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GRENADA - Something strange happened on Wednesday in the Cricket World Cup.
The fans not only turned up in numbers at the Grenada National Stadium but they treated the occasion as if it was some sort of carnival.
In several parts of the ground they played musical instruments and sang and shouted gaily. In general they had a ball.
This was what it was said that the World Cup in the Caribbean might be like, rather than the dreary procession of body searches accompanied by the unspoken but obvious desire for people to behave like mute robots it had become.
Presumably, if the International Cricket Council discover what went on yesterday there will be hell to pay.
There was some carnival cricket to match as well, though unfortunately for the supporters it was not being played by the home side.
South Africa, and their opening batsman A B De Villiers in particular, entered wonderfully into the spirit of the proceedings.
De Villiers made a career-best 146 from 128 balls, his last 46 coming from 14 balls.
He struck five sixes, four of them from five balls faced at one point.
That he batted for the final part of his innings with a runner and was clearly in extreme discomfort suffering a combination of cramps, heat exhaustion and dehydration lent a heroic sheen to his endeavours.
This was his first one-day hundred and if he makes another dozen none will be more spectacular.
South Africa had lost to Bangladesh last Saturday and had several points to make if their aspirations to be champions were to remain realistic.
It was a spectacular riposte, much more in keeping with their status after some stodgy performances in Guyana, capped by the last.
West Indies, still more in need of a win to progress, were dreadful. For every good thing they did there were two bad ones.
Like South Africa, they had made changes in the team, the selections reflecting desperation. It left them short on bowling and hardly long on batting.
To all intents this was a match they had to win and they chose it to give an international debut to the 19-year-old Kieron Pollard.
This did not last long as the most mystifying element of the match.
Since South Africa put on 170 for the second wicket, Brian Lara delayed the third power play, in which only two can field outside the ring.
Indeed he delayed it so long that it was like waiting for Godot. Disaster duly struck during it.
Although West Indies had finally removed De Villiers, Herschelle Gibbs and Mark Boucher put on 77 in this five-over spell and their fourth-wicket partnership yielded 86 from 37 balls.
West Indies dropped catches and missed run-out opportunities early in the piece.
It was slack cricket from a slack side that gave every appearance of having been cobbled together.
Somehow the crowd still gave every impression of loving it.
- INDEPENDENT
