The last curtain of the Wills International Cup will be dropped tonight after the day-night Final between South Africa and West Indies at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.
Weather permitting, the match will start at 2 pm. Bangladesh Television will telecast the match Live while Bangladesh Betar will provide ball-by-ball commentary.
The winners of today's Final will be richer by 100 thousand US dollars. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to hand over the trophy and the cash awards.
South Africa paved their way into the grand finale of the nine-nation knock-out tournament with an emphatic 92-run win over World Champions Sri Lanka last Friday while the Caribbeans stormed into the final last night by handing India a surprisingly facile six-wicket defeat.
The two finalists met ten times in the past with each winning five games.
The South Africans did not have any practice yesterday. The Proteas, who have come to Dhaka without four leading players - Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock, Gary Kirsten and Lance Klusener, will have only twelve fit players today as their thirteenth man, middle-order batsman Dale Benkenstein, sustained a toe injury during the semi-final clash against Sri Lanka.
But that seems to be no problem for the South Africans.
``There is no reason not to hope for the cup if we play a good game as we did against England and Sri Lanka,'' said the confident South African captain Hansie Cronje.
``There are a lot of youngsters who have done pretty well so far. They are more confident now to win the trophy. I can only hope the best from them once again,'' he said.
On the other hand, West Indies skipper Brian Lara looked more positive last night after defeating India convincingly.
``I think it will be a very good Final. South Africa is definitely the best seeded team in the world. They are batting very well, their bowlers seem to be getting it right and I am expecting a real good game tomorrow,'' said the West Indies captain after last night's match.
``Our bowlers, specially Dillon and Reon King, did very good bowling today and I hope a repeat from them tomorrow,'' Lara added.
The cultured Dhaka crowd expects a good contest from the two strong sides. Going by the excellent crowd behaviour throughout the tournament, the crowd shall cheer every good shot and each dismissal. Whatever the outcome, cricket will be the winner tonight.
TEAMS
WEST INDIES (from): Brian Lara (captain), Stuart Williams, Philo Wallace, Shivnarin Chanderpaul, Carl Hooper, Keith Arthurton, Phil Simmons, Ridley Jacobs (keeper), Nixon McLean, Rawl Lewis, Mervyn Dillon, Clayton Lambert, Reon King and Neil McGarrel.
SOUTH AFRICA (from): Hansie Cronje (captain), Mark Boucher (keeper), Daryll Cullinan, Jacques Kallis, Jonty Rhodes, Mike Rindle, Derek Crookes, Nicky Boje, Pat Symcox, Allan Dowson, Mkhaya Ntini and Steve Elworthy.
Today's Officials: David Shepherd and Srinivas Venkatraghavan (umpires), Peter Willey (third umpire) and Ranjan Madhugale (match referee).
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A VIEW FROM THE GULLY
By Tawfiq Aziz Khan
At the outset, I must apologise to the readers of The Daily Star for taking a forced leave on Friday. This column did not appear for reasons beyond our control. The printing schedule is so tight that even a couple of minutes could prove vital for the timely despatch of this newspaper across the country to thousands of readers.
It is better to produce a timely normal issue which hits the stands in time rather than a brilliant one that does not reach the readers. In my efforts to achieve the first premise I thought it better not to delay the normal process of publication of the paper. Once again my profound apologies.
The elements of nature finally disturbed the equilibrium and the weather gods interfered in the proceedings of the Wills International Cup. It was a very important match - the first semifinal between the world champions from Asia and the Proteas from the continent of Africa.
Overnight rains and morning drizzles brought Kaitan with a cloudy sky throughout the day. The situation called for adjustments resulting in a truncated match. Ranatunga won the toss but why he opted for fielding will remain a mystery for a long time.
As a seasoned campaigner, he must have known all the rules of the game, particularly of the one-day variety, and had the glaring example of England vs South Africa 1992 World Cup semifinal in Australia. He must have had his own reasons but, as a South Asian, he was well-conversant with the weather in this part of the world and also the dreaded equation known as Duckworth/Lewis method. The team batting second might come across more interruptions that could lead to further complications for them as was evident from Friday's match.
Jacques Kallis played an explosive innings and the entire South African team rallied round him to build a commanding position. It was not easy to surpass a total of 240 (39 overs) in such conditions. But the World Champions were again given a revised target as rains interrupted once more. South Africans averaged 6.15 per over and the Sri Lankans were set a target of 6.58 for a win in 34 overs. They were on target but suddenly behaved as though they had to catch a plane back home. It was unnecessary. Players like Ranatunga, de Silva, Atapattu and Mahanama batted most irresponsibly against a bowling attack that was disciplined without being brilliant but as usual backed up by extraordinary fielding, specially from acrobatic Rhodes.
Yesterday, the fireworks the large crowd expected from the two top players of contemporary cricket - Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar petered out in damp atmosphere as Sachin made an early exit and Lara tamed himself rather than taming the bowlers.
Pending results of Sunday's final, it was apparent that the rejuvenation of the mighty West Indian side had begun under Lara's leadership. Beating two tough teams, India and Pakistan, in a matter of 48 hours and in the same tournament with at least three newcomers, was no mean achievement.
The complexion of yesterday's match was changed by an accurate spell of fast bowling by Marvyn Dillon aided by a superlative catch by Carl Hooper at gully that even made 'Jonty' Rhodes look like a beginner and then trapping Azhar. Obviously the Indians were put on a reverse gear from where they could never shift and ended with a modest total of 242 for five. Ganguly redeemed himself but fell to a rash shot which he should have avoided. Robin Singh had nothing more to do as the Indians ran short of overs.
West Indies set about their task in a most professional manner. They realised they had an opportunity they should not waste. Even Philo Wallace, who scored a 37-ball 50 against Pakistan, played a gentlemanly knock but Chanderpaul played a run-a-ball innings to the delight of the crowd. Master batsman Brian Lara was very cool and sedate playing a painstaking knock of unbeaten 60 off 89 balls ably assisted by Keith Artherton. It was quite evident from the approach of the West Indians that they were going to miss the bus but not lose the match as they did against India in the World Cup final in 1983 at Lord's. Remember India's paltry 183, but the West Indians were bundled out for 143.
The final of this unique competition today, weather permitting, should be one of the best matches ever played on this ground. Lara himself rated the South African as the best side, and to play against them without any rest was no easy proposition. We as watchers would like to see the best team winning.