Ken Borland

A change in their batting order has Joburg Super Kings captain Faf du Plessis hopeful that they are over their batting woes as they head into their do-or-die eliminator against the Paarl Royals at the Wanderers on Wednesday.

JSK just snuck into the playoffs courtesy of their rousing victory over then log-leaders Durban Super Giants at the Wanderers last weekend, successfully chasing down a daunting target of 204. Du Plessis himself was man of the match with his 57 off 29 balls, marking a return to form for the former Proteas captain who had averaged just 20.66 in the tournament up till then.

Leus du Plooy opened the batting with Du Plessis and also scored 57, with Wayne Madsen coming in at number three and scoring 44 not out off 29 balls as he partnered big-hitters Moeen Ali and Donovan Ferreira as they took the Super Kings to victory with a ball to spare.

“After we were bowled out for 78 by the Sunrisers here, I felt embarrassed for the sell-out crowd, you’re hurting as a player and as a team. You’re half-expecting them not to turn up for the next game because they think you’re down-and-out, but we are extremely grateful we have such great supporters and we’re really glad we turned things around,” Du Plessis said at the Wanderers on Tuesday.

“I’m really proud of the performance against DSG, we were under a lot of pressure and managed to chase more than 200 against the best team in the tournament so far. So we will take a lot of confidence from that because DSG are a remarkable side with such balance.

“Obviously you need your big players to perform in a competition like this to put you in contention and there’s no doubt me not scoring many runs before that had a huge impact on the confidence of the team.

“You hope a couple of batsmen will have a purple patch and carry the batting line-up, but we were a bit light in that respect. But once we found our rhythm, we had better starts and that flowed through the team. We made a change with Leus moving up front and tactically that was a good change.

“Reeza Hendricks is an unbelievable player, but with the ball gripping in the first six overs like it has here, having two right-handers open the batting made it an uphill battle. To have two different batsmen at the crease [right-hand & left-hand] is important, especially if there’s something in the conditions.

“Wayne Madsen has also been fantastic in the last couple of games. Last season the pitch spun quite a bit here and so we went for Wayne because he’s very experienced and plays spin really well, his game centres around sweeping and reverse-sweeping. He’s been brilliant for us and he’s also one of the reasons our batting is in a better place,” Du Plessis said.

For Paarl Royals captain David Miller, the major change they need is in how they finish innings with the ball, having lost their last four games on the trot.

“It’s not ideal losing the last four, but it would look different if we lost five matches scattered through the tournament and there’s no stress or panic in any way. I was really happy with the way we went about our game at St George’s Park, even though we lost.

“In previous games, the opposition has taken the match away from us in the last four/five overs. You think you’ve restricted them to a good score to chase, but then it becomes a massive total and, as a batsman, chasing 10 or 11 an over from the get-go, you’re under pressure.

“So we’ve been in the game until the 15^th or 16^th over, playing really good cricket, but we need to stick to our processes, that’s what we’ll look to correct. T20 cricket can switch quickly, we have worked really hard and we still finished third on the log. So we are really positive and we just need to find our mojo again,” Miller said.

Playing at home in the eliminator and also potentially Qualifier 2 should also pump up the tyres of the Joburg Super Kings, but Du Plessis admitted they have struggled to adapt to the vagaries of the Wanderers pitch.

“Being at home will make a difference, it can give you an extra 10%, although we have been a bit frustrated here because we have not been able to produce our best. We’ve been a bit unsure of what the pitch will do. Winning your matches at home means you will generally be near the top at the back end of the tournament.

“But the last game here had a really good cricket wicket and it did not make that much difference whether you batted or bowled first. In the first few matches here, the pitch was very dry in the first innings and that played a bit into the oppositions’ strengths.

“But against DSG it was about playing your best cricket and then the best team would end up on top. It was all about how well you do your skills,” Du Plessis said.

As Miller pointed out though, Paarl Royals have won both their matches on the Highveld this season. Lungi Ngidi took four wickets as they won a thriller against the Pretoria Capitals in Centurion, and then they took advantage of a messy display in the field by the Super Kings to chase down 169 at the Wanderers and beat them by five wickets with an over to spare.

But back-to-back defeats to both the Durban Super Giants and Sunrisers Eastern Cape has punctured the confidence of the Royals; just how deflated they are will be seen on Wednesday evening.

Experienced 20/20 coach Dave Nosworthy said on Monday that South Africa’s failure to settle on a batting order had been a major factor in their disappointing early exit from the ICC World T20 competition in Sri Lanka.

South Africa lost all three of their Super 8s games to leave Sri Lanka as also-rans, despite being the number one ranked team in the world heading into the tournament.

The batting failed to fire, with the top-order having a dismal time and the likes of AB de Villiers floating around in the order and not getting enough time to stamp his mark on the innings.

“The big worry for me, looking from the outside, was that we didn’t seem to know what our best combination was. I think that we had the right players there, so I’m not blaming selection, but there wasn’t enough consistency or continuity in the batting order, but also in the bowling roles,” Nosworthy told Business Day on Monday.

“The guys didn’t seem to know what role they should play because they were in different positions all the time, they hadn’t spent long enough in specific roles.”

Nosworthy, who led the Highveld Lions to Champions League T20 qualification but is coaching Sri Lankan champions Uva in the tournament starting this week in Gauteng and has also had stints  with Canterbury, the Titans and the Punjab Kings XI, said that the confusion badly impacted on the performances of De Villiers and Kallis, probably South Africa’s two best batsmen.

“AB has to bat in the top three, he opened the batting as a youngster under me and kept wicket. He played freely then and, although he does an important job in the middle-order, someone else can do that and he can dominate from the outset.

“Kallis should not be batting three, he should have opened as he does in the IPL with very great success in similar conditions. We know he’s good enough and he’s better batting up front, the IPL proved that,” Nosworthy said.

The well-travelled coach was also highly critical of the death bowling issue, which he said receives a lot of airtime in South Africa, but nothing seems to be done about it.

“For 10 years we’ve been saying we don’t have any death bowlers, but you can talk until you’re blue in the face, nothing gets done about it. They’re not going to fall out of heaven. Death bowlers need to be identified and told ‘that’s your job, now stick with it’.

“I know he’s injured at the moment, but a year ago, Rusty Theron should of been told that he’s a death bowler and make him a specialist at it. Charl Langeveldt used to just bowl at boots all day and became a very good death bowler for South Africa.

“Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn can do it, but their job is more as strike bowlers, to take wickets. I point fingers at the players, because someone should identify that death bowling is a weak area in South African cricket and say ‘I can do it’.

“You’ve got to train yourself for the job, that’s what being a professional is about. That’s how Lasith Malinga became great, he trained himself for that role,” Nosworthy said.

On the positive side, Nosworthy said the spirit in the team appeared to be good.

“There looked to be a good sense in the side and for that Gary Kirsten deserves credit for gelling them together. They weren’t necessarily a unit in terms of role-definition, but they looked happy and they were always competitive.

“The performances of Robbie Peterson, who played really well, and Dale Steyn, who was brilliant, were the real positives.”

The experienced Nosworthy added, however, that the outlook was mostly positive for South African cricket.

“It’s easy to be critical when they’ve lost, but there’s a good crop of youngsters there with Morne Morkel, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy and Faf du Plessis and I think Robin Peterson will play a few more years too. They should all be around for the next few world cups, we just need to keep the group together and let them get to know their roles,” Nosworthy said.

–

James asked:

Hi Ken, why did the Proteas” performance dip so dramatically in the 2nd and 3rd tests? Did they experiment too much, or is the lenghth of the tour taking its toll?

Ken answered:

Hi James
I presume you mean the 3rd & 4th ODIs?
I think there was some mental fatigue involved as well as perhaps some complacency after the big win in the 2nd game. We just didn’t bat well enough, and that was partly due to too much experimentation in the batting order too, I believe.

Peter asked:

Ken,the last ODI proves yet again(when under severe pressure) that we are not chokers and respond to pressure pretty well(Newlands test v Aussies)We are self destructors(the Qval and World Cup v NZ)when we become complacent and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory when on top. Your thoughts please. .

Ken answered:

Hi Peter, I don’t think the World Cup defeat to New Zealand had anything to do with complacency, probably the opposite! We succumbed under pressure and expectation there. But yes, on other occasions we have self-destructed and there has been a hint of complacency. I just think some of the batsmen are so good that sometimes they fail to give their opposition enough respect.

zaheed asked:

Why is there no fixed batsman in the middle order,its keep changing

Ken answered:

Gary Kirsten has wanted to experiment, but I would be far happier if Kallis/Elgar and De Villiers are fixed at 3 and 4, then, depending on how many overs are left, 5,6 and 7 can shuffle.

Chris asked:

Hi,Ken
Waarom probeer boul Lonwabo nie oor die paaltjie in plas van linksom nie,as jy sien hoe skuins moet sy paaltjiewagter in sy aflewering gaan.Dit is om sy aflewerings af te wissel of hoe?

Ken answered:

Hi Chris
Vergewe my as ek in Engels skryf!
I think Lonwabo does go over the wicket a lot – he’s a left-hander remember so it will be the other side to Steyn etc.If he comes around the wicket, there’s the danger of him angling into the pads of the batsman. From over the wicket, he can bring the ball back into the right-hander as a surprise delivery.

 

graeme asked:

Hi Ken , Vernon Philander is #2 in test rankings , how come he is not selected for the ODI

Ken answered:

Hi Graeme
The feeling is that he’s a bit predictable for ODIs, needs to work more on slower balls and other variations. His great strength is putting the ball in the same place every time, which doesn’t work in modern-day limited-overs cricket.

robert tapiwa mandeya asked:

who is our #3 batsman when kallis is unavailable,,these guys have to serious & where is our petersen the gret open

Ken answered:

Well Dean Elgar was meant to be Kallis’s replacement, but I was disappointed to see him batting at 6 in one innings! I guess one could include Alviro Petersen either as an opener or in place of Graeme Smith. Hashim at 3 perhaps, but maybe 1,2 & 3 will all be too alike then?

Tshepo asked:

Hi Ken
Do you think AB made a mistake in a 3rd ODI when he chose to bat first because I think SA perform better when we field first.

Ken answered:

Hi Tshepo
No, if anything the pitch became slower & lower, with more turn. We just batted really badly after a good start!

Daniël asked:

Hi Ken

The ODI”s was a bit boring for me don”t know if is becaues of the high of the tests, don”t know if it is because of the 2 new balls, you”re thoughts? Secondly, Ricard Levi don”t we need him at the top in ODI”s just to get it going?

thank you!

Ken answered:

Hi Daniël
I think there was a bit of a hangover from the tests and yes, having two new balls in English conditions will keep the batsmen quieter.
I think Levi probably deserves a look opening the batting in ODIs.

Adrian asked:

Hi Ken do you think SA will still be a force to be reckon with after Kallis retires! And is AB is real solution to our keeper problems! It seems that the keeping is taking its toll on his batting! One fifty on this tour so far! To captain, to keep and to bat is a lot to do if you ask for consistency!

Ken answered:

Hi Adrian
What you say about AB is exactly what I’ve been saying for months! For potentially the best batsman in the world to score just one half-century the whole tour is very disappointing. AB should be a consistent match-winner with the bat for us, much like Amla.
There is no doubt Kallis will leave a massive hole when he retires. We’ve seen the difficulties in balancing the side in this series. But I believe we have the talent to still be a major force, it will just be tougher!

Mandlenkosi asked:

Who will captain the proteas in the T20 match against England

Ken answered:

AB de Villiers

KR asked:

GoodDay Ken,

Just one question…..

With all the experimentation going on in out one-day set-up.
Provided everyone is fit what would you say out best first 11 is in batting order please?

Ken answered:

Hello KR
I would go Smith (although maybe Levi should be looked at), Amla, Kallis, De Villiers, Du Plessis (deserves another chance), Duminy, A. Morkel, Peterson, Parnell or Tsotsobe depending on conditions, Steyn, M. Morkel

Barend asked:

Hi Ken.
Last year in the World cup SA also used a spinner to open the bowling,and just like the last England game it paid off. Is that because the pitches in the sub continent is similar to england”s? If not don”t you think SA should more gamble with that decision cause it seems the opening batsmen are strugling with the new ball spinning?

Ken answered:

Hi Barend
I think in their planning, nobody expected the pitches in England to be so uncharacteristically slow, low and turning. The decision to open with a spinner was a belated one, especially given England’s history against spin. It’s a good surprise tactic and we should keep using it from time-to-time.

mike asked:

Hi, Is it possible to get stumped of a free hit? if not can the keeper run you out of a free hit, in the fashion that prior got morkel out in the tests?

Ken answered:

Hi Mike
You can’t be stumped off a free hit, but you can be run out. Prior stumped Morkel because he wasn’t making any attempt at a run. That would be the key for a free hit as well, was the batsman attempting a run?

Tumelo asked:

Hi Ken

I think the team was not well balanced in the 1st 3 games played,with Parnell coming in at 7 and with the same type of pace bowlers in Parnell and Styne.My 2nd point is AB and Gary were a bit naive in the last odi by not sending AB in @3 i knw faf is not a finisher hence Dean and faf have to fight for that spot and Ontong, Farhaan and Albie for the no.7 spot

Ken answered:

Hi Tumelo
Yes, balance was an issue but more so the batting order. I agree, Parnell should not be as high as 7, but he and Steyn are very different bowlers, never mind the whole left-arm/right-arm thing!
I don’t mind AB not batting 3 if there’s a Kallis or Elgar there, but he must bat 4! He’s our best ODI batsman and needs to face enough overs. Elgar is not a finisher, he’s an accumulator, while Faf is less a finisher than a good guy to rotate the strike, take singles etc with the occasional boundary. For me, Albie is the obvious guy at 7, maybe Miller if we have enough bowling.

Philip asked:

Do you believe that Wayne Parnell is worthy of a place in the team?

Ken answered:

He’s certainly worth having in the squad. He’s been bowling better and obviously has potential as a batsman. Not sure if we can afford both him and Tsotsobe in the XI, but I wouldn’t discard either of them just yet.

kevin pillay asked:

Hi ken jest a bit worried wid the lack of a quality cover for kallis. We seam to have a lot of bawling allrounders but none of them can do the job kallis does at the top of the order. Is there someone in the domestic game that”s a batting allrounder n can play a similar (not same coz kallis is a legend) rowl to what he does. Coz I can”t see anyone putting the hand up an saying pick me I”m a top allrounder. Thanx ken

Ken answered:

Hi Kevin
Well we’re highly unlikely to ever find someone who can cover what Kallis does! But guys like Elgar, Duminy, Du Plessis can develop into genuine batting all-rounders. They’re probably the best available at the moment. As far as bowling all-rounders go, you’re looking at Albie Morkel, McLaren, Parnell. But everyone knew it would take two players to replace Kallis!

Abdullah asked:

Hi Ken,Dont you think Faf or Kallis should open the batting alongside Levi in the T20”s.Dont get me wrong Amla is world class but jus not in this Format

Ken answered:

Hi Abdullah
I think Hashim has proven conclusively that whenever someone says he can’t play a certain format he’ll prove them wrong! Plus he’s in such great form at the moment, it would be crazy not to use him. For me, Levi, Amla, Kallis is the way to go, although Kallis will have to be more explosive if we don’t lose early wickets, or drop down the order.

Victor asked:

Hi Ken, deducting from the 3rd and 4th ODI performance of our former skipper Gream Smith, don”t you think is the time he steps down because he”s costing us. Most successful teams win matches because of their good start and Smith in two matches he didn”t even make 50 runs. So I personally think is time Alviro comes back to the ODI setup as a opener to partner with Amla maybe going forward we can be a threat to many teams. What”s your say on this matter?

Ken answered:

Hi Victor
I think in difficult conditions, Graeme didn’t do too badly. He scored 52 in the 2nd ODI, and in 3 of the 4 completed games the opening partnership was more than 50 in good time. I think Alviro is too similar to Amla and if the selectors wanted to look at another option, perhaps Levi should have a go?

Gino Ruiters asked:

The series clearly showed that we need a big hitting all rounder at number 7. Albie”s the obvious choice, but who can really make that role their own keeping the 2015 world cup in mind?

Ken answered:

Albie is the obvious choice but is now adding frustrating injuries to a certain lack of consistency! The other option is a specialist batsman like David Miller, with Duminy and Du Plessis having to bowl more overs …

Jason asked:

Don”t you feel like our ODI middle order needs to be strengthed?

I feel like Faf Du Plessis has had more than enough chances and he hasn”t made a big impact in the batting department. I know his fielding is incredible.

I would definately play Jacques Rudolph in the ODI team and recall Dave Miller and give him a proper shot. I would also give Justin Ontong a proper go as he is such an improved cricketer compared to a few years ago.

Lastly Wayne Parnell is not an allrounder.He is a bowler who can bat a little bit…

What are your thoughts?

Ken answered:

You’ve mentioned bringing in Rudolph, Miller and Ontong, so who are the three players to drop out? Du Plessis, Duminy and ?
Faf has failed in his last 3 innings, but it’s the first time he’s failed for any length of time!
I don’t think Jacques Rudolph is suited to the middle-order, he’s an opening batsman in limited-overs cricket.
Parnell can become a bowling all-rounder, he has potential with the bat.

Lwazi Matiwane asked:

Why cant we try Justin Ontong on no.3 because Elgar has failed twice now.Your take

Ken answered:

Elgar only failed in his last innings. I don’t think Ontong’s really a number three, see him more as the busy player rotating the strike in the middle to late overs, probably at 5.

Werner asked:

Hi ken

Watching the tour off england is very exciting and i thing we are doing very well in England.Just one question.

Who is our finisher in the lower order when albi morkel are not playing

Ken answered:

Hi Werner
I would suggest Duminy is the man for the job, but why was he batting number three then?! But we certainly missed Albie …

phillip.bergh asked:

Am i correct in assuming that big V Philander is on a hat trick in the next test.

Ken answered:

Ha ha, yes he took 2 wickets in 2 balls to end the Lord’s test, but it won’t count as a hat-trick if he gets another wicket first ball of his next test.

Peter asked:

Ken thanks for your reply.World Cup vs NZ at 100 odd for 3 needing 4 an over,Kallis threw his wicket away and AB was needlessly run out. Only then came the severe pressure.

Ken answered:

Well I think AB’s wicket was down to pressure but yes, Kallis was out of the blue!

Ronald asked:

Hi Ken, we all know the middle order struggled this ODI series. All the relative “new” players that came in,I believe are guys with extreme talent…I would like to see them (same players)get at least another chance in the next ODI series and see what they can do then after their first experience for the Proteas. What is your feeling around choosing the same (relative) squad for next ODI series based on the outcome of the ENG ODI?

Ken answered:

Hi Ronald
Yes, I mostly agree with you. Kallis should come back, so not sure whether Elgar stays in the squad then or not. Graeme Smith might become an issue, in which case you might want to look at Levi.Plus hopefully Albie Morkel will be fit, otherwise someone like Miller might need to be called up.

Roberto asked:

Hi Ken
I just want to comment on the AB keeper issue. You said that he shouldn”t keep because that”s the reason (or could be) he didn”t perform in this series. I”m not sure about that, since he didn”t bat well every time we batted first (wich means he didn”t keep yet), and when we batted second he made a good score. I fully agree that he shouldn”t keep in tests, but ODI”s and T20”s I”m not too sure. Your thoughts on that?

Ken answered:

Hi Roberto, yeah I don’t think the issue of him keeping in limited-overs games is cut and dried yet. I see the value of him doing it, and maybe his quiet series had more to do with him not being settled at 4 where he should be! Your point about making runs batting second does have merit.

Johann asked:

Happy with performance yet not with that of Faf.

Why did they persist with him being totally out of form.

Ken answered:

They persisted with him because he has only failed in his last 3 innings! Before that he was doing a great job, and his bowling and fielding make him a very valuable limited-overs player.

Bongani M asked:

Well done to proteas for the fight back, still believe the balance of 7 batsmen and 4 bowlers is correct combination for Champions Trophy 2013 and WC in 2015 especilly with luck of having ABDV give us in wicketkeeper-batsman.

I”m worried with depht in our batting and combinations I tend to think we should standard batting order and everybody know his position and role clarity so that a player can be hold responsible for poor perfomance.
Too dependent on Amla too much when he does not score no-one seems to take responsibility what are your thoughts.

Bowling is perfoming well AD is doing good work.

Ken answered:

Yes Bongani, I would also like to see a settled batting order. I know Gary wants the batsmen to learn about playing different situations, but that will happen naturally because one day you’re 220-3 the next you’re 20-3! The players have obvious strengths and it’s not going to work trying to turn Elgar into a David Miller or JP Duminy into a Hashim Amla!

Thabo asked:

Hi Ken id love to know that everytime South Africa played in the ODI,have changed their bating order a number of times,is this to prepare for the 20-20 world cup of is this going to be an on going thing.THANKS

Ken answered:

Hi Thabo
It was to give the batsmen experience of playing in different situations, but I think this happens naturally in the game anyway. It was unsettling so hopefully we will settle on a batting order now.

yaseen asked:

I”m happy with the effort of our team but I think our batting in the middle order lacks experiance if we could make one change I believe we will be a better team that is dropping smith and putting kallis there in the opening spot an then we could add a batter like ontong at seven

Ken answered:

I don’t think Ontong at 7 is the answer. We need a more explosive hitter there, like an Albie Morkel or David Miller.
50 overs is a long time and, as Jonathan Trott showed for England, having a solid number 3 who can lay a platform is important. Kallis is one of the best!

Christian asked:

Hi Ken,

My question is a bit deviant from the topic at hand. What do you think needs to be done to promote cricket as a global sport? How do we expand it? Isn”t it counter productive if a future tours programme has already been arranged for the next 5-10 years? How are the “associate nations” supposed to develop if they cant get adequate chances to play against the “full members?” I know the Woolf report addressed this, but it looks like it has quietly been thrown in the trash can. What are your thoughts?

Ken answered:

Hi Christian
The FTP does obstruct a lot of progress in cricket, but it was also essential to ensure the lesser nations – New Zealand, West Indies, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe – get cricket against the top 4. There is a pathway of tournaments for the associate nations to progress, but only at ODI level. Ireland want test status and it will be interesting to see how that goes …

Siyabonga asked:

We had a good ODI series didn`t we? I mean despite that we had a chance to top all three formats of the game in terms of ranking.

My question is, our bowlers are picked in terms of their perfomance/form. Shouldn`t they do the same to batsmen. I feel like as much as we need batsmen who can get runs on the board, we also need people who can score runs regularly beside Amla, deVilliers and Smith??

Ken answered:

I actually think the ODI series was disappointing because, apart from the second and last games, we really didn’t bat well.
Batting has a lot to do with confidence and before we start dropping people, perhaps we should settle on their positions in the batting order first.

Sechaba asked:

Hey Ken….with the T20 World Cup in a short do u think this T20 series will be enough preparation?

Ken answered:

Hi Sechaba
It’s preparation value will be limited because conditions in England should be very different to Sri Lanka! I guess they can get some team spirit and momentum going, build confidence, but most of the prep will have to be done in Sri Lanka.

ashley asked:

Hi ken, what is your take on the absense of albie in this series as I felt #7 was one postion to high for parnell.the form of faf du plessis, do u think he will be under pressure to hold his spot going forward, as I am a huge fan. Thanks

Ken answered:

Hi Ashley
I think we missed Albie badly because his finishing power was lacking. 7 is definitely too high for Parnell at the moment.
Faf had a bad run in this series, but has done very well in his other 23 ODIs. I guess he will be under some pressure, but he deserves another chance, not least of all because of the great package he provides with his fielding and bowling too.

Bart asked:

Is Greame Smith rested for the T20s? Why is it so difficult to beat England in their own conditions? When they tour SA we usually beat them handsomely!

Ken answered:

Graeme is not in the T20 squad, either for England or the World T20.
The England team have obviously grown up in their conditions, they hone their techniques in county cricket and it is very different to playing in the sub-continent or even in South Africa/Australia. Swing and seam bowling plays a much larger role. So they will obviously be much harder to beat at home, like all teams.

Johan Kleynhans asked:

Hi Ken, looking at the current squad and the way they performed in England, witch I think was a huge succes, do you think this squad has the ability to break the hoodoo of doing well in an ICC event and then loosing it when it matters? We realy need a title and I hope the T20 WC is the one.

Ken answered:

Hi Johan
I think this year might be a little early for this team, it’s still getting settled. But you never know, we have world-class match-winners and maybe not having the expectation will do the trick!

Andy asked:

Hi Ken
We seem to persist with Parnell despite his inconsistency. Surely we must give Philander an opportunity in limited over cricket before he seeks the big money elsewhere.

Ken answered:

Hi Andy
I seriously doubt that Philander is going anywhere! He’s such an integral part of our test line-up. Philander needs more variety, slower balls etc to do well in limited-overs internationals.
Parnell has been inconsistent, but I thought his bowling has improved and he bowled well through the series.

http://www.supersport.com/cricket/sa-team/news/120907/Post_ODIseries_QA_with_Ken