Cricket: Cullinan out for handling the ball

South Africa 274 for 9 v West Indies

THE SOUTH African opener Daryll Cullinan became only the second player in one-day international cricket to be given out "handled the ball" during the third match of the one-day series against the West Indies in Durban yesterday.

The hosts made 274 for 9 in their 50 overs after winning the toss at Kingsmead, with half-centuries from Lance Klusener and their captain, Hansie Cronje.

Cullinan made 46 before playing a ball from the left-arm slow bowler Keith Arthurton hard into the ground. It bounced straight up but as it came down Cullinan took his right hand off the bat and caught it.

Although it did not seem likely that the ball would pose any danger to the stumps, the West Indies captain, Brian Lara, appealed and Cullinan was given out by umpire David Orchard.

Orchard used Law 33, which states a batsman shall be given out on appeal "if he wilfully touches the ball while in play with the hand not holding the bat unless he does so with the consent of the opposite side".

It is one of the game's most unusual forms of dismissal and the only previous batsman to fall in the same way in a limited-overs international was Mohinder Amarnath of India, in a match against Australia in 1986.

The dismissal was a welcome piece of luck to a demoralised side who are struggling to repair their shattered reputation after a 5-0 Test series defeat in South Africa, the first in their history. At the moment the one-day series is intriguingly poised at 1-1 and a victory in this match might provide a springboard for an eventual success in the series. With morale at an all-time low and criticism in the Caribbean at an all-time high it cannot come one moment too soon.

On a hard pitch South Africa batted solidly as the West Indian bowlers laboured in hot weather. Klusener, sent in as a pinch-hitter at number three, made 64 off 74 balls while Cronje was in sparkling form, hitting 58 off 42 deliveries with three fours and three sixes.

Off-spinner Carl Hooper took four wickets for 52 runs but Curtly Ambrose was the most impressive bowler, taking two for 31.

THIRD ONE-DAY INTERNATIONAL

South Africa won toss

D J Cullinan handled the ball 46

H H Gibbs c McLean b Hooper 29

L Klusener c Lara b Hooper 64

J H Kallis b Hooper 24

*W J Cronje c King b Ambrose 58

J N Rhodes c Murray b Arthurton 11

D M Benkenstein c Jacobs b Ambrose 10

M V Boucher c Jacobs b Hooper 5

A J Hall not out 9

P L Symcox run out (Jacobs) 5

Extras (8lb 3nb 2w) 13

Total (for 9, 50 overs) 274

Did not bat: S Elworthy.

Fall: 1-49, 2-119, 3-156, 4-183, 5-221, 6-251, 7-252, 8-261, 9-274.

Bowling: Ambrose 10-1-31-2; King 7-0-40-0 (1nb); Hooper 10-0-52-4 (1w); Arthurton 10-0-43-1 (2nb, 1w); McGarrell 5-0-41-0, McLean 8-0-59-0.

WEST INDIES: S Chanderpaul; J R Murray; *B C Lara; C L Hooper; K L T Arthurton; K F Semple; R D Jacobs; N A M McLean, N C McGarrell; C E L Ambrose; R D King.

Tribal justice helped to catch a man suspected of robbing the wife of the South African off-spinner, Pat Symcox, it emerged yesterday.

Liz Symcox was mugged at knifepoint on a beach at Hibberdene, 60 kilometres south of Durban, last week.

The matter was reported to the police but yesterday Symcox and his wife were informed by a Zulu chief, Bhekizizwe Luthuli, that the man suspected of committing the crime had been apprehended and handed over to the authorities.

Luthuli said that the police had requested assistance in the case from his tribal police, who traced the suspect a day after the robbery.

"Our tribal police regularly help the authorities in matters like this." Luthuli said, while watching the match between South Africa and the West Indies in Durban yesterday.

"It's our way of helping to stamp out crime in South Africa."