Proteas flooded by messages of congratulations

The Proteas have been flooded by emails from around the cricketing world congratulating them on their world record breaking win over Australia at the Wanderers on Sunday.

The Proteas website, proteascricket.co.za, received nearly 800 "well done" messages within 12 hours of their victory which gave them a 3-2 win over the world champions in the Standard Bank ODI series. Many of the messages from Australian fans asked the meaning of the word "babalaas", referred to by Herschelle Gibbs in his Man-of-the-Match comments on television when he spoke of the celebrations (and hangover) that would follow South Africa's world record win.

Gerald Majola, Cricket South Africa's CEO, said the support for the team had been overwhelming. "We thank the public for this, and Graeme Smith has dedicated Sunday's win and the world record of 438 for 9 to the people of South Africa." Commentators are rightly referring to Sunday's match as the 'greatest game ever played', and both teams are to be congratulated on contributing to this magnificent advertisement for cricket.

"A DVD and a video recording of the highlights of the whole series, including Sunday's thriller, will be made available to the public through popular retail outlets soon. Details will be announced as soon as all the arrangements are in place", Majola said. - Sapa