Among the numerous selection debates the Proteas are engrossed with leading up to the World T20 in India next week, the hottest one is undoubtedly who will open the innings with AB de Villiers.
Because that much is certain: De Villiers will walk out first at the Wankhede Stadium when the Proteas meet England next Friday. But the golden question is will it be Quinton de Kock or Hashim Amla alongside him?
Considering the intensity of fighting it out for one position ahead of a global showpiece it would be natural to assume there could be a little tension between the two competitors. Nobody seems to have told De Kock that though, with the 23-year-old saying yesterday ahead of today’s series-decider against Australia that there’s “no beef” between him and the former Test captain.
Be that as it may, the possibility does exist that one might become more acquainted with the orange reserve bib and water canisters than the other. Either that or face the suggestion of having to move down the order if three is going to be forced into two. It is near impossible that Amla can be utilised anywhere but at the top of the order, leaving young De Kock with the question mark hanging over his head.
“I don’t know hey!” De Kock said when asked how he would react to being asked to bat in the middle-order like the Aussies have done with David Warner.
“We’ll just see how things go. I haven’t been there (middle-order) in a while, but I always have a look, assess out, make sure the strike-rate is 100 percent, and then at the time it’s needed, have a go,” he said. “But if it comes my way, so be it - I will try to get the job done, hey.”
There’s not much that separates De Kock and Amla over the course of their respective T20 International careers in terms of numbers. The dashing left-hander has struck 564 runs at an average of 28.20 and strike-rate of 123.14, while Amla has 630 runs at 27.27 with a marginally higher strike-rate of 125.55. Both their averages are higher than De Villiers, who has 1 258 runs at 22.87 and a strike-rate of 128.89.
De Villiers’ numbers, though, improve with 239 runs at 26.55, boasting a strike-rate of 145.73 when he has opened the batting in the past.
The idea of De Kock and De Villiers tearing attacks apart is certainly something for the T20 enthusiasts to salivate over, especially with De Kock saying it’s almost a gung-ho approach that resembles two butchers getting ready to mince a carcass with their sharpened knives.
“There’s no real master plan. We just walk out and say ‘Okay, let’s try to get off to a good start.’ It doesn’t matter who takes it. If we both go at it, then so be it. If one of us gets out early, then we’ll just carry on. I guess that’s nice like that, nice and aggressive,” De Kock said.
Newlands may not be privy to such barbarism today with the Proteas likely to pair up Amla’s silky touch with De Kock in a bid to test all combinations before departure tomorrow. Seamer Kyle Abbott will most likely get a run too, with all-rounder Chris Morris likely to be omitted.
Neither of these selections should be conceived as South Africa surrendering the series, with De Kock stressing that the Proteas are eager to leave South African shores on a high note, especially with today’s opposition being arch-rivals Australia.
“We want to win,” De Kock said. “A series win against Australia doesn’t come easily, so to win against them would be great. There is a bigger picture with the World Cup coming up in India and the conditions will be different, but we want to finish off well.”
SQUADS FOR NEWLANDS
South Africa: Faf du Plessis (capt), Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Chris Morris, Aaron Phangiso, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn, David Wiese.
Australia: Steve Smith (capt), Aaron Finch, David Warner, Shane Watson, Peter Nevill (wk), Mitchell Marsh, Andrew Tye, Josh Hazlewood, Ashton Agar, Glenn Maxwell, Adam Zampa, John Hastings, Usman Khawaja, James Faulkner, Nathan Coulter-Nile.
Start: 6pm TV: SS2
On-field Umpires: Shaun George, Adrian Holdstock
TV Umpire: Patrick Jele - The Star