South African cricket fans have spent the last few weeks cursing out loud at the frailty of our batting line-up, who are solely to blame for our embarrassing 2-0 defeat at the hands of the Sri Lankans.
A special mention also to the selection panel, who are clearly unwilling to budge on their five bowlers approach, despite all evidence pointing to playing an extra batsman, three quicks and Keshav Maharaj.
Seriously, somebody needs to take Proteas selection convenor Linda Zondi, coach Ottis Gibson, and captain Faf du Plessis to town over this, because it’s now bordering on the ridiculous.
I’m sure AB de Villiers was watching from abroad with a shake of the head, with the star batsman cashing in with a stint in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) for the Lahore Qalanadars.
Nobody needs a reminder of just what we’re missing, but de Villiers served one up anyway this past weekend. During his 52 not out off 29 balls, which won him the man of the match award, the superstar hit a truly ridiculous six.
I mean, who else in the world could pull off a shot like this?
That six abd #ABdeVilliers @ABdeVilliers17 pic.twitter.com/gLZtyQn7gW
— vijay virat vicky ⚪ (@justknownto) February 22, 2019
Apologies for making you suffer through Danny Morrison’s commentary, but we’re in this together.
Special mention to David Wiese, AB’s teammate, who cracked the last ball of the match for six to clinch the victory:
Wow, what a moment.
If only T20 cricket actually mattered, because that game and the result has zero chance of being remembered a few months from now.
I guess I could say the same for Super Rugby, which was butchered years ago by greedy administrators, although it too can still produce moments of magic.
The Stormers beating the Lions with a last-gasp try was pleasing, but the moment of the week goes to Crusaders winger Manasa Mataele.
Sonny Bill might have changed the offload game for good during his career, but even he would struggle to pull off this feat of athleticism:
Admit it, Dillyn Leyds – you’re impressed.
Whilst Mataele’s effort is superhero-like, we should also mention the other superhero-related rugby drama of the weekend.
Those Marvel-inspired outfits are causing headaches already, as Sport24 explains:
The request to change jerseys at half-time of their Super Rugby clash against theLions on Saturday came from the Stormers themselves.
There was confusion once again over the heavily-marketed Super Hero jerseys.
When the match kicked off, the Lions were clad in their ‘Spiderman’-themed strips while the Stormers were wearing their ‘Thor’ jerseys…
Television footage – and those watching live at the stadium – found it difficult to differentiate between the sides and after the opening half the Stormers asked to change into the black strips they wore against the Bulls in Pretoria last weekend…
“Some of our players couldn’t see (the difference), so we asked the referee (Egon Seconds) if we could swap because we couldn’t see who was who,” Stormers captain Siya Kolisi said after the match.
In short, it was another disaster, although it’s less embarrassing than the last incident in Pretoria, which is touched on above:
Remember when Super Rugby was just 15 solid rugby teams, duking it out for dominance, in a format that the average rugby fan could understand?
Good times.
Still, there’s no doubting that the most dramatic sporting moment of the past weekend came during yesterday’s Carabao Cup final between Chelsea and Manchester City.
If you haven’t seen those mutinous scenes, get stuck in here.
[source:sport24]
