Cape Town – Proteas captain Farhaan Behardien wants his top-order to lift the intensity in the series-deciding T20 international against Sri Lanka at Newlands on Wednesday.
The new recruits in the batting order have yet to hit their straps entirely, partially due to a 10-over contest at Centurion and an uncharacteristic slow and turning wicket at the Wanderers on Sunday.
Domestic kingpins like Jon-Jon Smuts, Heino Kuhn, Theunis de Bruyn and Mangaliso Mosehle have shown glimpses of their talents with a few striking boundaries but have yet to fully convert it into anything substantial on the international scene.
“I think the intensity with which they bat with was a bit down on Sunday. When we lost that couple of wickets, the run-rate wasn’t too high. If you lose a couple of wickets you at least want the run-rate to be about six/seven runs to the over. We want them to give us a good start,” Behardien told a strong media contingent on Tuesday at Newlands.
“We have always thrived when we have our hitters in at the backend, David Miller, AB de Villiers, myself, JP Duminy when he plays, we look to take the opposition apart in those last few overs. On Sunday we couldn’t do that because we kept losing wickets. It was hard to build momentum.”
Behardien, though, couldn’t stop himself from smiling knowing that he will be able to call on the services of arguably the most prolific limited-overs cricketer in the world, AB de Villiers, for the finale.
De Villiers will be making his comeback to international cricket after being on the sidelines since last year June due to a variety of injuries. The Proteas ODI skipper shook off the ring-rustiness with an unbeaten century in provincial match for Northerns last Sunday and his presence in the batting line-up is a massive boost for a home team looking to close out the series.
“It’s unbelievable to have him back. He is one of the best T20 players in the world. He’s been out for such a long time and he comes back and gets an unbeaten 130. He’s quite keen to come back. He’s quite hungry for cricket,” Behardien said of De Villiers’s much-anticipated return.
Knights captain De Bruyn will most likely be the batsman that has to make way for De Villiers, while Kuhn could also possibly miss out as the selectors would also want to have a look at Highveld Lions opening batsman Reeza Hendricks again.
After the debacle surrounding the Wanderers wicket last Sunday, Behardien also said he hoped that Newlands curator Evan Flint would be preparing a pitch with some “pace and bounce” and was glad to see there it had a touch of green to it a day before the match.
LIKELY PROTEAS TEAM
JJ Smuts, Reeza Hendricks, AB de Villiers, David Miller, Farhaan Behardien (capt), Mangaliso Mosehle (wk), Wayne Parnell, Andile Phehlukwayo, Aaron Phangiso, Imran Tahir, Lungi Ngidi.
Start:
6pm, TV: SS2, SABC 3