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InDepth headlines national business sports cricket regional entertainment technology world travel autos health | in-depth coverage > ICC Champions Trophy 2002 > We don't give up anymore: Ganguly 10.44 IST 26th Sept 2002 By IndiaExpress Bureau 
Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly said his team's refusal to give up even when they had their backs to the wall helped them overcome South Africa in the ICC Champions Trophy semi-final at the Premadasa stadium in Colombo on Wednesday."We played fantastically. The best point about our cricket in the last 10 months has been that we have not given up, we have always fought back," Ganguly told the media after they bottled up the South African batsmen in the end overs to run away victors by 10 runs. India will meet the winners of Friday's second semi-final between world champions Australia and hosts Sri Lanka. "We got an opportunity when Gibbs went off," Ganguly said. He praised India's fielders and bowlers for performing well under pressure, and singled out Yuvraj Singh for taking two brilliant catches. "We were down, but not out we knew that if we get a couple of wickets, we always had a chance to come back into the game, as it will be difficult for new batsmen on this wicket, which was turning and bouncing," Ganguly said. "We worked hard till the end, I think that's the key in this match". South African captain Shaun Pollock was dejected at his not being able to finish the task. "We had eight wickets in hand. We needed to hammer it home. But in the end we were just not good enough. It was unfortunate," he said about the required 100 runs off 20 overs at one stage. "We will sit together and make sure that we don't commit such a mistake again." Pollock also praised India's batting. "The first 30 overs they were awesome. All credit to India." On Gibbs retiring hurt, the skipper said Gibbs suffered cramps on both his hands. "We tried to retrieve him but it didn't work." Meanwhile, South African supporters and cricket commentators have lambasted Pollock's team for buckling at a time when they were all set to beat India. They said they were shocked and dumbfounded that the team fell apart after Gibbs had left the field retired hurt on 116. "The Indians were totally flattened and we allowed them to slip through," said Aslam Khota, a cricket commentator on the private TV channel, Super Sport Two. "It's just not allowed that you lose a match when you are cruising at 200/1 with nine wickets in hand. I also think that Lance Klusener did not make use of his bat when he was required to. "In the penultimate over he allowed at least two balls to go through when he should have hit the balls. But we have to acknowledge that India stuck to their guns and they should be praised for pulling off a miracle," he said. Other commentators and supporters said South Africa must go back to the drawing board to find out just why they lost from such a strong position. in-depth coverage > ICC Champions Trophy 2002 > |
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