Cricket World Cup: Donald's moment of `total confusion'

THEY SAY time is a healer, but 24 hours after what some observers were calling the "choke of the century", Allan Donald was still in pain. Perhaps not knowing why it had happened made it worse and after a night of endless mental replays and soul searching in his Birmingham home, South Africa's fast bowler was no wiser about the fateful last-over run-out that had cost his side a place in the World Cup final.

"It was a moment of madness and total confusion," he said yesterday. "I'm still don't really know why, but it was a devastating way to go out of the World Cup."

The bare bones of the situation were this. South Africa have their last pair at the crease. Lance Klusener punches a yorker past the bowler, Damien Fleming, and sets off for the winning run. Donald having narrowly escaped being run-out at the previous ball, stands his ground while Mark Waugh essays a back-hand flick at stumps. By now, both batsmen are at the same end, and all it takes is a gentle under-arm lob by Fleming to the wicket- keeper at the other end to seal South Africa's fate.

"In that situation with four balls to go and just one run needed, I'd back Lance to hit it out of the ground more often than not," Donald said. "I nearly got run out on the third ball because I thought Lance was coming.

"After that close shave, I went down the pitch and told him to wait for the right ball, pick his spot and hit it. When he squeezed the next ball I didn't hear him shout at all. I just saw him coming and the next thing I knew he was beside me.

"He hit the ball so close to the bowler, I just wanted to make sure my bat was in, just in case he deflected it on to the stumps. There was so much noise I couldn't hear much, except the Aussies shouting: `Keeper's end, keeper's end.' Afterwards, the dressing-room was so quiet it was if someone had died. I took responsibility for the mix-up, though Hansie [Cronje] said we mustn't blame anyone."