Ken Borland

The Proteas have every reason to be like an excited puppy bouncing around after winning the first ODI against India – making it three wins in a row over the superpowers of cricket – but key bowler Tabraiz Shamsi says they have to forget about what has gone before and approach Friday’s second ODI at Boland Park as the start of a new series.

If South Africa do win on Friday then they have clinched the three-match series 2-0 even before they go to Newlands over the weekend. Following the heroics in the Test series, the 31-run win in the first ODI was an impressive way to add to the feel-good factor and keep the momentum going.

“It was a very nice way to start the series, beating one of the strongest teams in the world, which shows we are also one of the strongest teams,” Shamsi said on Thursday. “But it’s about focusing on the next game now.

“We will go into it with much the same plan. We have made a great start but we need to forget about that game now and play the second match like it’s the first game of the series.

“Hopefully we can go 2-0 up and close off the series. But we are both very competitive teams,” Shamsi said.

The highlight of the first ODI was the incredible 204-run partnership between Temba Bavuma (110) and Rassie van der Dussen (129*), the pair coming together in the 18^th over with South Africa in trouble on 68/3.

But the way they handled the dual spin menace of Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal showed the massive improvements in playing spin that are evident in the Proteas batting line-up. That will hold them in good stead in the second ODI, which is also being played in Paarl.

“It was a very slow pitch and there was some assistance for the spinners,” Shamsi said. “It was more of a subcontinental wicket than a South African one, which makes it even sweeter to outplay them.

“It was a massive statement the way Temba and Rassie batted. It was a tough situation when they came in, but the way they counter-punched and took the initiative away from India was incredible.

“Especially the way they played spin in helpful conditions, it shows that there has been a lot of growth in our team,” Shamsi said.

Even without the No.1 T20 bowler in the world or much contribution from Quinton de Kock, South Africa enjoyed a highly encouraging dress rehearsal for the T20 World Cup as they beat Pakistan by six wickets off the last ball of their warm-up match in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday night.

Left-arm wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi bowled just four balls in the match before going off the field with a tight groin, and not playing any further part in the match.

And his absence was felt as Pakistan amassed 186 for six in their 20 overs.

But thanks to Rassie van der Dussen’s magnificent 101 not out off just 51 balls, the Proteas reached their target, he and David Miller scoring the 19 tuns required off the last over bowled by Hasan Ali.

Van der Dussen’s brilliantly-paced innings came when South Africa made a shaky start, losing both Quinton de Kock (6) and Reeza Hendricks (7) to spinner Imad Wasim in the third over.

It was captain Temba Bavuma, this time batting No.4, who helped steady the innings in a partnership of 107 in 12 overs. Bavuma was dismissed with five overs to go and 65 runs needed, having scored 46 off 42 balls. Opinions will probably be divided as to whether he made his runs quickly enough, but his tenacity and calmness under pressure cannot be questioned.

Heinrich Klaasen helped keep the Proteas in the hunt with his 14 off 8 deliveries before Van der Dussen started the final over with a six, Miller launched the third ball out the ground and Van der Dussen struck boundaries off the last two deliveries.

In terms of the Proteas bowling, it was an added positive that Kagiso Rabada bowled well, conceding just 28 runs in his four overs, with the added bonus of three wickets.

Lungi Ngidi (3-0-17-0) and spinner Keshav Maharaj (3.2-0-25-1) were also tidy, but leaking would be the verb to describe the bowling of Bjorn Fortuin (3-0-41-0), Anrich Nortje (4-0-44-1) and Wiaan Mulder (2-0-23-0).

Fakhar Zaman led the Pakistan batting with a sparkling 52 off 28 balls before retiring, while Asif Ali added the finishing touches with 32 off just 18 deliveries.

Anrich Nortje is the rapidly improving fast bowler who won the Newcomer of the Year award last season for the Proteas, and now on Monday night he was crowned the overall Player of the Year. And the 27-year-old just wants to be the bowler who keeps hitting the top of off stump more than anyone else.

As well as being named the SA Men’s Cricketer of the Year,  Nortje took the titles of Test Cricketer of the Year and the Fans’ Player of the Year, and also shared the prestigious Players’ Player of the Year award with Aiden Markram.

“I was not thinking about winning four awards after such an up-and-down season with Covid and not playing a lot of games. I had a decent season but I’m just very happy to be part of the awards again. I’m quite happy with how I progressed, there were just moments here and there where I needed to lift. I’ve had a short career but there have been a lot of highlights in the Tests.

“I’m looking forward to building on that momentum and I’m very excited about going to the West Indies. I’ve heard a lot of good stories about the place, but I’m not sure if it will suit fast bowling. When you know the conditions aren’t going to suit you, then you just have to concentrate extra hard on the basics, try and hit the top of off stump as often as possible,” Nortje said.

Fellow fast bowler Shabnim Ismail was the SA Women’s Cricketer of the Year and she also sounded like someone who had passed their exams, acknowledging that the 2020/21 season had been a testing one. She was also voted the Players’ Player of the Year and the T20 Cricketer of the Year.

“I’m truly happy with the awards because they show all the hard work behind the scenes has paid off. I was really happy with my performances and I’m just really grateful and happy to win these awards. I put in the hard yards, I was getting career-bests and I’ve done well for the team. I was chuffed with my performances and happy overall.

“I have to give credit to my team-mates because I could not do it without them and our new strength and conditioning coach has helped with my loads and our whole management team is just so positive. We wanted to portray ourselves as a different South African team and I think we did that in the last two series against Pakistan and India. And now hopefully we can win the World Cup,” Ismail said.

Sisanda Magala is a “very, very good bowler” are words you are likely to hear from time to time, but when they come from one of the greatest bowlers of all time, then it is time to sit up, take notice and put him in the Proteas starting XI.

Magala’s fan is none other than Dale Steyn, indisputably a legend of the game because he has taken over 400 Test wickets at an average lower than all but four of the other 16 bowlers in that club. Steyn has previously tweeted how impressed he is with Magala and on Tuesday he explained to The Citizen why he rates the 30-year-old so highly ahead of what will hopefully be his Proteas debut in the ODI series against Pakistan starting on Friday.

But as Steyn reveals, they did not have a very good start to their relationship …

“The first time I played against him was for the Titans against the Warriors and I had heard amazing things about him. So I gave him so much stick, I basically just abused him, because I wanted to see what he was made of. He was upset, but after the game I spoke to him and told him I just did that because I heard you were really good. I wasn’t sure he liked me much after that though … ” Steyn said.

“Then we played together at the Cape Town Blitz, and as team-mates he just impressed me more and more. He’s really quick, he’s a good fielder, extremely athletic for his size, and just a flippen nice guy. He has that fight in him. He has a bit of a strange action so he’s quicker than you think.

“I always look for things that make someone better than the rest and he has a wicked wrist – it’s really cocked back, whippy, giving him extra pace. With good coaching and as he gets more familiar with how to use that wrist, he could get even quicker.”

There have been whispers that Magala’s size – he is certainly burly – is considered an issue by Proteas management and is why he has not yet taken the field for the national team. But Steyn says his physical dimensions and not passing certain fitness tests should not be a factor in selection.

“The testing is one thing but I don’t mind if a guy looks slightly overweight as long as he is hitting the same numbers or even a bit better over a period of time, it’s only a problem if there’s a massive slump. For some people it’s just very difficult for them to do anything about their weight, but I’ve often seen cricketers lose a couple of kilograms and then they can’t hit the ball as far or bowl as well.

“As professional cricketers, we don’t necessarily have to look like Michael Jordan or Usain Bolt,’ Steyn said.