Wisden overview
A solid middle-order batsman and occasional offspinner, Dale Benkenstein played in 20 one-day matches for South Africa between October 1998 and March 2000, but failed to set the world alight. His highest score in that time was a matchwinning 69 against West Indies at Cape Town in 1998-99, but he never again passed 50. A month after his final match, the revelations about Hansie Cronje tore South African cricket apart, and Benkenstein seemed to have been forgotten in the confusion. But, as captain of KwaZulu-Natal, he continued to forge a fine reputation in South African domestic cricket, and he earned a recall for the ICC Champions Trophy in September 2002 when Gary Kirsten's sudden loss of form created a vacancy in the squad. He has never been seriously considered for Test selection, but proved his ability to build an innings by scoring a career-best 259 against the Northern Titans, to seal Natal's clean sweep of all domestic competitions in 2002. Andrew Miller

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