Lance Klusener

Klusener played for KwaZulu-Natal (Nashua Dolphins) in the domestic level in South Africa between 1991 and 2004. In 2004, Northamptonshire County Cricket Club signed him on a contract running until late 2008. At Wantage Road he impressed with his fired-up seam bowling and his hard-hitting in the low middle-order. Due to family bereavements back home, it was announced that his contract with the county would not be renewed at the end of the 2008 season. In late 2007, he started playing in the Indian Cricket League Twenty20 tournament in India for the Kolkata Tigers team.[8]

Klusener made his ODI debut on 19 January 1996 against England. He made his Test debut for South Africa against India in Calcutta during the second Test in 1996/97. At the time playing primarily as a bowler, Klusener took some hammering in the first innings at the hands of Mohammad Azharuddin, who at one point hit him for five consecutive fours, but Klusener returned what would remain career-best figures of eight for 64 in the second.[9] Oon his test debut he picked 8 wicket haul in a flat pitch in Kolkata, and he led from the front especially after Allan Donald had broken down. His bowling figures of 8/64 is regarded as the best bowling figures by a South African bowler in an innings on test debut.[10]

In his fourth test appearance, he registered the then fastest-ever test century by a South African in test cricket when he raced to the milestone off 100 balls against India at Cape Town in January 1997. It was also his maiden test century, as he achieved it while batting at no 9 position.[11] He was initially selected to the South African squad for the 50 over cricket tournament at the 1998 Commonwealth Games but he later withdrew from the tournament without featuring in any of the games and was subsequently replaced by Alan Dawson.[12] He also raised his game in test cricket further by scoring 174 against England in a drawn test match in Port Elizabeth in December 1999 and he was awarded the player of the match.[13]

Klusener is remembered for his contributions in One Day Internationals, in which he was a hard hitting batsman and was voted as Man of the Tournament during the 1999 World Cup. He showed glimpses of his big-hitting in the years leading to the 1999 World Cup. His baseball-style backlift and thunderous hitting lit up the tournament and nearly took South Africa to the final. He was also voted as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 2000.[14]

His international career tapered off after this, mainly due to persistent ankle injuries, as well as a public dispute with the then South African captain Graeme Smith, who at a breakfast meeting shortly after his appointment to the captaincy, in which he described Klusener as a "disruptive force" to the younger players within the South African national cricket team. The quote ended up in the South African press.[15] Later Klusener and Smith patched up their differences.[16][17]

He had scored 1,906 runs in 49 matches with a highest score of 174 and took 80 wickets with best figures of 8/64 in test matches. He scored 3,576 runs in 171 ODI matches at an average of 41.1 with a highest score of 103 and took 192 wickets with a best of 6/49. He has most fifers for South Africa in ODIs with 6.[18]

In the 1999 Cricket World Cup, South Africa had progressed to the semi-finals, and Klusener until then had an excellent tournament, taking 17 wickets and scoring 250 runs (including two half centuries) in 8 matches and building a reputation as a hard-hitting batsman in tight situations.[19] During the 1999 World Cup, he remained not out in five consecutive innings which yielded 214 runs without being dismissed.[20] His streak was finally ended by Gavin Larsen in the Super Six stage match against New Zealand when he was dismissed for the first time in the tournament after scoring just four runs.[14] His finishing prowess before the New Zealand match prompted the team to promote him to no 3 position in the match against New Zealand but it backfired.[21]

During the World Cup, he was dismissed only on two occasions out of the eight innings in which he played and averaged 142.50 in those eight innings.[20] He still holds the record for not having dismissed in most consecutive innings in World Cup matches. Due to his all-round performances with the bat and ball during the World Cup, he topped the ICC rankings for allrounders with a rating of 521 points.[22] He showed his temperament in every matches for South Africa either with the bat and ball with performances including 12* & 3/66 against India,[23] 52* off 45 balls & 3/21 against Sri Lanka,[24][25] 48* and 1/16 against England,[26] DNB & 5/21 against Kenya,[27] 52* and 1/35 against Zimbabwe,[28] 46* and 1/41 against Pakistan,[29] 4 & 2/46 against New Zealand, 36 & 1/53 against Australia (Super Six),[30] 31* off 16 balls & 0/50 against Australia in the semi-final. The only time he went wicketless in the tournament was the semi-final against Australia as he was always amongst the wickets. He was praised for his baseball-style backlift throughout the tournament. He had a strike rate of 163 in last 10 overs of 1999 WC.[31]

He won four Man of the Match awards out of the nine matches South Africa played in the tournament.[32] The four awards were consecutive with respect to South Africa's wins (one match in between was won by Zimbabwe). The only other South African to win Man of the Match award in this tournament was Jacques Kallis. He was criticized for his knock in a losing cause against Zimbabwe taking 58 balls to score 52 and when South Africa were bowled out for 185, he was stranded in the crease without being dismissed.[33] His opposite number Neil Johnson who also took 1999 World Cup on storm had engineered Zimbabwe's win of the tournament against South Africa with his all-round display scoring 76 runs and taking 3/27.[34][35]

His teammate Herschelle Gibbs let Klusener down when the former dropped an easy catch of Steve Waugh off Klusener's bowling in the last Super Six match, which proved out to be the turning point of the match.[36][37] Waugh eventually scored a match-winning century remaining unbeaten on 120, as Australia won in the last over of the contest with two balls to spare.

The second semi-final was played between Australia and South Africa in Edgbaston, England. Australia, having been put in to bat, set a target of 214 for South Africa to chase in 50 overs. Klusener came in to bat when South Africa were 175/6 in 44.5 overs, and his big-hitting along with support from other batsmen helped South Africa enter the final over at 205/9, needing nine runs to win with only one wicket remaining. The two batsmen at the crease were Klusener (on strike) and Allan Donald.

Klusener scored consecutive fours in the first two balls of the over (bowled by Damien Fleming), levelling the scores and leaving South Africa with only 1 run to win in 4 balls with Klusener on strike.[38] The third ball was a dot, and Donald narrowly escaped getting run out when he backed out too far and tried to get back to his crease. The fourth saw Klusener mis-hit his shot to mid-wicket fielder Mark Waugh. Klusener went for the run, although chances of a run-out were high and two balls were still remaining.[39] However, Donald at the other end, keeping his eyes on the ball and hoping to avoid another mix-up like in the last delivery, did not see Klusener sprinting down the pitch and did not hear the call to run, and Klusener was almost at the bowler's end by the time Donald (who had also dropped his bat) began running.[40][41][42][43] By then, Waugh had thrown the ball to Fleming, who rolled it to Adam Gilchrist who took the bails off at the other end, meaning Donald was run-out by some distance, thus ending the match with the scores level.[44][45] However, a tie meant that Australia progressed to the final since they had beaten South Africa in the group stages of the tournament. As commentator Bill Lawry put it during the final ball:

"...this will be out surely – oh it's out, it's gonna be run out...oh, that is South Africa out – Donald did not run, I cannot believe it. Australia go into the World Cup Final – ridiculous running with two balls to go. Donald did not go, Klusener came – what a disappointing end for South Africa."

Australia went on to win the tournament, but Klusener was voted the Player of the Series.[46]

In 2014, Klusener stated in an interview that Donald was not to blame for what happened. Klusener stated that he became impatient and, although he made it to the bowler's end, there was genuinely no run. After the match, he was cross at himself and regretted making that run.[47]

After a breakthrough World Cup tournament, many expected him to continue his strong performance from him for South Africa. He was named in South African squad for the 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy.[48] However, he struggled for consistency in the tours of West Indies in 2000/01 and Australia in 2001/02 which forced him out of the team for a while.[49] He then got a recall to the South African team for both the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy and 2003 World Cup.[50] He performed decently, despite South Africa's group stage exit from the 2003 World Cup tournament.

He was subsequently snubbed from the side for the tour of England in 2003 which raised questions about his future in the game.[51][52][53] His omission from the English test tour of 2003 was nothing short of controversy as he took legal action against United Cricket Board of South Africa for loss of earnings as he turned down the County cricket offers after being assured of a spot in the test side.[54][55] Later, United Cricket Board of South Africa and Klusener both swept the legal battle under the carpet and ended their differences.[56]

He was again available for selection following the end of disputes and was picked for the ODI series against the West Indies in 2003/04.[57] He also received a test recall for the tour of Sri Lanka in 2004. He was also included for the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy. He retired from international cricket in 2004.