South Africa announced its arrival back to world cricket at the 1992 World Cup and they were immediately a force.

Whilst results in Test cricket were strong, it was one day cricket that had grown around the world in South Africa’s absence, and its seemed its players and fans wanted to make up for lost time- they took to the game with fervour.

A heartbreaking loss in the 1992 semi-final was followed by another strong performance in the 1996 world Cup where they were unbeaten until a shock loss to the West Indies in the quarter finals.

The late 90s though saw the South Africans elevate to another level and become one the greatest one day teams in cricket history. Remarkably they held a 78% win percentage between those 1996 and 1999 World Cups. One of the major reasons for the South African golden era was the emergence of Lance Klusener, the farmer who spoke Zulu.

The prototype for what would become the T20 player Klusener redefined late over hitting in combination with his ultra-competitive medium pacers. 

Kluseer entered the 1999 World Cup in career best form, and was about to own cricket’s global stage.