Related Links

Karthik Narayan

Golden Debuts are all about capturing of Cricket’s finest moments, especially when a young bud takes shape into a beautiful flower on the cricketing field. This match captures those finest moments of cricket that were cherished by the latest newcomer to International cricket, namely, Zander de Bruyn of South Africa.

It was the First Test of the Videocon Cup – 2004 Series as the Proteas toured India, and the scene was set for a good game of cricket. Both the teams had torrid times in the recent past, and this series meant a lot to both teams. The toss was crucial and Graeme Smith of South Africa won it and elected to bat first. The pitch was a typical Green Park track, with very little grass in it. Other than that, it was a normal Indian pitch which will assist the seamers early in the Test and will crumble into a slow pitch helpful for the spinners as the Match progresses. India went into this test with just a seamer in Zaheer Khan and three spinners who picked themselves thanks to a splendid performance against the Aussies in the Mumbai test that had just concluded prior to this test. South Africa went in with two debutants in the form of Zander de Bruyn and wicket-keeper Thami Tsolekile.

For South Africa, their captain Greame Smith walked in with a new partner in Andrew Hall. Smith had got his eye in and was looking good for a big score, when his inside edge off Kumble rolled on to dislodge the bails. Soon after, Kumble had a double strike when he got Van Jarsveld plumb in front. Kallis joined Hall, and together they put 85 runs for the third wicket before Kallis got out for 37. Kumble struck the next ball itself, Jacques Rudolph being his victim this time. Dippenaar played well for his 48 before he was finally dismissed by Ganguly.

Confidence speaks volumes for any player in any field, and the game of cricket is not a stranger to that. When a newcomer is confident, most often or not, it transforms into what he does and the zeal and enthusiasm breaks into him. This was just the case when Zander de Bruyn came in to bat. He had got his pass to make runs to count for himself and for the team. When he joined Andrew Hall, the South Africans were placed at a comfortable 241-5. At one stage it seemed the Indians could wrap up the tourist’s Innings quickly, but de Bruyn had other ideas. It did help de Bruyn early on that the Indian bowlers sprayed the ball around and bowled without much imagination. After probably some nervous moments in the start, when he faced the Indian spinners he settled down to play second fiddle to Hall who was going great by this time. At the other end, Hall finally completed a well-deserved Century.

Zander de Bruyn went on to make his maiden half century of 114 balls which included 6 hits to the fence and a hit over the fence. His partnership of 144 runs with Hall (highest for SA against India for 6th wicket) in around 46 overs may have just turned the wind around in favour of the Proteas as they gathered a firm grip on the test. It was a knock overcoming the Indian spinners who tried everything except throwing the kitchen sink. The Indians had gotten subjugated and soon de Bruyn was seen dictating terms. All this on the first day this batsman walked in to bat!

De Bruyn is an exciting batsman who likes to hit the spinners over the infield treating them with total disdain and contempt. That was clearly evident when after reaching a great fifty on debut, he started opening up totally. He started batting as if he was an experienced campaigner as he danced down the track and carted Harbhajan for two sixes in the same over. His blooming drives through the off side and the slog sweep to tackle the spinners were a delight to watch. He does have a little problem when he hits the uppish drives through the off side as he does not seem to be in total control of those shots. The Indian bowlers did not exploit that by any means, which helped him get away with some of those shots. He was finally dismissed on 83 when he went for an expansive drive of Harbhajan, but only managed to edge it to Dravid at slip. Though he was very unlucky to miss his century, this innings shall really go down in history as one of the finest ever for the sheer reason of it being in really testing conditions.

His batting has shown him in good stead and he is not finished yet! He has still his bowling to come by, and going by the confidence that he has shown by converting his start into a good score first up, its fair to say that he will be confident in the field with the ball in his hand. He may very well go on to pick up some vital wickets and make it a match to for him and for all the cricket fans in the world to remember.

This 29 year old has a great first class record for Transvaal with more than 3000 runs in 54 first class games with an average of 41 and a highest score of 266* that includes 7 centuries. When one considers that he is more than a useful bowler for his team, he just opens the various options of contributions he can make to this multi talented team with all the world-beaters.

His first innings of 83 of 206 balls has sown the seeds for the career of this elegance-personified cricketer who looks very promising for the future. Cricketfundas.com wishes Zander de Bruyn all the very best for the future and hopes that he keeps on entertaining us for ever and for always with his on-field performances.
 

Top of the Page