CRICKET/World Cup: The West Indies, written off as a declining world power in cricket, shattered South Africa's dreams of a winning start to the 2003 World Cup when they pulled off a thrilling victory in Cape Town yesterday.
The three-run win, achieved in an enthralling match, proved the perfect curtain-raiser to the six-week tournament, coming as a welcome respite from England's constant dithering over their scheduled match in Zimbabwe, which has turned their preparations into a farce.
Brian Lara, returning to action after a five-month lay-off, set the tone for the game with a breathtaking 116 off 134 balls as his team made 278-5 in front of a packed Newlands.
It was man-of-the-match Lara's 16th one-day century but his majestic efforts looked at one stage to have been in vain as South Africa's Lance Klusener, the man of the tournament four years ago in England, unleashed his heavy artillery, smashing 57 to edge his team closer to the target.
But once Klusener was out, caught by Windies skipper Carl Hooper off the bowling of Vasbert Drakes in the final over, the game was up, and the 25,000 crowd was stunned into silence.
The match proved the perfect tonic to the headache caused by England's shoddy attempts to solve the crisis over their February 13th match in Harare.
Their World Cup campaign collapsed into chaos when a planned 10.30 a.m. local time (8.30 a.m. GMT) press conference was cancelled as more talks were held on the crisis between the players and their England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) employers.
It was then confirmed that ECB chief executive Tim Lamb had received a letter containing death threats against the team, which pledged reprisals if the controversial fixture in Harare took place.
Lamb described the threats as a "hoax". Almost eight hours after the original news conference had been planned, the under-fire Lamb stunned reporters by announcing that a decision on the game was, once again, being delayed for 24 hours.
"Specific information the ECB has been seeking regarding the safety and security of the England players and officials in regard to their visit to Zimbabwe came to light today.
"This information has confirmed the concerns of the ECB that we have had regarding safety and security in Zimbabwe," said Lamb.
Failure to fulfil the fixture will have drastic consequences - England would be docked four World Cup points and hit with a massive fine for reneging on their contractual obligations.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya was forced once again to defend star spinner Muttiah Muralitharan from accusations of chucking.
Former New Zealand wicket-keeper Ian Smith, whose team take on the Sri Lankans in a key group B match in Bloemfontein today, accused Muralitharan of throwing and wanted him banned.
"The Sri Lankan off-spinner throws rather than bowls the ball," said Smith.
"I've heard all about how he's had a deformity since birth and therefore unable to straighten his right arm. He's still breaking the laws of cricket and therefore should not be allowed to bowl."
A livid Jayasuriya accused critics of trying to destroy Muralitharan's career.
"I'm really not sure what people want from him. If they want to try and take him down and destroy one of Sri Lanka's greatest ever cricketers, they're going the right way about it," said Jayasuriya.
