OTD| Shaun Pollock’s brilliance guided South Africa to victory against England on his ODI debut in 1996

Shaun Pollock is one of the greatest fast bowlers that South Africa has ever produced. His partnership with Allan Donald was a force to reckon with in international cricket. Pollock scalped more than 800 wickets in his international career and he made his ODI debut on this day in 1996 against England at Cape Town. In the very first match of his ODI career the former South African captain made an impact and led his team to victory. 

Poor batting display from the Proteas

The South African skipper Hansie Cronje won the toss for the Proteas and opted to bat first. It was not an expected start for the hosts as they lost a couple of wickets very early in the innings in the form of Gary Kirsten and Brian McMillan. England gave further blows as they reduced South Africa to 5/77. 

The two youngsters, Jacques Kallis and Shaun Pollock came to the rescue with the bat and played crucial knocks to guide South Africa beyond the 200-run mark. Kallis scored 38 runs whereas the debutant Pollock ended up with an unbeaten 66 runs. The Proteas posted 211 runs on the board in the first innings courtesy of a gritty batting effort from Shaun Pollock. 

Shaun Pollock – Not an ordinary player

If the first innings was about Pollock’s brilliance with the bat, then the second innings was an introduction to the legendary career of the debutant. Shaun Pollock had already impressed with his batting on the debut but the job was half done as South Africa needed an extraordinary bowling performance to prevent England from chasing the target. 

Pollock rose to the occasion and picked up 4 wickets to break the spine of the English batting unit. For his first couple of wickets, he dismissed Neil Fairbrother and Craig White. But his remaining two wickets decided the result of the match as these two wickets came right at the end of the second innings. He dismissed Neil Smith and Darren Gough to wrap up the English run chase. As a result of this spectacular all-round performance from Shaun Pollock, South Africa won the match by a narrow margin of 6 runs. 

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