Lucky Sithole
Remember the story about the young girl after a school hockey match was drawn? She ran around proclaiming joyously that, “Everybody won! Everybody won!”
Morne du Plessis felt no joy after Western Province drew against Northern Transvaal in the Currie Cup final of 1979. “A draw is like kissing your sister,” he said.
It must have been a bitter pill for the Cape Town faithful to swallow. The outcome was made even less tasty because Naas Botha did what every province other than Northern Transvaal hated him for.
He scored two late drop goals, levelling the scores at 15-15 which meant the two titans of South African rugby shared the spoils.
While Province fans felt cheated and howled about Botha’s incredible ability to kick drop goals – as if it was somehow against the laws of the game – Northerns loved him for “winning” the Currie Cup for them.
A memorable moment in South African sport came in the second cricket test between South Africa and England at the Wanderers in December 1995. England appeared all but beaten, but opening bat, Mike Atherton spent more than ten hours at the crease.
He faced 492 deliveries from the likes of Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock, scoring 185 unbeaten runs. England secured a draw that was celebrated as a great victory.
Last week, at the end of the third day in the test between India and South Africa at Centurion, Hashim Amla said the next day was “a great cricket day to wake up to” and it was. Except when he was standing in the middle of the pitch in bright sunshine and that night it poured with rain and well into the next day.
With the sort of weather the Highveld had been experiencing, a draw not only looked possible but likely. As it turned out, South Africa won the match in emphatic style, squaring the series at 1-1.
The third test in Cape Town starts on Tuesday with both teams fancying their chances – unless the weather changes. Cape Town has had a lot of rain this summer and the forecast for the next five days is cloudy skies and some rain. And the weather is only one of the factors that could result in a draw in a cricket test.
Yes, a win is always preferable to a draw – unless your team is the one staring defeat in the face. Then a draw can be a very desirable outcome.
