da dobrowin： His ability to stay cool under pressure has earned him a spot in South Africa’s squad to the ICC World Twenty20, and a national contract; that ability was on display in his match-winning effort against Chennai
da betano casino： Siddarth Ravindran at the MA Chidambaram Stadium22-Mar-2010Kings XI Punjab’s first week of the season could hardly have been worse:they lost all three of their matches, the injury list remained lengthy andtheir big guns in the middle order were not firing. After mustering only134 against Chennai Super Kings, a team they had never beaten, andwatching them stroll to 96 for 1 in the 13th over, even their perenniallyoptimistic co-owner, Preity Zinta, wouldn’t have expected her team to pickup their first points of the season at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.But they did, largely due to a little-known South African fast bowler JuanTheron, a last-minute signing who was making his IPL debut. Theron hasmade his name in South African domestic cricket as a last-over specialist.His ice-in-the-veins final overs won his franchise, the Warriors, at leasttwo games in the recent Pro20 tournament and were instrumental in themtaking the title and, most likely, a place in the lucrative ChampionsLeague Twenty20.It is his ability to stay cool under pressure that has earned him a spotin South Africa’s squad to the ICC World Twenty20, and a national contract.That ability was on display against Chennai as well, that too in front ofa hostile crowd, probably the largest he has played in front of.The match had begun badly for him, with a first-ball duck, and his firstdelivery in the IPL was pulled to midwicket for four by Parthiv Patel. Itwas with his fielding that he made his first impact: smartly kicking theball onto the stumps at the keeper’s end after his follow-through to catchSuresh Raina short, and break his snappy 31-run stand with Parthiv thatwas launching Chennai to a share of the top spot in the standings.Four deliveries later, he won an iffy lbw decision from umpire DarylHarper to send back M Vijay and provide a shaft of hope for his side. Astring of tight overs from Punjab’s spinners brightened their chancesfurther, and after his three-run penultimate over, in which he took outManpreet Gony, Chennai was the gloomier side.A scrappy final over from Irfan Pathan was enough to push the game into aSuper Over, and it was a measure of the confidence Theron had inspired inthe Punjab think-tank that he was picked to send down the decisivedeliveries despite being a debutant.Lined up against him were three fearsome hitters – Matthew Hayden, AlbieMorkel and Raina. He passed that test too to cap a magnificent first game.Hayden was done in by a slightly slower ball, while Raina miscued toMahela Jayawardene at cover after slamming a six over his favourite widelong-on region. Punjab needed only 10 to win, and Jayawardene and YuvrajSingh polished them off with two deliveries to spare, sparking massivecelebrations in the Punjab camp.Theron walked away with Man-of-the-Match honours, and this after landingin India only hours before the match started. “The time difference is nottoo bad from South Africa,” he said. “I got a bit of a late night lastnight, but had a good run this morning in the nets. I just hoped for thebest, and it worked out alright today.”For a team struggling to keep the runs down, with its pacespearhead, Brett Lee, still unfit, allrounder James Hopes’ injury keepinghim out for at least three weeks, and another senior bowler, Sreesanth,woefully out-of-form, Theron’s ability to bowl accurately and at a decentclip is exactly what they need. All signs also point to a soundtemperament, which should also come in handy in a tough format forbowlers.Theron, though, will do well to heed the lessons learnt by anotherlittle-known South African, who made a flying start to his IPL career.Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Dillon du Preez took three wickets -including those of Sachin Tendulkar and JP Duminy – in two early overs onhis debut last season, but has not got a game since an ordinary secondmatch.After Sunday’s show against Chennai, Theron’s bowling will be more closelyanalysed by the opposition, and whether he can continue to match theheroics of the Pro20 on the unfriendly and unfamiliar conditions here willdetermine if he gets a long run in the IPL, or perhaps a spot in South Africa’s XI at the World Twenty20.