A familiar turn of events

Those of us following the ICC World Twenty20 from Cape Town have been slightly envious of Durban over the last few days. On Wednesday, it had Yuvraj Singh's six sixes in an over and Thursday conjured up an enthralling turn of events that left South Africa dumped out of their own tournament – for the second time in four years.

Watching these matches has involved finding a suitable venue and in such a sports-mad city as Cape Town that's not a difficult task. However, when India took on England there were conflicts with rugby and football. In France, Italy were playing Portugal at the World Cup, but it seemed slightly odd as to why all the TVs in a pub on the Waterfront, Cape Town's famous tourist haunt, suddenly flicked over, until we found out the barman was Italian ...

After some negotiations, including a vote around the bar, it was agreed to put the cricket back on. That was until it turned out Manchester United were playing in the Champions League. Another brief conflict of interest occurred, but fortunately the same channel didn't have to be on each TV, so everyone was happy.

On Thursday evening there were no such issues. The home nation were playing in a match that could secure their passage to the semi-finals. But it didn't quite turn out like that.

As myself and two colleagues sat in a Mexican bar near to Newlands, following the day's double-header at the ground, a match unfolded that added another chapter to South Africa's lengthy list of chokes. Needing 154 to win, but 126 to qualify, the home side could only creak to 116 for 9.

The reaction in the bar was surprisingly understated. There was the occasional exclamation at boundaries and wickets, but it appeared that three journalists were the most interested people around. Maybe it was professional duty, or possibly for the locals it was a depressingly familiar turn of events.