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Running now at Eden: The Big Show
Glenn Maxwell was the first to bat at nets as Australia start warm up for the South Africa semi-final on Thursday
At around quarter to six, Glenn Maxwell stepped inside Eden Gardens to the sound of drum rolls and crackers, which if you weren’t told was for the Kali puja immersion in the Hooghly that flows nearby, would have played out just fine in this setting.
The nip in the air, the holiday mirth — these are all but excuses to hang around Eden Gardens ahead of a non-India World Cup match. Semi-final it may be in three days, and a prospective humdinger, but the real reason is to just catch a glimpse of the Big Show. He didn’t disappoint, turning up with the cap worn backward and wearing a big smile, sauntering ahead of everyone else in the optional training pack towards the practice pitch rolled so flat that the floodlights bounced off it.
An enthusiastic fan shrieked “Maxieeeeeee!” from the lower tier and he turned to wave at him. The hamstring looks fine now but Maxwell still stretched — once, twice, thrice — just to be on the safe side. We all know by now Maxwell is all about lightning hand-eye coordination. Running singles, as he showed in Mumbai, becomes secondary. But miracles don’t happen every day. And Australia are bracing for that inevitability. Proof of that came in a short, well-directed bouncer at Maxwell that almost caught him by surprise.
A firm push off the next ball, a punch off the next and soon Maxwell was on song, putting on a show with his slogs, reverse sweeps and good old straight hoicks. These are surreal times when Maxwell hogs all the limelight while Steve Smith, one of the best batters of this generation, sweats it out in the adjacent nets. Middling scores do that to the best. But Smith knows he has at least one more chance to change the narrative.
In the league match against South Africa, Smith started well but couldn’t build on it. And Maxwell scratched around till he was dismissed on three off 17 balls. So, it made sense why these two were first to plonk their kits in front of the nets. Also curious was the choice of evening nets (South Africa practiced in the afternoon in an arrangement that will be alternating in the next two days).
The sun goes down quickly in this part of the world, which means an earlier onset of dew. If similar conditions come into play on Thursday, batting second will come with its own set of dos and don’ts. South Africa have already experienced it. On Monday, Australia too gained some firsthand knowledge.
Only thrice in this century have Australia played at Eden Gardens, the last match — an ODI —coming in 2017 when Bhuvneshwar Kumar swung out the openers after Virat Kohli ground his way to 92 in a 50-run win for India. Smith scored a fifty in that match, as did Marcus Stoinis, who remained unbeaten as Australia were bowled out in 43.1 overs. This time, Australia must be thanking their stars for getting an extended buildup at a venue that hasn’t exactly been nice to them.
South Africa could be feeling the same, specifically because of the 243-run humbling inflicted by India here over a week ago. That explained why barring Quinton de Kock, almost everyone trooped out under the pleasant Kolkata sun to iron out their batting issues. And no one looked more possessed than skipper Temba Bavuma as he toiled away against spinners. He needs to exorcise a few ghosts, as do South Africa.
Because irrespective of how they play, the narrative doesn’t change: If it’s a World Cup, South Africa tend to tease and flirt, till they find ways — including a bizarre one imposed on them in 1992 — to not win it. They have slipped under the radar this time though, unlike in 1999, or 2003, or 2015. Except they have also flourished just enough to make the last four. But with the circle of life slowly shrinking to Eden Gardens — and conceivably to Ahmedabad — South Africa can’t afford to slip up anymore.
