Cape Town – Yes, it was just a warm-up game, and up to 15 players were allowed to take part. But the Proteas got through their first mental hurdle on Saturday night in preparing for a shot at the ICC World T20 title – defending a score.
After posting 204 and 178 in their last two T20 internationals against Australia and still losing, the Proteas needed to “find ways of scrapping and keeping sides under constant pressure when we are defending scores”, according to Russell Domingo.
And they managed to do that when posting 196/8 against India at the Wankede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday evening, and winning by four runs as the hosts reached 192/3.
Players from both sides retired during the innings to allow their teammates some time in the middle, so it was an unofficial T20 game. But the Proteas still won.
The South African coach even went as far back as that heartbreaking 2015 World Cup semi-final defeat to New Zealand to emphasise the point that his team had to learn to cope with the high-pressure moments after setting a target. On that fateful night at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand required 298 off 43 overs, and Grant Elliott ensured they got there with one ball to spare.
So the scars run deep for the Proteas when it comes to defending a score, so being successful – in any shape or form, even in a practice match – will help the Proteas psychologically in some way.
They are taking that aspect of their game seriously, like they did when they are bombarded with questions about “choking” at their arrival press conference in India on Friday.
The likes of captain Faf du Plessis and JP Duminy remained calm and spoke about the problems at ICC events in the past and how they hope to deal with it this time around.
On Saturday, Duminy took that to the field when he top-scored with 67 off 44 balls (6x4, 3x6) before getting out to paceman Mohammed Shami. The left-hander’s issues against right-arm off-spinners are well documented, so he would’ve been pleased to put a solid innings together as he had to face veteran Indian offie Harbhajan Singh, and scored seven runs off nine balls.
India’s No 1 tweaker Ravichandran Ashwin didn’t play, though.
Wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock was again in sparkling touch, smashing 56 off 33 balls (7x4, 2x6) before he retired.
The Proteas reduced India to 48/3 in the seventh over after getting rid of the hosts’ three “gun” players – Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane. Kyle Abbott trapped Sharma lbw for 10, Dale Steyn won the battle to have Kohli caught behind by De Kock for one and Imran Tahir bowled Rahane for 11.
But then Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina climbed into the rest of the Proteas bowlers, taking them all the way to 142/3 in 16 overs before they both retired with 55 runs required for victory off the last four overs. Dhawan got to 73 off 53 balls (10x4) and Raina 41 off 26 deliveries (3x4, 2x6).
It was time for the ultimate finishers, Indian captain MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh, to end things in style. They went full blast, with Chris Morris conceding 12 runs, Steyn 15 and Abbott 14.
Morris came back for the final over and had 14 runs to defend. Dhoni hit a four off the fifth ball, which meant that a six would win it off the last delivery. Morris bowled a wide, but held his nerve by preventing a boundary.
The Proteas had done it – they defended 196. The real thing only starts on Friday against England at the same Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, with one last warm-up on Tuesday against a local team.
In addition, Aaron Phangiso bowled one over and conceded 13 runs in his first match after being cleared for a suspected illegal bowling action.
But Morris was glad to be on the right of the result, even though Dhawan and Raina’s retirements may have affected the finish. “We did exactly the same thing – if Quinny had carried on going, it could’ve been an even bigger total. JP was batting beautifully and we did the same thing for our innings,” the tall Proteas all-rounder said.
“To bring their big-hitters in, they make a bit of a difference because you have two of the world’s best finishers, so it was a bit of a challenge. But ja, nothing unusual.
“We have our plans to each batter – to Dhoni and Yuvraj, we do a lot of studying behind the scenes. It was a nice practice run, and it was very nerve-wracking because we know how dangerous MS is. I played with him and against him. We know he can clear the boundary quite easily, so it was quite nerve-wracking.
“But it was quite good practice and I was just happy that I could nail parts of what I wanted to in that last over. So, quite happy that we could get the result, but it could’ve gone either way.”
Morris – who will remain in India after the World T20 to join up with the Delhi Daredevils for the IPL after being snapped up for $1 million in the auction – believes that the Proteas will take a lot out of the result.
“Any win is important for South Africa, it doesn’t matter who we play. But to beat India in a warm-up game – yes, there wasn’t much on it, and it was a practice or training session, if you want to call it that – but it was important to us, no matter who we play,” he said.
“Momentum is an important part of this game, so we will take a lot of positives and little negatives out of it. But all in all, we had a good outing today.”
@IndyCapeSport