Melbourne – An embarrassed South African team left to travel to its next destination – Sydney – today where they are scheduled to have a team celebration at Bondi Beach tomorrow.
After yesterday’s mauling from world champions India at a packed MCG, there is not much to celebrate at this point, although a cooling-off session could be what is required to clear out the debris after the Melbourne massacre.
South Africa were never in the match at the MCG. A good point to start working from this week ahead of Friday’s now crucial tie against the West Indies is that the Proteas know they are a lot better than what we saw on display yesterday. It is not every day South Africa will be outclassed in every department of a match.
And while all the focus is on Wayne Parnell’s indifferent showing with the ball and the run-outs that led to the demise of AB de Villiers and David Miller, there is growing concern about South Africa’s top-order batting.
De Villiers was visibly agitated with a question relating to South Africa’s top-order prior to the India tussle, but there is now perhaps substance to the claim after two consecutive blowouts in this World Cup.
South Africa were 83/4 against Zimbabwe before a World Cup record 256-run partnership between David Miller and JP Duminy rescued the situation in Hamilton last week. Yesterday South Africa, in fact, had a better start at 133/4 but all the wickets were that of the four top-order batsmen.
There was not one remaining who could bat through and form a partnership with the incoming middle-order batsmen to help set up the run chase.
Hashim Amla is the cog around which the South African batting unit revolves.
His responsibility in setting up the game for South Africa is immense – when he bats deep into the innings, it allows the players with flair like De Villiers, Miller and Duminy to express themselves with greater freedom.
When he gets out early, it upsets the rhythm of South Africa’s innings because although Faf du Plessis was prolific during the Zimbabwe triangular series when he scored all those centuries batting at No 3, he is still finding his feet in that crucial position in regards to the pace at which he must bat.
Although he is capable of playing the big shots – as he illustrated during his T20 century recently at the Wanderers – and was one of the few shining lights at the MCG with a half-century, Du Plessis, in a sense, does allow the bowlers to bowl at him at the beginning of his innings without showing the necessary intent from the outset to get the game moving.
In reverse, young Quinton de Kock has not quite been himself since recovering from his ankle injury sustained during the first Test against the West Indies last year. There seems to be no fluency in his batting as he is trying to force the pace from early on without taking a chance to assess the conditions. Although naturally aggressive and without wanting to curb his natural flair, the 22-year-old’s shot-selection needs to improve while there is the need to approach his innings just a little bit smarter going forward.
Batting consultants Gary Kirsten and Mike Hussey are sure to put in some extra work with De Kock this week along with head coach Russell Domingo, but perhaps a sit-down with De Villiers and a couple of other senior players could be the tonic the youngster requires to get going again.
“Your confidence takes a bit of a knock with performances like that, and it’s up to the senior group of players to pull the younger players closer to make sure confidence is still there come Friday against the West Indies because little things like today’s performance can creep into your game if you start thinking about it too much, and if you allow it to knock your confidence down,” De Villiers said.
“I feel like we’re a mature group of players, but we’ll regroup like I said before and we’ll have a chat about where we went wrong and have a mature and honest chat about it and then hopefully, play some good cricket on Friday.” - The Star