Back to drawing board for Proteas

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - NOVEMBER 23: Vernon Philander and David Miller of South Africa react after a missed run out chance during game five of the One Day International series between Australia and South Africa at the Sydney Cricket Ground on November 23, 2014 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - NOVEMBER 23: Vernon Philander and David Miller of South Africa react after a missed run out chance during game five of the One Day International series between Australia and South Africa at the Sydney Cricket Ground on November 23, 2014 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

Published Nov 24, 2014

Share

South Africa ended this series as they started it, with a scrappy performance in the field and with the ball, which must raise serious doubts about their status as one of the favorites for next year’s World Cup.

Robin Peterson’s late charge – in which he picked up three wickets in six balls – helped mask another poor showing in the field, which left skipper AB de Villiers, who didn’t play yesterday owing to a bruised rib, seething.

“We are hurting, it’s not ideal, definitely not what we planned to do,” said De Villiers who will be side-lined for three weeks, but is expected to be ready for the first Test against the West Indies starting in Centurion on December 17.

“Had we done the basics a bit better, we probably could have won a lot more than just one (match). It’s very disappointing looking back and knowing we didn’t do the basics well. It’s the kind of thing a consistent cricket team needs to do to be successful and we couldn’t get that right over here.”

South Africa posted a reasonable total, thanks to a sixth ODI century from Quinton de Kock and then an aggressive half-century from Farhaan Behardien.

De Kock’s 107 was another mature effort in which he applied the lessons learned from previous matches here and prospered.

Behardien’s 63 (41b, 7x4, 2x6) could have far-reaching consequences as far as World Cup selection is concerned.

Originally not part of the squad for the series, it’s been Behardien’s bowling in the earlier matches which put him in the frame, but yesterday he finally showed some of the form he’s displayed for the Titans in recent seasons, finishing the innings with some excellent shot-making.

“Farhaan’s bowling especially was very encouraging and pleasing to see and would give us quite a few options if he can bowl a few overs in a game and then also finish (innings') like he did today,” said De Villiers.

If anything, Behardien’s knock may have ended Rilee Rossouw’s World Cup ambitions, which is ironic, given that the left-hander played his best international innings yesterday, notching up a first ODI half-century in his ninth match.

Like in Melbourne on Friday, South Africa’s total appeared to be about 20 runs short of a winning score, which meant they needed the bowling to be of the highest quality.

Missing Dale Steyn, who was rested for the final match, that part of their game was well off kilter.

The lines to the Australian batsmen throughout were poor allowing a rapid start with David Warner (21, 16b, 3x4, 1x6) and Aaron Finch (76, 67b, 11x4) putting on 37 in five overs and then Finch and Shane Watson (82, 93b, 7x4, 2x6) adding 100 runs for the second wicket in 16 overs.

Then there were the no-balls, four of them last night, bringing the total for the series to 10. In total, those no balls cost 40 runs over the series, and twice Steve Smith – the player of the series – was dismissed off one, last night proving especially costly after he was bowled off a no-ball by Kyle Abbott, when he had 20. He went on to make 67.

“It’s very difficult to comment on that. It’s just unacceptable. I don’t know what to say to that –it shouldn’t happen. It’s just not good enough.”

“It’s probably up to some of the coaches to assist in that,” said De Villiers.

Abbott bowled three no-balls and Ryan McLaren – who is desperately short of form and confidence – one yesterday, while the other culprits in the series are Vernon Philander (3), Morne Morkel (2) and Wayne Parnell (1).

The no-ball problem was indicative of an overall poor showing from the South Africans throughout this stretch of the tour. That is a surprise given how much emphasis they put on this series.

“Maybe we overthought things or over-analysed stuff,” De Villiers remarked. “Sometimes when you tend to talk about something too much you sort of put so much emphasis on it and then put pressure on yourself that you actually do funny things in those situations.

“We put a lot of emphasis on power-plays, I put a lot of emphasis on our fielding and those areas let us down quite a bit. I always talk about basics, so maybe I must just stop talking about the little things we musn’t do and talk about the things we should do.”

South Africa’s World Cup squad will be named on January 7.

Their next ODI is against the West Indies on January 16.

“We don’t need a lot more cricket except for that month leading up to the World Cup where it will be nice to get some wins under the belt and come back here with a bit of confidence,” De Villiers added. - Cape Argus

Related Topics: