Johannesburg — Mark Boucher does not want the Proteas to play “maverick cricket,” especially the hitters.
It’s a concept he’s used frequently, and to their credit, the players have mainly adhered to this philosophy while producing some polished performances in recent years, particularly in the T20 format.
However, occasionally you would like to see them cast off their chains. On Sunday, it appeared as if South Africa’s batsmen were taking a touch too long to get set, preventing them from playing more freely.
The innings appeared fairly methodical, with 19 runs scored in the first five overs, 21 in the second five overs, and 20 runs scored in the tenth and fifteenth overs. It wasn’t terrible, but neither was it exceptional.
SA has the right to play in such a manner, to “take a look” and “get settled” before exploding through Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller later.
However, it requires a lot from those two, and prior to India’s crucial double-wicket burst on Sunday, which turned the South African innings and ultimately the match around, it appeared like the tourists were 20 runs short of where they should have been at that stage of their innings.
Once India was able to exert pressure and make boundary hitting tough in the final ten overs, South Africa were left with an insufficient total to defend.
Aiden Markram, who hit 79 and was one of the wickets to fall during that burst, felt the final total of 278 was respectable, but 15 to 20 runs short of what was required to make India feel uneasy.
Even during his 121-run third-wicket partnership with Reeza Hendricks, when a lot of well-executed drives found Indian fielders, he stated he was frustrated. This factor contributed to South Africa receiving less than their mini-targets required.
Playing with greater intent earlier would help reduce some of the pressure on the middle-order hitters; something the squad can hopefully emulate at the T20 World Cup if they are successful in Delhi on Tuesday, as scoring effectively in the powerplay is crucial to the entire batting strategy.
After missing Sunday’s second one-day international due to a slight virus, Temba Bavuma’s status will once again be of interest. Hendricks scored his fifth fifty in his past six international innings, bolstering his case for a starting position in the T20 World Cup.
Bavuma desperately needs playing time and a significant innings in these ODIs to alleviate the weight on his shoulders. Failure to do so will put the selectors in a difficult position prior to the Proteas’ 24 October opening encounter at the T20 World Cup.
Bavuma’s status as captain affords him some tolerance, but even that has diminished somewhat in light of Hendricks’ recent form and the fact that the team performed well in England without Bavuma.
Hopefully, the South African captain will be healthy for the series decider in Delhi and the Proteas’ few of warm-up games prior to the T20 World Cup in Australia.
The third ODI begins at 10am on Tuesday.
SQUADS:
INDIA – Shikhar Dhawan (capt), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammad Siraj, Deepak Chahar, Mukesh Kumar, Rajat Patidar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Rahul Tripathi
Janneman Malan, Quinton de Kock, Temba Bavuma (capt), Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Wayne Parnell, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Anrich Nortje, and Andile Pheluwayo.