Ken Borland

Helping set up South Africa’s series-clinching victory over India in the second ODI in a sweltering Paarl on Friday did not come cheap for opening batsman Janneman Malan, who described his condition as being “critical but stable”.

On a day when the temperature reached 41°, Malan batted for two-and-a-half hours, scoring 91 off 108 balls, top-scoring as the Proteas chased down 288 with seven wickets and 11 balls to spare to complete remarkable back-to-back series wins over one of the superpowers of world cricket.

Malan put on 132 for the first wicket with Quinton de Kock, who blazed a quickfire 78, before solid 30s by Temba Bavuma, Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen saw South Africa cruise to victory.

“It was way hotter than in the first ODI and it was always going to be a challenge for the body. But that’s what we work on our conditioning for. I feel critical but stable,” Malan, who cuts a rugged figure, said after the game.

His cricket brain was clearly as sharp as ever because he not only played a beautifully-judged innings for the situation, but also identified the two key areas where South Africa have had the edge over India in this series.

When India hammered the Proteas 5-1 in the 2018 ODI series here, spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal took 33 cheap wickets between them. This time it has been Tabraiz Shamsi, Keshav Maharaj and even Markram who have had the wood over the Indian batsmen.

“We’ve handled their total overs of spin better than they have handled our overs of spin, and that has been a big confidence boost for us,” Malan said.

“Our playing and use of spin has been coming along for a couple of years now, we’ve been working really hard to improve and have better plans. Especially when the pitches are slow and its spinning.

“So we are using our sweeps, making sure they are well-executed to get the percentages our way.

“The other key thing has been partnerships. We made them work for every run and our bowlers kept getting wickets. We’re very proud that we had a century partnership and then two fifty-run ones. Those are really good signs,” Malan said.

Some of South Africa’s fielding on Friday was bad enough for their fans to fall of their chairs in front of their TVs, but the key characteristic of this team is their tenacity, which they have shown time and again in shocking the much-fancied Indian team.

As captain Bavuma said after the game: “I think as a team we have a lot of self-belief and confidence in our ability. We go out there and fight for one another. We really try to put in a real team effort.

“We don’t rely on superstars or one or two performances. Coming into this series, no one gave us much of a chance, so that really gave us motivation,” Bavuma said.

A top-class batting display by South Africa carried them to an exceptional seven-wicket victory and another series triumph over a much-vaunted Indian team in the second ODI at Boland Park in Paarl on Friday.

Chasing a testing 288 for victory, a target which has never been achieved in the second innings in ODIs at Paarl, the Proteas began superbly with a commanding opening stand of 132 off 136 deliveries between Quinton de Kock and Janneman Malan.

De Kock was in a rush, racing to a tremendous 78 off 66 balls with an array of great strokes that brought him seven fours and three sixes. He did not bat beyond the 22^nd over, missing a low full toss and falling lbw to Shardul Thakur, but he had given South Africa a fantastic platform.

Malan batted on as he and captain Temba Bavuma rammed home the advantage with a second-wicket stand of 80 at better than a run-a-ball.

Malan’s composed innings of 91 off 108 deliveries came to an end when he was bowled off his arm by a Jasprit Bumrah off-cutter, but it was another classy knock from a 25-year-old who has made such a great start to his ODI career that he has now scored 758 runs in his first 12 innings.

There was a slight wobble when Bavuma was caught-and-bowled by leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who posed a consistent risk, for 35 in the next over. South Africa still needed 74 runs off 86 balls.

But a typically calm Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram, who both finished on 37 not out, took the Proteas home with 11 balls to spare. It was a morale-boosting return to form for Markram.

India, having won the toss and batted on a sweltering day, were off to a quick start as Lokesh Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan (29) added 63 off 73 deliveries. Off-spinner Markram made the breakthrough as Dhawan was well-caught by Sisanda Magala, who had endured a torrid time with the new ball, at deep midwicket.

In the next over, left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj claimed the vital wicket of Virat Kohli for a duck, beaten in the flight and chipping a catch to cover.

South Africa’s fielding had not been particularly sharp up till then and it then fell apart as four catches were dropped and an easy run out, in the early stages of the third-wicket partnership between Rahul and Rishabh Pant, was farcically botched.

But the tenacity of this South African team came to the fore as they put those horrors behind them.

Magala returned with an admirable second spell and removed Rahul for 55 and South Africa again struck in the following over as Pant, who had played brilliantly in scoring a fiery 85 off 71 balls, holed out off Tabraiz Shamsi.

De Kock took another brilliant leg-side stumping standing up to Andile Phehlukwayo  to dismiss Venkatesh Iyer for 22 and although Thakur (40*) and Ravichandran Ashwin (25*) added 48 in the last six-and-a-half overs, the Proteas would have been relieved to not be chasing more than 300 based on how badly they had fielded.

It was spin which once again turned the tide with Maharaj (9-0-52-1), Shamsi (9-0-57-2) and Markram (8-0-34-1) all doing excellent jobs. Lungi Ngidi, although wicketless, was the best of the seamers, while Phehlukwayo also did well.

Temba Bavuma has made a tremendous start to his tenure as South Africa’s white-ball captain, and Keshav Maharaj was also excellent when standing in for him, but it is heartening to know that if they are unfortunately unavailable for any reason, there is another calm, deep-thinking leader in the team who could do the job with aplomb.

Rassie van der Dussen has cemented his place in the limited-overs teams in spectacular fashion and his heroics in the recently-completed ODI whitewash of India leave him with 1267 runs in 26 innings in the 50-over format, at the extraordinary average of 74.52.

The second oldest of four sports-mad brothers, Van der Dussen was first touted as leadership material during the horrors of the 2019 World Cup in England. Amidst a chaotic campaign, the Pretoria product impressed with his cool head and clear thinking, as well as the three half-centuries he scored in six innings, finishing the tournament with an average of 62.

That same composure and ability to adapt to any situation was clearly evident during the memorable Test and ODI series wins over India. There were times Van der Dussen had to dig in defiantly; on other occasions he turned the momentum through positive strokeplay and no little skill.

“The Test series was definitely the toughest conditions I’ve ever had to bat in and it was high pressure with the Indian bowlers just never letting you go,” Van der Dussen told Saturday Citizen.

“Every session seemed to be more important than the last, every moment things could swing the other way. It was extremely mentally testing. But being mentally strong is something I pride myself on.

“Under pressure I need to be level-headed and to analyse the situation objectively. Throughout my career I’ve believed that I can manage the chase, absorb the pressure when the opposition is bowling well.

“I pride myself on performing in the big moments and matches. It maybe comes from playing club cricket in Pretoria from a young age, playing against men. There was often verbal abuse and you had to deal with it,” Van der Dussen said in typically stoic fashion.

The 32-year-old currently has the highest average in ODI history of all batsmen who have played at least 20 innings and when one looks at some of the other superstars near the top of that list – Virat Kohli (58.77), Babar Azam (56.92), Michael Bevan (53.58) and AB de Villiers (53.50) – one thing characterises them all. They are all expert players of the situation, whether it called for consolidation or acceleration.

Many other just as talented batsmen ended with inferior records because they would only play in one way, arguing that that was their “natural game”.

“A batsman can be labelled with that – ‘that’s just the way he plays,’ people will say. But it can also be a cop-out,” Van der Dussen said.

“Whenever I bat, I try to change the match and there is always a certain amount of responsibility you have to accept. It’s about reading the match situation and working out what is needed.

“That’s always my thing: to put the team in a good position to win the game. At the Wanderers Test, I knew Dean and I had to be in overnight, the runs did not matter at the end of the third day. But then we were able to start well the next day.”

The way Van der Dussen stayed calm and clear-headed under immense pressure from India was in stark contrast to visiting wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, a great talent who twice got out for ducks at crucial times on tour due to wild forays down the pitch to try and slog the bowler.

Van der Dussen admits he did have a few words with Pant, who ‘caught’ him in the first innings of the Wanderers Test when the ball had clearly bounced, but the phlegmatic Central Gauteng Lions star did raise the bar above petty sledging.

“I like to think I’m a deep thinker and I just asked Pant a few questions, nothing attacking him personally, but I guess they did not sit well with him. I suppose it made him think differently.

“But the Wanderers incident was a massive moment because chasing 280-300 would possibly have been too much for us and he’s a young and exciting player. We did speak about making sure that was a moment India would really regret and capitalising on it,” Van der Dussen said.

It will surprise no-one that someone as pragmatic as Van der Dussen already has a plan for life after cricket and has gone into business with his agent and close friend Chris Cardoso.

“I’m really enjoying delving into the business side and we now have three coffee shops – called Abantu Coffee – in the Centurion area. Our aim is to make good coffee and create as many jobs as we can.

“I really want to scale up my involvement in it and I enjoy being hands-on in the business,” Van der Dussen said.

Something else that the Menlo Park High School and Affies alma mater enjoys immensely, along with wife Lara, is the bush and especially birdwatching.

Even in that hobby, Van der Dussen is trying to make a change for good with his support of the Mabula Ground Hornbill Project, along with Cardoso.

“I go to Mabula about twice a year, Chris owns a unit in Mabula and through our conservation fund African FRDM x Environment we are helping them with the great work they do in trying to secure a good future for these endangered birds.

“We’ve helped them with new tyres and in trying to build suitable nest boxes that are strong enough for these massive birds and their huge beaks.

“I’ve loved the bush from early on because my grandfather had a farm with game and cattle at Springbokvlakte between Modimolle and Marble Hall. Growing up amongst animals I learnt things like tracking.

“Which got me into birdwatching because of the thrill of the chase, you hear the call and you want to track the bird down and see it. For Lara and I, seeing a rare bird gives us the same feeling as seeing a lion or a leopard,” Van der Dussen said.

But for now, dreams of spending more time in the bush have had to take a back seat because Van der Dussen is spotting both the red and the white ball extremely well at the moment.

Normally before the great North/South derby between the teams based at Loftus Versfeld and Cape Town, Bulls coach Jake White has enjoyed making a few mischievous digs at the opposition, like the harlequin in early pantomime, but on Friday he was refusing to take the bait and very much focused on his own team ahead of their United Rugby Championship match against the Stormers in Pretoria on Saturday.

As White correctly pointed out, the Bulls, while so dominant in domestic rugby, have fared the worst of the South African franchises so far in the URC and are second from bottom. The Stormers are two points and two places above them in 13^th.

“This is a chance for us to get off the bottom of the table,” White said on Friday. “It’s our second North/South derby this week, but our first home game in the URC. I don’t think many teams have played five away games.

“We have some momentum from the two Currie Cup wins, but it’s not just about preparing for Saturday, we’re building for three years’ time. We are still a work in progress, we are still looking to fill certain positions.

“It’s about playing teams like Leinster and Munster; we’re not a long way off but we are off. We have to find some depth and the right player profiles.

“And we’re looking forward to playing a couple of home games now. It looks as if Europe is getting back to normality and the competition will become more balanced. Hopefully by mid-tournament we’ll be more in it in terms of the table,” White said.

Because White has been willing to field many of his URC players in the first two rounds of the Currie Cup, his whole squad for Saturday have had game-time and he is hoping they start well against a Stormers side that has been inactive since being hammered by the Lions 37-19 in Cape Town in early December.

It also means the likes of flyhalf Chris Smith, hooker Johan Grobbelaar, props Gerhard Steenekamp and Mornay Smith and 19-year-old debutant flank Reinhardt Ludwig all have experienced and in-form cover on the bench.

“We have a bit of experience that can come off the bench,” White acknowledged. “We’re trying to balance the whole team and the players coming off the bench will help someone like Reinhardt.

“Playing at 5pm in 30° and at altitude and all our players have played recently – hopefully that will give us a head-start. But the Stormers are just ahead of us on the table and they will back themselves.

“Obviously they’ll be disappointed with the Lions game. If you look at their backline, there are a lot of Sevens players, so they won’t be scared to play. They’ll want space and time though … ” White said.

Bulls team: David Kriel, Madosh Tambwe, Lionel Mapoe, Cornal Hendricks, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Chris Smith, Embrose Papier; Elrigh Louw, Reinhardt Ludwig, Arno Botha, Ruan Nortje, Walt Steenkamp, Mornay Smith, Johan Grobbelaar, Gerhard Steenekamp. Impact – Bismarck du Plessis, Lizo Gqoboka, Jacques van Rooyen, Janko Swanepoel, Marcell Coetzee, Zak Burger, Morné Steyn, Harold Vorster.