Cape Town - A series that was meant to be a chance at redemption for the Proteas has instead turned into a nightmare for under-fire coach Russell Domingo.
South Africa’s batting unit crashed spectacularly at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on Friday night to clear the path for hosts, West Indies, to sail through to Sunday’s Tri-Series final against world champions Australia. It is the first time that South Africa had failed to reach a final of triangular series since being ousted by the Aussies and Sri Lanka in 2005-06.
Domingo had come into this two-week tournament in the Caribbean under severe pressure to hold on to his job after a taxing previous season which saw the Proteas lose their No 1 Test ranking and fail to advance from the group stages of the World T20 in India. Cricket South Africa had appointed a four-person panel, which included Springbok World Cup-winning captain Francois Pienaar, to conduct an independent review of the performances of all the national cricket teams after the World T20 but it was subsequently postponed.
The one-day format was considered Domingo’s best chance to steer the Proteas into calmer waters due his record in the 50-overs game. Under Domingo’s guidance the Proteas had risen steadily to a respectable No 3 world ranking, achieved a first-ever knockout victory at the World Cup, and registered some notable series successes especially away from home.
But two defeats to the eighth-ranked Windies, who will not even be present at next year’s ICC Champions Trophy in England due to their low ranking and a further loss to Australia from six starts - the Barbados ODI against the Aussies was abandoned due to rain -puts Domingo’s future with the Proteas firmly in the spotlight again.
Captain AB de Villiers has, though, launched a vociferous defence of Domingo’s coaching abilities and believes it is the players that should shoulder the blame for the poor performances.
"He's played a big role in all of our careers in the last four or five years. I've felt he's done a fantastic job. It's sad to see him under pressure. It's definitely not the coaching staff. The coaching staff, there's no doubt in my mind they're the best in the world," de Villiers said.
"Unfortunately as players we let them down in this series. We had ample opportunity in a few games to knuckle down. We should have walked the first game we played. So it comes down to the players. The preparation was perfect. All the coaching staff did their jobs. It is sad to see Russell under pressure. It shouldn't be that way. There are a few players who should be under pressure."
De Villiers instead claimed personal responsibility for the Proteas’ earlier than expected return home from the Caribbean. The World’s No 1 ODI batsman was unable to replicate his splendid form displayed in the Indian Premier League recently and could muster only 121 runs at an average of 24.20.
"I got in four out of five times and didn't convert. That's the first thing I will teach any youngster: convert your scores, make them big ones especially once you get to 20 or 30. There's no reason for me to get out after that because I'm in and seeing the ball well. Four out of five times I didn't do that," he said.
To lay the blame squarely at Domingo and De Villiers’s door though would be foolhardy. The entire South African top-order was blown away by the extreme pace of Shannon Gabriel as the powerful West Indian opening bowler built up an impressive head of steam.
But unlike the Windies, who were also reduced to 21/4 after Kagiso Rabada produced an excellent opening spell, there was nobody within the Proteas middle-order to stage a similar recovery like Dwayne Bravo (102) and Kieron Pollard (60) had done for the hosts earlier.
"Not enough of us put our hands up in this series. That's what it comes down to," De Villiers admitted. "Our preparation was really good. Our coaches have been unbelievable. Russell Domingo put us through our paces like never before.
"So we put the hours in. We had really intense fielding sessions, batting sessions, bowling sessions. Unfortunately the batting kept collapsing and there were not enough partnerships. There were too many individuals who didn't step up."
Independent Media