Proteas wrap up #WT20 preparations

South African cricket team captain Faf du Plessis, left, and Kagiso Rabada cheer as they play a warm up match of the ICC World Twenty20 2016 cricket against Mumbai in Mumbai, India, Tuesday, March 15, 2016. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

South African cricket team captain Faf du Plessis, left, and Kagiso Rabada cheer as they play a warm up match of the ICC World Twenty20 2016 cricket against Mumbai in Mumbai, India, Tuesday, March 15, 2016. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Published Mar 15, 2016

Share

Mumbai Cricket Association XI:188/4 (Herwadkar 61, Wiese 34*)

South Africa XI:230/4 (De Villiers 79*, Du Plessis 65 retired)

South Africa won by six wickets

Mumbai - The Proteas closed off their match preparations for Friday’s World T20 opener against England at the Wankhede Stadium with a comfortable victory at the rustic Bradbourne Stadium on Tuesday.

In a contest that featured four South Africans in the opposition line-up (Imran Tahir, JP Duminy, Farhaan Behardien and David Wiese), coach Russell Domingo’s primary intention was to get all his players some more time in the middle.

From that perspective he will be content as Duminy followed up his half-century against India in the previous match with an 18-ball 22 against his teammates, while David Wiese also slammed an unbeaten 34 off just 19 balls (4x4, 2x6) to propel the “home” side to a hugely competitive total after local opener Akhil Herwadkar blasted 45 runs off just 61 balls upfront.

Twenty-one-year-old Herwadkar was particularly harsh on fellow youngster Kagiso Rabada, who seemed to be working on a new set of slower balls and cutters without much success on Monday. Fellow quickie Kyle Abbott also travelled the distance on Tuesday, leaking 54 runs in his four overs too.

There were though good workouts for Dale Steyn and Chris Morris, with both pacemen only conceding 23 runs each in their allotted overs. Steyn generated good pace during his spell and even hauled out a rapid bouncer on a good deck here at the Cricket Club of India that struck Herwadkar flush on the helmet.

South Africa’s chase was achieved comfortably enough with the visitors even pushing the total up by a further 40 runs when the initial target was achieved at the end of the 17th over.

There were runs for Hashim Amla again with the former Test captain staking yet another claim for inclusion in the starting XI against England on Friday with another quickfire 38 (25 balls, 7x4). Quinton de Kock hit another breezy 19, while captain Faf du Plessis provided the backbone of the chase with a 46-ball 65 before he was retired to the dressing room.

With the target re-adjusted it also provided AB de Villiers some time to entertain a few hundred spectators that had come into the ground purely to watch the Proteas Test captain bat. They were not disappointed with De Villiers stroking a free-flowing undefeated 79 off just 33 balls (5x4, 5x6) after coming in at No 4, which could prompt a shift back down the order come Friday.

Indepedent Media

Related Topics: