CENTURION (South Africa) - Makhaya Ntini will know on April 23, the day before the South African World Cup squad gathers in Cape Town for the first phase of their pre-tournament preparation whether he has been found guilty of rape charges against a 22-year-old East London woman.

It could turn out to be a nerve-sapping wait for the Xhosa fast bowler, the first black to earn a Test cap 13 months ago in the series against Sri Lanka.

Ntini, who has the firm support of the United Cricket board and the Border Cricket Board, is to hear the judgement handed down on April 23 in the East London court, where he went on trial.

Border general manager Reunert Bauser, senior team manager Stephen Jones and youth cricket manager Greg Hayes told the court of the events of the circumstances surrounding the police investigation at Buffalo Park. The investigating officer admitted to losing his notes, stolen when his car was broken into, several weeks ago but he failed to report the theft.

Shortly before the tension-filled case was brought to a close, with Ntini not appearing as confident under questioning from the State Prosecutor, Nicky Turner. She asked the court to convict the player ``as charged'', saying the complainant was telling the truth and was ``no Monica Lewinsky'' looking for fame and fortune. Turner described the complainant as a simple, unsophisticated person with no ulterior motives.

``It is laughable to insinuate she had fabricated the charge because Ntini had shown no interest in her,'' Turner said.

``Furthermore,'' she said, the alleged victim had not contradicted herself and had stood her ground even though she had been on the stand for a long and gruelling period.

She added: ``Ntini is used to getting what he wants and when she did not consent to his advances, he decided to take what he wanted.''

Advocate Ben Ford, for Ntini, told the court the state's portrayal of the complainant as a ``timorous mouse'' was wrong, and suggested that she had financial gain as a main objective.

Ntini was included the final 15 for the South African World Cup squad by the national selectors after a resurgence of form in the last few matches in the limited-overs Standard Bank Cup, where Border lost to Griqualand West in the final.