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S Africa sent into a spin

South Africa cricket captain Graeme Smith adjusts his cap during the Man of the Match ceremony after their match against Bangladesh in Georgetown, Guyana, on Saturday. PHOTO: AFP

South Africa flew to Grenada on Sunday after an embarrassing World Cup defeat to Bangladesh they'll never want to see again.

Spin bowlers Chris Gayle, Daniel Vettori and Monty Panesar -- who all face the South Africans in upcoming games -- would be eager to see the recording.

Bangladesh, with their three spin bowlers, reawoke a criticism that has been around for years, namely that South Africans don't appreciate spin and can't play it.

On Saturday, chasing what should have been a reachable target of 251, South Africa's aggressive batsmen got it all wrong, trying to go after the subtle spin and not appreciating the slight differences between all three bowlers, youngsters Shakib al Hasan and Abdur Razzak and veteran Mohammad Rafique.

A.B. De Villiers, Ashwell Prince, Justin Kemp and Mark Boucher, all experienced batsmen, perished to what appeared to be gentle and untroubling slow bowling. But their lack of experience against spin showed as the wickets tumbled.

After the match, captain Graeme Smith was asked if the defeat proved that South Africans cannot handle spin.

"That's been around for a while," he said. "It's something we deal with every time we go to the sub-continent, but look how we played when we beat Sri Lanka."

Sri Lankan spinners Muttiah Muralitharan and Sanath Jayasuria still took four wickets between them in that match for less than 70 runs.

South Africa's dislike of spin bowling is also reflected in their reluctance to select a specialist spinner. Robin Peterson's World Cup so far has consisted of five overs and a lot of carrying of drinks and gloves out to batsmen.

Smith has bowled off-spin, taking two wickets.

New Zealand coach John Bracewell, himself a former Test spinner, was in the crowd at the National Guyana Stadium for the match and said the South Africans were too aggressive.

"South Africa went after the bowling, trying to hit the deliveries too hard. Herschelle Gibbs played off the back [foot] and had no problem. It was guys who thrashed at it who got themselves in trouble," he said.

Guyana is famed for producing flat wickets similar to those found in India and Pakistan and South Africa may find something more pleasing to them in Grenada. But that wicket has been relaid and remains a mystery.

Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar said after Saturday's 67-run victory that he would be confident of more World Cup victories if he could take the Georgetown wicket with him to every match.

Saturday's defeat does not spell the end for South Africa's hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals as they look forward to games against West Indies, New Zealand and England.

But West Indies spinners Gayle and Marlon Samuels, New Zealand's Vettori and England's Panesar will all be looking at the games with renewed interest.
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