| Player: | M Ntini |
DateLine: 7th May 2009
Ntini miraculously discovered at a cattle farm in the Eastern Cape, given a pair of boots and packed off to Dale College. Ntini found himself touring Australia at the end of 1997. He made his one-day debut at Perth in early 1998, bowling well in helpful conditions and his Test debut came against Sri Lanka in the same year. He has became the first South African to take ten wickets at Lord's in 2003 before devastating the West Indies in Trinidad in 2005 with 13 for 132, the best-ever match figures by a South African bowler. When India toured South Africa at the end of 2006, Ntini topped the wickets tally in the Tests with 15 and just after that, he passed 300 wickets in a 19-wicket series against Pakistan. Ntini was unable to carry his hot streak into the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies, where he managed just six wickets from seven games. He was dropped for South Africa's last two games and was comprehensively outbowled by Dale Steyn in the series against West Indies. But he improved his average with another 10 wickets against India, and came back from a difficult start to play a vital role in South Africa's subsequent series win in England.
