Proteas Too Clever For Their Own Good

South Africa have long been accused of being too rigid, too formulaic and too inflexible in one-day cricket … indeed, these are often ventured as some reasons for their repeated failure to land trophies at major ICC events.

In their opening match against India at the World Twenty20 in St Lucia on Sunday, it was pretty clear that they intended to shake the bag a little; to alter the recipe.

Except that they got so “clever” that they effectively tripped over their own feet in the indecent haste to do things differently.

That they emerged with a bruised collective nose but not too much in the way of obscene blood-loss was a tribute to their late-game tenacity after a thorough mauling had seemed scarily on the cards at certain points.

Defeat by only 14 runs after being set an improbable 187 to win – in conditions where perhaps little more than 150 ought to have been par – was the essential “something” they could take out of this reverse.

There is no immediate cause for panic, because minnows Afghanistan will surely be downed with a bit to spare on Wednesday and Graeme Smith’s team duly take their place at the Super Eight table.

But certainly a serious tactical reassessment is required with some urgency because if they tried to craft a complex masterpiece at Gros Islet, somebody spilled the paints tray all over it to leave a canvas of chaos.

Perhaps we could brand Suresh Raina the primary “offender” in that regard – his whirlwind 101 off 60 balls (including just 17 deliveries for the especially damaging second fifty) was presumably not factored into the overly elaborate South African script.

Just one over upfront from Dale Steyn in what were supposed to be swing-friendly early morning conditions? Jacques Kallis introduced to the attack for the sixth over, already as fifth bowler, no less? The breakup of a left-and-right opening batting combo by the Proteas? Smith at No 3?

If nothing else, at least all these steps certainly crushed in one spectacular swoop the Proteas’ reputation for a certain stodginess in the limited-overs arena!

But the fact that they came all in one day meant that when South Africa derailed, it wasn’t just the locomotive that ended in the ditch … all the carriages, in many senses, went with it.

Indeed, we must not lose sight of the fact that they should have succumbed by a landslide in this fixture: only a commendable sting in their batting tail carried them to within two or three big heaves of the weighty Indian total.

Perhaps there is a deft balance to be struck; maybe a complete return to a more conservative, comfort-zone battle plan isn’t the way to go, either. With some judicious tweaking, maybe this daring new cake can rise.

After all, as former Proteas coach Ray Jennings noted in the after-match SABC studio: “This time they may have got hurt at the right time of the tournament.”

We are all rather more used, of course, to seeing South Africa take these global get-togethers by initial storm, establishing themselves among the favourites and lifting national expectation and excitement to levels the team have ultimately not been able cope with.

This tournament was generally considered to be wide open before it began, with most of the established cricketing nations in with a fair shout, and suggesting that teams timing their runs, as they say, will be likeliest to contest the Bridgetown final on May 16.

South Africa fell at the first hurdle this time. They must consider it no more than a false start, and move back to the blocks with undimmed hope and perhaps just a less fancy strategic blueprint.

That is not to say that certain rather glaring shortcomings can simply be glossed over. Some personnel changes may well be necessary, considering that there were standout problems on both the bowling and batting fronts.

In the former department, South African conceded a gruesome (and decisive in their later burial) 75 runs off the last five overs, suggesting that their “death” formula is a work in progress – at best.

And batting-wise, the surprise first-wicket alliance of Kallis and Loots Bosman registering only 17 runs in the first four overs of a really steep chase was, as a statement of intent, akin to trying to unnerve rugby behemoths Bakkies Botha or Kobus Wiese with a water pistol.

Jennings was bang-on again when he said: “We need to pace it much better … we can’t always leave 15 an over to new guys (in the middle order) coming in.”

On the plus side, the ring-rusty Smith finally got something a little closer to significant “middle” time with a knock that was gradually gaining promise and panache until his run-out, AB de Villiers showed remarkable fury and urgency, while Kallis did crank up the tempo considerably, to his credit, after the tentative beginning with Bosman.

The irrepressible all-rounder, who ended with a fighting 73, actually reached his half-century off 45 balls – that was a mere three deliveries more than talk-of-the-town Raina had required to reach that landmark for victors India.

It is too early to write off the Proteas. The Afghanis represent a perfect opportunity to sow fresh seeds of that all-important tournament concept they call “momentum” …

By Rob Houwing, Sport 24

May 03, 2010 | Categories: Cricket, Slider, Twenty20 | Tags: Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Proteas, south african cricket, sunesh raina, twenty20 world cup | Leave A Comment »