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Full name Makhaya Ntini
Born July 6, 1977, Mdingi, nr King William's Town, Cape Province
Current age 30 years 316 days
Major teams South Africa, Border, Chennai Super Kings, ICC World XI, Warwickshire
Also known as George
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast

Batting and fielding averages
	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	4s	6s	Ct
Tests	87	97	33	627	32*	9.79	1198	52.33	93	8	23
ODIs	165	42	21	186	42*	8.85	279	66.66	16	5	30
T20Is	8	2	1	9	5	9.00	8	112.50	2	0	0
First-class	152	175	57	1115	34*	9.44					37
List A	224	64	28	249	42*	6.91					41
Twenty20	19	6	3	27	11	9.00	28	96.42	5	0	1

Bowling averages
	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	87	164	17863	9583	344	7/37	13/132	27.85	3.21	51.9	17	17	4
ODIs	165	163	8291	6177	256	6/22	6/22	24.12	4.47	32.3	8	4	0
T20Is	8	8	144	212	4	2/22	2/22	53.00	8.83	36.0	0	0	0
First-class	152		28182	15451	535	7/37		28.88	3.28	52.6		22	4
List A	224		10870	8009	325	6/22	6/22	24.64	4.42	33.4	9	5	0
Twenty20	19	19	396	494	11	2/22	2/22	44.90	7.48	36.0	0	0	0

Career statistics
Test debut	South Africa v Sri Lanka at Cape Town, Mar 19-23, 1998 scorecard
Last Test	India v South Africa at Kanpur, Apr 11-13, 2008 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut	New Zealand v South Africa at Perth, Jan 16, 1998 scorecard
Last ODI	South Africa v West Indies at Durban, Feb 1, 2008 scorecard
ODI statistics
T20I debut	South Africa v New Zealand at Johannesburg, Oct 21, 2005 scorecard
Last T20I	South Africa v West Indies at Johannesburg, Jan 18, 2008 scorecard
T20I statistics
First-class debut	1995/96
Last First-class	India v South Africa at Kanpur, Apr 11-13, 2008 scorecard
List A debut	1995/96
Last List A	Warriors v Eagles at East London, Mar 14, 2008 scorecard
Twenty20 debut	Eastern Cape v Western Province Boland at Port Elizabeth, Apr 13, 2004 scorecard
Last Twenty20	Chennai Super Kings v Deccan Chargers at Chennai, May 6, 2008 scorecard

Profile

Makhaya Ntini has had a fair bit to contend with during his young life. A product of the United Cricket Board's development programme, Ntini was discovered at a cattleherd in the Eastern Cape, given a pair of boots and packed off to Dale College, one of the country's best regarded cricketing nurseries. With an action consciously modelled on that of Malcolm Marshall, Ntini found himself touring Australia at the end of 1997 when Roger Telemachus failed a fitness test. He made his South African 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. In 1999, however, Ntini was charged and initially convicted of rape. He steadfastly maintained his innocence and was subsequently acquitted on appeal. It was, though, a harrowing ordeal for the first black African cricketer to play for South Africa and it is to his credit that he has been able to rebuild his career. He was not chosen for South Africa again until the Sharjah tournament in 2000 where he both surprised and impressed observers with greater control than had been evident previously. He carried his Sharjah form over to the three one-dayers against Australia in April this year, again bowling impressively.

Quite obviously, Ntini has bounced back from his troubles. Although he is a little short of the genuine pace of a Brett Lee or a Shoaib Akhtar, he is steadily improving and became the first South African to take ten wickets at Lord's in 2003 before devestating the West Indies in Trinidad in 2005 with 13 for 132, the best-ever match figures by a South African bowler. Finished the series against Australia at the end of 2005 with nine wickets at 29.33, including a menacing 5 for 64 in the first innings at Perth. Was forced to miss the third Test with a knee injury that restricted his bowling in the second innings at Melbourne. In the return series at home, Ntini proved a constant threat both as a wicket-taker and potential bruiser. Probing lines and a never-say-die attitude reaped him 19 wickets at 22.36 - with 6 for 100 and 4 for 78 at Johannesburg being a stand-out showing - and gave Justin Langer a warm welcome, in his 100th Test, with a first-ball clanger to the head that left him concussed. Backed up this fine series with 20 wickets in three Tests against New Zealand, and was rightfully Man-of-the-Series. Finished the 2005-06 season with 48 Test victims. In June, Ntini was awarded a benefit by Border for his ten years' service to the game. He managed just five wickets in a two-Test series in Sri Lanka in July-August but was an automatic choice for South Africa's 14-man squad for the Champions Trophy in India. Took eight wickets in the tournament, including a fiery spell against Pakistan at Mohali. When India toured South Africa at the end of 2006, Ntini topped the wickets tally in the Tests with 15, and just after that, when it was Pakistan's turn to visit for three Tests, he passed 300 wickets in a 19-wicket series. 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. Was dropped for South Africa's last two games, an indication of just how poorly he was performing.
Peter Robinson May 2007