failed in the second innings, but solid batting
efforts from DT Lindsay, HR Lance, DB Pithey and Peter Pollock helped South
Africa to give the Australians 180 runs to
chase in the fourth innings. The Aussies batsmen chased that down without
enough hassles.
Note: This article has been published in Sportskeeda on 23/02/2014 Graeme Pollock's lion-hearted carnage at Cape Town
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
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