On the evidence of Friday night in Guyana, there won’t be too many South African fans staying up into the small hours every other morning over the next few weeks. The lull of the South African cricket side continued, as they slumped to a four-wicket loss to the West Indies in the opening match of the Tri-Nations series also involving Australia.
To no great surprise, the main catalyst for the home side’s triumph was Sunil Narine, the off-spinner helping himself to career-best figures of six for 27 as the Proteas slumped to just 188 all out in 46.5 overs. It was never going to be enough, not against a batting line-up that was heavy on ambition and confidence.
The returning Kieron Pollard, all power through the middle overs, saw the West Indians home with 67 not out.
Those were scored off as many balls, with six sixes. To be fair to South Africa, some of those sixes only just crept over the fence, but the scorecard doesn’t leave room for comments.
When you’re down in the dumps, little tends to go your way, anyway. On Friday, South Africa had made a promising start, even before play began. They rightly scouted the pitch as being low and slow, and played what AB de Villiers called the extra spinner - in Aaron Phangiso.
“We knew that it would be a turning track, very slow. That’s why we played the extra spinner. Our balance was the same as that of the West Indies team. So we got all of that right,” the Proteas skipper said.
What De Villiers will have already learnt from Friday night is that two spinners will have to be the norm in this series. Even on the slightly bouncier surfaces, the likes of Imran Tahir and Phangiso will have a strong say.
Phangiso returned figures of three for 40, which were somewhat ruined by Pollard’s well-timed assault. The left-arm spinner’s last two performances in South African colours suggest he may have finally turned a corner, and he has also started to turn the ball with confidence now.
Had he and Imran Tahir (two for 41) had a few more runs to defend, things may have been very different. Instead, they had only 188 to play with, after a batting performance that fizzled out spectacularly.
Crucially, the visitors left 19 balls untouched with the bat, as they were rolled over by Narine. De Villiers reckoned that they had decided on a score of around 220, and the tail fell trying to get there in three strokes.
A touch more restraint may yet have seen South Africa get 210, and at least finish their innings with a semblance of respectability. Instead, they caved in, losing their last seven wickets for just 28 runs. It was embarrassing, and unnecessary.
At the top of the order, Quinton de Kock (30) and Hashim Amla (20) both fell trying to force the pace, having already done very well to breach 50 inside ten overs. When they fell within three balls of each other, all momentum was lost.
Rilee Rossouw’s patient 61 laid some sort of foundation, but there was precious little in the way of support. De Villiers himself gave away a good start, caught and bowled by Jerome Taylor for 31. The Windies whooped in delight at his demise, for they knew that his dismissal was the mortal blow.
The South African middle-order has been the subject of much speculation, and the likes of Farhaan Behardien (0) and Chris Morris (9) both fell early when their side desperately needed them to stand up, exposing a tail that looked especially long with Kyle Abbott at number eight.
Even so, Abbott, Phangiso and Kagiso Rabada are not walking bunnies, and they would have hoped to put up a sterner fight at the death. The Windies used the Proteas’ collapse as a launching pad for their chase, and though South Africa’s spinners toiled valiantly, 188 is seldom a winning total at this level.
The West Indians play Australia tonight, while South Africa lick their wounds before tackling the world champions on Tuesday. As they say, when it rains, it surely pours. - Sunday Tribune