da apostaganha： Herschelle Gibbs reminded South African fans what they’d been missing in hisenforced absence from the international scene and served notice to thecountry’s selectors that he is running into form just in time for thelifting of his ban with a superb
16-Dec-2000Herschelle Gibbs reminded South African fans what they’d been missing in hisenforced absence from the international scene and served notice to thecountry’s selectors that he is running into form just in time for thelifting of his ban with a superb 105 for Western Province against theHighveld Striker at the Wanderers on Saturday.Unfortunately for Gibbs, his majestic knock, off just 94 balls with 13 foursand two sixes, which earned him the man of the match award, was in a losingcause. Apart from Claude Henderson’s whirlwind 27 late on, none of the otherProvince batsmen lent substantial support in pursuit of a mid-range targetof 227 and they were dismissed for 205 with 13 balls left in the innings, tolose by 21 runs.David Terbrugge, who returned from injury to face his team’s biggestdomestic adversaries, was the real thorn in the Province flesh, grabbingfour for 31, including the vital scalp of Gibbs, caught behind by Nic Pothasoff a peach of a delivery when he had been brought back into the attack forjust that purpose.At the time, Province were cruising, a situation due entirely to Gibbs as hehad made 105 out of a total of 152. Probably the home side’s only chance ofturning it around was to get rid of Gibbs and Terbrugge came through for hiscaptain, Clive Eksteen.Gibbs had been savage on anything wayward, after a quiet start to hisinnings, thrashing Walter Masimula for three fours and a six in his second -and not surprisingly last – over and going to his ton with an extraordinaryflat slog-sweep off Eksteen that screamed over the boundary well in front ofsquare.There had been earlier fireworks. Adam Bacher had anchored the home side’sinnings with 73 off 95 balls and Daryll Cullinan had belted 22 off 14 ballsbefore trying one shot too many, but the most impressive performance camefrom Marthinus Otto, the Strikers’ new recruit from Rand AfrikaansUniversity. Playing with the poise of a veteran in just his second game,Otto finished on 47 not out off 41 balls, having played a major role insetting a defendable total of 226 for seven after a mid-innings collapse.It was Province’s fifth defeat in seven games in the competition and theycould be out of contention for a semi-final spot, while the Strikers’ recordimproves to 2-2.