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London - So whose fault was it?

Opinions were divided among writers and commentators here yesterday over whether Lance Klusener or Allan Donald should take the blame for the farcical and decisive run-out that denied South Africa victory in Thursday's tied World Cup semifinal against Australia and put them out of the tournament.

South African captain Hansie Cronje exonerated both players afterwards.

He said he believed non-striker Allan Donald didn't hear Klusener's call for the fateful non-run above the dim of the crowd.

``We are far too mature to place the blame on any individual,'' Cronje said.

But most newspapers weren't as understanding. The most unforgiving was Mark Nicholas, the former captain of Hampshire, in the Daily Telegraph.

``For a split-second of heart-breaking insanity ... Lance Klusener who had it, lost it, lost everything,'' Nicholas wrote.

``A hero, this 'Zulu' warrior, this Klusener King, made a misjudgement of such magnitude that three years of blood and sweat, of careful selection, meticulous planning and of driven ambition went out the window.''

While the Daily Mirror, under the headline Klueless, called Klusener ``the luckless fall-guy'', the Daily Mail pointed the finger at Donald's ``devastating last over blunder''.

Former England medium-pacer Mike Slevey in The Guardian conditionally placed the responsibility on Klusener for calling the winning run with still two balls left in the final over.

``Klusener should have stayed and made sure,'' Selvey wrote. ``His power would have seen them through; he knows that and will reflect on it for the rest of his days''.

``But,'' he added, ``blaming Klusener is easy, for it was the unremitting capacity of the Australians to find reserves of strength and courage when the going got toughest which won the day as the South Africa batting wilted in the heat of battle.''

Another former England player, Derek Pringle, saw it differently.

Writing in the Independent, he praised Donald's bowling that earned him four wickets but added: ``On another day, he would have been a hero.

``As it was, his ball-watching, with one run needed, made him the villain in the piece.''

Mike Dickson recorded in the Daily Mail that when Klusener called Donald for the match-winning run ``the apparently panic-stricken Donald did not respond''.

Both Allan Border, the former Australian captain and now selector, and current England captain, Alec Stewart, said on Sky Sports television that Klusener's was an unnecessary gamble.

But both have been there, done that, and both accepted that it was easy analysing from the comfort of a television studio hours after the event; another thing to be in the middle in such a tense situation.

That, precisely, is the point. There were, perhaps, a dozen panicky errors of judgement by players on both sides near the end.

Klusener could have been run out in the penultimate over had not umpire David Shepherd got his considerable body in the way of Mark Waugh's throw at the stumps as he skipped back into the approved position.

Paul Reiffel, placed in the deep because he is one of Australia's safest catchers, spilled two, the second off Klusener going from his grasp for six.

The match would have been over a ball earlier had Darren Lehmann not missed the stumps from five yards with Donald well out of his ground.

Even in the final run-out, Mark Waugh's flick back missed the stumps and it was only Donald's tardiness in the running that allowed Damien Fleming to roll the ball along the pitch for wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist to complete the crazy dismissal.