Online Reporter
TASHINGA Musekiwa dropped Shimron Hetmeyer when the West Indies batter had scored just NINE runs at the Wankhede in Mumbai on Monday.
It proved to be the defining moment of Zimbabwe’s Super Eight defeat at the hands of the West Indies.
Hetmeyer, arguably the most dangerous in-form top-order T20I batter in the world today, made the most of his second life in this T20 World Cup match.
In the fourth over of the West Indies’ innings, Hetmeyer took aim at a ball bowled by Blessing Muzarabani.
Musekiwa was perfectly placed at deep square leg to complete the catch and change the course of this game.
But, all he could do was make a meal of what should have been a simple catch.
The rest, of course, is history.
Hetmyer, who was dropped again on 70, and yet again by Musekiwa, off the bowling of Brad Evans, went on to smash 85 off just 43 balls.
His knock featured seven fours and as many sixes.
In the process, Hetmyer broke multiple records, of which some of them was of his own.
Rovman Powell, notably, gave the support he had required during his entertaining stay.
And, to make matters worse, Musekiwa was dismissed for a first-ball duck.
It’s very likely that the two dropped catches, and the way Hetmeyer took advantage of his double life, were still troubling Musekiwa.
But, he is not the first player to find himself in such a situation in a World Cup.
Herschelle Gibbs of South Africa found himself in the same situation during the 1999 World Cup in England.
Having lost to New Zealand and Pakistan in the group stage, Australia had their work cut out for them.
Going into the final Super Six encounter, Steve Waugh’s team knew they had to beat South Africa to progress.
Gibbs’ century meant Australia needed 272.
But that was not to be Gibbs’ most significant contribution to a match that has gone down in World Cup folklore.
At 48 for 3, out strode Waugh, bristling with intent and, in partnership with Ricky Ponting, he resurrected the chase, cracking 50 from 47 balls.
Then came the fateful moment when, on 56, he flicked Lance Klusener to midwicket.
Gibbs took the catch but, seemingly attempting to celebrate, let the ball slip from his grasp.
“You’ve just dropped the World Cup,” was Waugh’s response.
He went on to score an unbeaten 120 and seal victory.
Waugh’s innings, only his second hundred in 266 ODIs at that point, underscored his reputation for ice-cold execution under pressure.
It secured Australia’s safe passage to the World Cup semi-finals with just two balls to spare.
The teams met again in the second semi-final, in Birmingham, four days later, and when it finished in a tumultuous tie, it was the victory over South Africa in the Super Six that sent Australia through (the head-to-head record was used before net run rate, although Australia held the advantage on that score, too). – Sports Reporter/Cricket Monthly
Mathew Masinge