Klusener the bat now has a baton to bear

South Africa's bludgeon is back. And that is just what Dr Bacher ordered

On a day when cricket continued to hog front-page headlines for all the wrong reasons, the irony was not mistaken. "The good thing about all this is that it is now truly a World Cup," Dr Ali Bacher mused. Once a fine Test batsman, now a master of spin. The ultimate Spin Doctor, it could be said.

It was a tough week for Bacher. While he wears the neutral hat of tournament executive director, he remains a South African supporter down to his green-and-gold socks. The opening ceremony went off as promised, but then things took a turn for the worse. On Sunday, the hosts were beaten by West Indies. Monday (and each subsequent day) brought more confusion over Zimbabwe and England. Tuesday saw Shane Warne heading back to Australia, Wednesday had Pakistan's Rashid Latif involved in an allegedly racist spat with Australia's Adam Gilchrist.

In the eyes of South Africans, Bacher's task is one which, done properly, will push the country's case for hosting the 2010 football World Cup, making for a grand slam of major events, starting with the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

By the end of the week Bacher was breathing easier and passed the baton of a nation's expectations to Shaun Pollock and his team. When rugby hosted the World Cup they won it. When football staged the African Cup, they won it. When golf put on the World Cup, they won it. Get it? When South Africa invite you to a World Cup they win it. Fortunately, fast bowlers like Pollock have broad shoulders.

Defeat against West Indies had built early pressure. Though word from inside the camp was that plenty of positives were plucked from the game – making 275 batting second under lights at Newlands was a huge endorsement of their ability on a ground where 220 is often successfully defended – it was still a defeat, the nation reminded them.

Midweek lifted team spirits, if only for a few hours. Openers Herschelle Gibbs and Gary Kirsten routinely knocked off the 140 for victory against Kenya, but the cracks that had appeared in an untidy fielding display were compounded by the news that the talismanic Jonty Rhodes had broken his hand and was ruled out of the rest of the World Cup.

No Rhodes, no hope? No way. For when it comes to delivering when needed most, up steps Lance Klusener. When Iain Duncan Smith said: "Never underestimate the determination of the quiet man", he might have had the all-rounder in mind, though Klusener's style is anything but conservative. Living up to his domestic reputation as a slayer of attacks at the 1999 World Cup, he recorded scores of 12no, 52no, 48no, 52no, 46no, 4, 36 and 31no.

It has often appeared over the past few years that he has buckled under the reputation it earned him. Poor form and fitness, and disillusionment with South African cricket, saw the 31-year-old spend significant time soul-searching. Indeed, when he was called up to the final XV for this tournament, radio switchboards were jammed. No one knew what Klusener did: he yearned for the big stage. A big man with big- match temperament.

"I guess it's a question of self-belief, and there were times during the last few years when doubts went through my mind," Klusener said last week. "I couldn't let everything that was written about me get to me, but I had to question what I was doing. It's a matter of going out and believing in yourself again, which I have of late. Batting in Cape Town the other night confirmed that to myself."

That Cape Town innings, 57 off 47 balls with five sixes – his highest in nine World Cup knocks, with an average of 112.66 – was another exhibition of brutal hitting. He followed up by taking 4 for 16 against Kenya. Man of the match and hosts' man of the first week, like 1999.

Today a confident, in-form Klusener strides out at the Wanderers. The game, against New Zealand, is a big one in Pool B. Sri Lanka have eight points, while South Africa, the Kiwis, West Indies and Canada have four. Only three teams in the group qualify for the Super Sixes. With New Zealand unlikely to travel to Kenya, they have in effect already lost twice. A third loss today and the big silver bird is waiting for the silver ferns.

Though the numbers favour South Africa – they have won 22 of 33 one-day matches and seven of eight on home turf – New Zealand restricted Klusener to four runs at the last World Cup, but a batting average of 51.66 against those opponents shows who is winning this contest. While on the subject of numbers, South Africa, like most sides, get to choose what they want on the back of their shirt. Gibbs has 00, to signify a new start in a turbulent career. Klusener has worn 69 for a few years. "I do get a few cheeky comments about it," he says. "It gets the crowd going."

With a motto of "go big or go home," no one will go anywhere while he's about.