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SA's rude shock & the most forgotten match-turning cameo Johnson's heroics, and Veletta's 'gem of a cameo'
Neil Johnson leaves his mark
The Zimbabwe team of the 1999 World Cup, unless there is a dramatic change, will go down as their greatest side, which says much about what has happened since. At the heart there was Neil Johnson, who'd played for South Africa A before returning to his homeland, and he brought destructive batting and nippy swing bowling to the table. Both facets were on display at Chelmsford as he almost single-handedly inflicted South Africa's first defeat of the tournament. Johnson opened with a rasping 76, latching onto loose offerings from Jacques Kallis with the new ball. It was typical stand-and-deliver stuff from Johnson, who took no prisoners with the bat and wasn't bothered by reputation (he would later cane Australia at Lord's in a losing cause). But still, a target of 234 shouldn't have been too much of a test for a South African team who'd been early tournament pace-setters. However, no-one told that to the Zimbabwe new-ball attack, and Johnson led a dramatic demolition job removing Gary Kirsten with the first ball of the innings, caught in the gully. After Herschelle Gibbs and Mark Boucher had been dispatched by Heath Streak and a run out, Johnson extracted Kallis, caught behind fourth ball, and yorked Hansie Cronje as the score lurched to 34 for 5 and would shortly become 40 for 6. There was no-way back for South Africa, despite another display of effortless hitting from Lance Klusener, and Zimbabwe progressed to the second stage of a World Cup for the first time. Meanwhile, the impact of this result was also being felt up in Birmingham.
Over at Edgbaston, England were making a pig's ear of their run chase against India. The game spilled into a second day due to the British summer and by the England left the field they knew about the happenings at Chelmsford. If South Africa had won England would have gone through, but now they had to win. They didn't. Later in the tournament South Africa went out in that semi-final against Australia, a match they could have avoided if they'd beaten Zimbabwe. In hindsight, this was some double-whammy from Johnson.
Mike Veletta and the forgotten cameo
Mike Veletta owns the most forgotten match-turning innings in a World Cup final. Mike Gatting's reverse-sweep to Allan Border, David Boon's Man-of-the-Match 75 and Steve Waugh's second last over - he removed Phil DeFreitas and went for only two - have grown into the memorable moments of the 1987 showpiece. In dispatches Veletta is lucky to get "45 off 31 balls" and the innings is not mentioned in Border's autobiography. Veletta did have a hand in Border's run-out - the captain wanted a second and was turned back - but his run-gathering impact was far greater, especially for a batsman who collected rather than collared at state level. Three wickets had fallen for 17 when Veletta arrived to partner Border in the 39th over and the side was in danger of handing England an easy chase. Veletta had played only four games in the tournament, scoring 0, 43 and 48, but he regained Australia's energy with a hot-stepping display. England's two spinners, John Emburey and Eddie Hemmings, were operating so he was forced to aim square of the wicket and rely on sweeps, deflections, quick running and improvisation. "The gods were smiling on me," he says. A couple of pull shots contributed to his six boundaries and in ten overs Veletta and Border rattled 73. Another 11 came in the 50th as Veletta and Steve Waugh targeted DeFreitas, pushing Australia to 5 for 253.
"Veletta played a gem of a cameo, using all of his crease to dance and manoeuvre around, prima ballerina-like, almost to the point of distracting the bowlers," Waugh wrote in his autobiography. The magazine Australian Cricket called Veletta the "find of the tour". Two years later his international career was over and after two decades his outstanding cameo is usually only a mark on a scorecard. "I'm happy with my place," he says. "We were the first [Australian] team to win the World Cup and we were never expected to do it." © Cricinfo
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