Ken Borland

Coach Mark Boucher said on Monday that he is on a crusade to change the mindset of South African cricket which is why the Proteas could well field three frontline spinners – Keshav Maharaj from KZN, Tabraiz Shamsi from northern Gauteng and George Linde from the Cape – in the first Test against Pakistan on Tuesday.

With Pakistan understandably going the dry and slow route in terms of the Karachi pitch, South Africa playing two spinners might have surprised a few people. For the Proteas’ attack to comprise three spinners and just two pacemen would be considered downright outrageous by many people used to “the South African way” of doing things.

But Boucher firmly believes that is their best chance of taking 20 wickets and, just like he was as a player, he wants the current Proteas to be bold.

“The weather is a lot cooler than normal on the sub-continent and there’s a lush green outfield. So conditions are completely different to in the past. In South Africa, colder weather means the pitch is a lot slower and with a quite moist outfield, I don’t know how big a weapon reverse-swing is going to be. But the pitch is really bare and there will definitely be turn.

“We are definitely not scared to go out and try something different. If you want to win away from home, you have to make brave calls. We’re not going to die wondering, you don’t want to go 1-0 down in a two-match series and then regret not playing the extra spinner.

“We’ve spoken about our mentality and the South African mindset has always been to revert back to seam. But I’ve said to the team I don’t want them to be scared of trying different options, if it looks like it’s going to turn then we must make good cricket calls. I’ve encouraged an open mindset instead of just going back to the norm,” Boucher said in a press conference on Monday.

Boucher later told The Citizen that Linde, who scored 37 and 27 and took four for 133 in his only previous Test, against India in Ranchi in October 2019, is likely to get the nod.

“We will make a call on the all-rounder – whether it’s a seam bowler or a spinner – and there’s a very big possibility that we will go with two seamers and three spinners, if it’s really going to turn. George showed before he can bat in sub-continent conditions and he’s been in good form with the bat for the Cape Cobras. Wiaan Mulder played really well in South African conditions, but it’s about who will create more opportunities, who can dry up an end in these conditions? And having George, Kesh, KG Rabada and Anrich Nortje doesn’t make our tail too long, it’s possible for those guys to score some runs too,” Boucher said.

With Tabraiz Shamsi being an aggressive wrist-spinner and Rabada and Nortje not really being holding bowlers, it looks like South Africa will go to town with attacking bowling and Maharaj could well perform the holding role.

“A lot of thought has gone into how we’re going to pick up 20 wickets on pitches that are generally good for the first three days. We’re not going to go in thinking about containing. Shamsi is an attacking, aggressive spinner, so if conditions suit, why not use him? We’ve got attacking options with spin, and pace through the air in flat conditions is the seamer’s best weapon and we’ve got that covered.

“But you also need to balance your attack and someone needs to do the containing role. Kesh didn’t bowl a lot against Sri Lanka because the pitches were more conducive to spin, but he’s hungry to get stuck in and do his role as the main spin bowler here. He wasn’t at his best on the last tour to India, but we’ve worked on a few technical things and he’s come on leaps and bounds,” Boucher said.

Another outstanding all-round bowling display by the Imperial Lions backed the Warriors into a corner and saw them defend a mediocre total of 210 to win their Momentum One-Day Cup match by 42 runs in Potchefstroom on Sunday.

On a tricky pitch which rewarded straight lines, the Lions pacemen were extremely disciplined and the spinners were once again excellent as the Warriors were bowled out for 168, exactly the number the Lions required for a bonus point.

The Warriors only just failed to prevent the Lions from getting their second successive bonus point win thanks to the gutsy efforts of their tail, with Glenton Stuurman (10), Mthiwekhaya Nabe (14*) and Stefan Tait (9) ensuring the last two wickets added 36 runs.

Swing bowler Eldred Hawken (9-1-29-2) struck two big blows up front when he bowled both Yaseen Vallie (5) and key batsman Jon-Jon Smuts (0) with successive deliveries.

The Warriors’ other vital batsman, Rudi Second, also fell for a duck as his cramped attempted pull off paceman Sisanda Magala (9-1-34-2) was smartly caught by Wesley Marshall, moving quickly from a short midwicket.

Opener Lesiba Ngoepe (33) and Aya Gqamane (29) did pose some difficulties for the Lions, but Malusi Siboto (8-1-26-2) removed them both.

All-rounder Delano Potgieter (5-0 19-2) also chipped in with a couple of wickets and it was left to Wihan Lubbe, who fought for two hours for his 42, to keep the Warriors hopes alive.

But the Lions attack once again delivered under pressure.

The batting of the Lions, though, obviously left something to be desired as they crashed to 47 for four.

But the experience and determination of Nicky van den Bergh, who played some fine strokes in collecting nine fours in his 73 off 92 balls, with the help of Potgieter, saw them to a good enough total of 210 all out.

The left-handed Potgieter showed impressive composure as he added 129 for the fifth wicket with Van den Bergh. Normally not shy to show his attacking tendencies, he batted within himself to score 57 off 67 deliveries.

The loss of Van den Bergh and Potgieter, when both were about to launch, obviously reduced the final Lions total considerably, but it was still enough considering the brilliance of their bowlers and the submission of the Warriors batsmen.

Seamer Nabe removed both Van den Bergh and Potgieter on the way to highly creditable, career-best figures of four for 31, while left-arm spinner Smuts was tight and probing as he took three for 40 in his 10 overs.

Former Proteas captain Faf du Plessis says the Pakistanis will be very dangerous opposition in their own conditions in the two-Test series which begins on Tuesday. The 36-year-old scored just 27 runs in three innings against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates in 2013, and earlier that year in South Africa, he made just 113 runs in four innings against the same opposition.

He admitted this weekend that mystery off-spinner Saeed Ajmal had been his bogeyman back then: “Every time I came in to bat, Saeed Ajmal would be warming up and when I would wake up in the middle of the night then it would be Saeed Ajmal bowling to me as well!” Du Plessis said.

So who are the dangermen for the Proteas to be wary of in this Test series in Pakistan? Du Plessis identified three …

Babar Azam

“Having Babar back will be massive for Pakistan, he’s up in the top three batsmen in the world at the moment for me. The runs he has scored in the last couple of seasons in all three formats have been nothing short of remarkable. If you take his runs out of the Pakistan team then you feel you can get on top of them. He’s the first guy we have to make sure we take care of.”

Shaheen Shah Afridi

“Afridi has obviously been hot the last two seasons and he’s a pretty dangerous bowler. I’ll be interested to see how much reverse-swing he gets in this series because the game seems to have moved a little away from reverse. The rules have become very strict and you used to be able to bounce the ball in on the rough patches a lot more. But on the sub-continent, quite often now it’s green and a bit soft next to the pitch and the ball does not scuff up as much as it used to. If it does start reversing, the batsmen need to play very late, let the ball come to you and the shot-selection needs to be as late as possible.”

Yasir Shah

“Yasir is very good at bowling in good areas over and over again, he has great control. We have to make sure we don’t let him settle, make sure we get the singles and the boundaries when the scoring opportunities present themselves. If you play and miss, it’s the same as facing seamers in South Africa, you just have to make sure you see it as a good ball and you played it well because it went past the edge. You need to be looking for scoring options to get off strike. You can’t allow a bowler like him to settle and keep bowling at one batsman.”

Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen blamed the high error-rate of his own team and the ill-discipline that led to both of the locks being yellow-carded for the Currie Cup semi-final defeat against the Bulls at the weekend, and said the blame belonged to his side rather than the referee.

The Lions went down 21-26 to the Bulls, but after 50 minutes the teams were level at 14-14. Infringements at the ruck and maul then allowed the Bulls to score from a lineout drive in the 57^th minute, but the crucial blows to the Lions came a minute later when referee Rasta Rasivhenge yellow-carded Marvin Orie for his second high tackle on Bulls captain Duane Vermeulen. The home side poured on to the attack from the penalty and two minutes later Willem Alberts was sent to the bin after repeated offsides infringements by the Lions.

”Obviously our discipline left us wanting and with two locks off the field it was always going to be tough. Whether I think the cards were harsh or not harsh does not make a difference and you’re not going to win any game if you have 20 penalties against you. That gives the opposing team momentum and then the referees tend to be more harsh on you anyway.

“But it’s not Rasta’s fault, the blame is all our own and we gave them ball too easily with our mistakes. A couple of times we did try to run in our own half and put ourselves under pressure, but we showed we can put teams under pressure by carrying the ball through the phases, but too many times we would just turn the ball over and then the pressure would be back on us. We felt we had the momentum when we kept the ball,” Van Rooyen explained after the semi-final.

But from being also-rans in Super Rugby at the start of 2020, the Lions were on the fringe of competing for the Currie Cup crown and Van Rooyen said there had been good improvement shown through the last season.

“If I’m honest, it’s been an interesting last 11 months. At the start of Super Rugby, we had a lot of gaps. But in certain areas there have been big improvements – the understanding of how we want to play, our defence and our set-pieces are all much better. We were good enough to win this semi-final, so it hurts. We also could have had a home semi-final but we had two home games cancelled, which made it tough.

“But our senior guys – Willem Alberts, Jannie du Plessis, Jaco Kriel and Elton Jantjies – have been outstanding. They have grown the younger guys and they play a big role off the field. They will still play a big role in the future. And I’m very proud of the fightback and character shown in this semi-final,” Van Rooyen said.