Cricket: Gibbs struggles for best form in NZ ODI games

By RICHARD BOOCK

It was just over a year ago that Herschelle Gibbs blasted what was to become one of the least memorable centuries in South African cricket history.

The date was February 16, 2003, the venue was The Wanderers ground at Johannesburg and the result was a scarcely believable nine-wicket win to New Zealand and the beginning of the end for South Africa's World Cup dream.

For New Zealanders watching from afar it was the first genuine indication that their side was a tournament runner, a shortly lived belief that not long after disintegrated against India at Centurion.

For those who happened to make it to the City of Gold, it was a logistical nightmare, preceded by one of the biggest traffic jams in Western history and some of the most angry road-rage exchanges ever witnessed.

The only real consolations were the quality of the Bordervoorst and the aesthetics of Gibbs' onslaught in the first innings.

But then came the now-familiar rain, the Duckworth-Lewis revised chase and Stephen Fleming's incandescent reply, a princely century that eclipsed even Gibbs' earlier fireworks.

The problem for Gibbs is that he has not reached a century since, and desperately needs to find some consistency if South Africa are to bounce back from their early tour woes.

"I've made a few starts and I feel I've just got to get through the first 20 overs or so and I'll be all right," he said yesterday.

"I sort of feel I'm due. It's been a year since I got my last hundred at the World Cup against New Zealand and it does sit in the back of your mind a bit. It's something you always want to get, but that's just how cricket works sometimes."

Gibbs has an impressive one-day record, having averaged 34.88 over 147 matches, scoring 12 centuries and 19 50s along the way.

However, he has struggled at times in New Zealand, getting under way at Auckland and Wellington but on each occasion falling after the hard work had been completed, and at a time South Africa could have done with much more.

His departure at Wellington was particularly galling for the tourists, as the chase had been reduced to a manageable task and the manner of his dismissal - a weak-wristed loft down long-on's throat - was mindless.

In mitigation, Gibbs did at least manage to post a total in the first and third one-dayers and was adjudged lbw in the second and fourth, neither of which seemed conclusively plumb.

And his 69 at Wellington was almost worth the price of the admission fee only, such was the majesty of some of his stroke-play, especially square of the wicket.

For all that, South Africa are in desperate need of an improvement in the remaining matches of the series, and their batsmen are coming under pressure to score more prolifically.

The theory is that South Africa's bowlers, at present under full attack from the opposition, would be greatly assisted if their batsmen could post bigger totals, therefore shifting the pressure towards New Zealand's top order.

"I felt in good nick at Wellington but obviously I didn't get out to a great shot," Gibbs said. "I have to put my hand up and take full responsibility for that, but there are another two games and another two chances to turn it around."

Gibbs also struggled a shade during South Africa's tour to New Zealand in 1998-99, scoring just one half-century in five games as his side won the series 3-2.

"It just confirms the fact that New Zealand is a very dangerous team, not only abroad but also in their own backyard.

"They're just playing some good, high-quality cricket at the moment.

"We're down to the last two now and we simply have to play to our full potential if we want to win."

He said there had been a lot of soul-searching after the Dunedin loss, but was adamant that the conditions, weather and schedule could not be blamed for the side's predicament. "We know it's more difficult when you tour and we expect this.

"We don't want to make any excuses for what's happened so far because, as international players, we just have to adjust.

"The cold facts are that we haven't played to our potential, and it has shown."

PROFILE

* Herschelle Herman Gibbs.

* Born: 23 February, 1974.

* Teams: Western Province, South Africa.

* Debuted for Western Province as a 16-year-old in 1990.

* Made his test debut in front of a 70,000-strong crowd at Eden Gardens.

* Banned for six months in 2002 for his part in the Hansie Cronje match-fixing scandal.

* Averages 49.12 in tests, and has scored 13 centuries, including a highest of 228 against Pakistan last year.