Cape Town - No South African wants to mention the 2015 Cricket World Cup, but Proteas coach Russell Domingo did. And it’s a necessary part of the growth process if they are to break their ICC duck at the World T20 in India.
It’s the bowling that’s bothering Domingo at the moment just eight days away from the World T20 opener against England at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on March 18.
During the October trip to India, South Africa chased successfully twice in the two T20Is, but it was a mixed bag in the five-match ODI series. They defended a score to win by five runs in the first game, lost in a chase in the second, won after setting a target in the third, came up short with the bat in the fourth and won convincingly by 214 runs in the decider.
It was a different scenario in the five ODIs and two T20Is against England, though, as the Proteas recovered from 2-0 down in the 50-over format. After losing a chase and while defending a target, Domingo’s team won five successive games when they batted second.
They repeated the dose in the first T20I against Australia, but couldn’t defend 204 at the Wanderers and 178 at Newlands on Wednesday.
It made Domingo recall that fateful March night in Auckland almost a year ago, when New Zealand pulled off a last-gasp victory as they reached the revised 298-run target off just 43 overs.
Dale Steyn told Independent Media after making his comeback to cricket in a club game that he can’t wait have another opportunity to win a World Cup, and he will be part of a bowling division that need to make amends in India in the coming weeks.
“We’ve chased really well, which is a big bonus. I know a lot of people have questioned our ability to chase, but we’ve won five must-win chases in a row,” Domingo said after the six-wicket defeat to Australia at Newlands.
“(But) We need to defend a score. That is a little bit of a concern for me. We need to find ways of scrapping and keeping sides under constant pressure when we are defending scores.
“So that is something that we need to look at. You think of the – I know it’s a long time ago – but the 50-over World Cup, we should’ve defended 290 in 40 overs. So maybe we are just going to chase in every game this time around!
“The biggest thing we’ve learnt from winning our first knockout game against Sri Lanka (in the 2015 World Cup quarter-final) is that you’ve got to keep it simple. We’ve lost these last two games because we didn’t do the basics well.
“We probably bowled more wides than Australia (at Newlands), more no-balls in the previous game (in Johannesburg). In high-pressure situations, if you do the basics well, you will come out on top nine out of 10 times.”
The three certainties in the Proteas attack are Steyn, Kagiso Rabada and leg-spinner Imran Tahir. With Domingo wanting five specialist bowlers, the remaining two spots will be fought for between Kyle Abbott, David Wiese, Chris Morris and even Aaron Phangiso.
Due to the balance of the side, one of Wiese and Morris will play as the bowling all-rounder, with Wiese’s variety of cutters, slower balls and yorkers giving him the nod over Morris at Newlands, and probably also on the sluggish Indian pitches.
Then Domingo and the selectors will decide whether it’s viable to play a second spinner in Phangiso – depending on the effect his redeveloped bowling action will have on him – or the fast-medium pace of Abbott.
Skipper Faf du Plessis, though, was adamant that JP Duminy needs to operate as a sixth bowler. Duminy sent down two overs and conceded 18 runs, but the South Africans hope that he will improve the more he bowls in India, where he has considerable experience from playing IPL cricket.
The 31-year-old sustained a split webbing on his right hand during the ODI series in India last October, and his bowling hasn’t been the same since.
“The sixth bowler is really important to me, as I feel we are at our best if we have that option. That’s why I was trying to get JP to bowl as much as possible, when the situation allowed for it. Purely going forward, because he is so important as a sixth bowler,” Du Plessis said.
“I thought he bowled really well. I thought he had good control, and good dip on the ball. But he’s vital for that sixth bowler position because it’s always as a captain if you know there is someone who can step in and be a quality sixth option. Hopefully this is the start of a turnaround of some real good bowling from Japes.”
The Proteas leave for Mumbai on Thursday evening, and play a warm-up game against India on Saturday at the Wankhede Stadium.