Ken Borland

South Africa were left to brood over their poor batting in their opening game against Australia as they beat previously unbeaten England by 10 runs but were knocked out of the T20 World Cup in Sharjah on Saturday night on nett run-rate.

Losing an important toss and being sent in to bat first, South Africa’s batsmen produced a superb display, their best of the tournament, to hammer 189/2 in their 20 overs.

It means they had to restrict England to less than 131 in order to qualify for the semi-finals in front of Australia, who had earlier cruised past the West Indies by eight wickets with 22 balls to spare. Although they failed to do that, they showed impressive calm in the closing overs to limit England to 179/8.

England’s powerhouse batting line-up kept a cracking pace throughout and were not helped by Jason Roy having to retire hurt on 20.

Under pressure, where the Proteas did not err however was in still picking up wickets. Anrich Nortje bowled well and removed dangerman Jos Buttler for 26 off 15 balls, before Tabraiz Shamsi (4-0-24-2) struck two big blows by dismissing Moeen Ali (37), the ball after being hit for a huge six, and trapping Jonny Bairstow lbw for 1.

Dawid Malan (33 off 26) and Liam Livingstone (28 off 17) kept England very much in the hunt, but both were winkled out by Dwaine Pretorius.

England needed 14 off the last over and Kagiso Rabada had to bowl it, having travelled for 45 runs in his three overs up till then.

It’s not as if Rabada strew the ball all over the place, but rather that he bowled entirely the wrong length on a pitch with low bounce – instead of hitting the deck hard back-of-a-length, he bowled far too full and was belted for five fours and three sixes. For a bowler of his experience and skill, it was baffling and infuriating.

But pulling his length back and using variations in pace worked an absolute treat for him in the final over, as he took a hat-trick, Chris Woakes (7), Eoin Morgan (17) and Chris Jordan (0) all falling to catches in the deep. The villain turned match-winner.

The Proteas can take enormous heart from their batting display against such a strong bowling attack, especially considering how much the batting has improved in the last year.

Quinton de Kock again gave a tantalising glimpse of his abilities as he scored 34 off 27 balls before holing out at long-on off leg-spinner Adil Rashid.

He had given South Africa a solid platform though, departing on 86/2 in the 12^th over.

Rassie van der Dussen showed how effectively he can change gears, both helping to set up the innings and then accelerating brilliantly at the death as he struck a marvellous 94 not out off 60 balls.

Aiden Markram showed he can be a highly-effective finisher as he lashed 52 not out off just 25 deliveries, including four sixes. His fiery strokeplay means he now has two of the five fastest half-centuries in the tournament.

Van der Dussen and Markram added 103 for the third wicket in just 8.4 overs and South Africa’s top-order can certainly feel they did more than what was expected, setting up an impressive victory and ensuring the Proteas depart the tournament on a high.

South Africa are looking to beat England for the first time in six outings in Sharjah on Saturday for a possible semi-final place in the T20 World Cup. A lot has to go right for the Proteas to upset the form book and win against the undisputed tournament favourites.

Ken Borland highlights four occurrences that will probably need to happen for Temba Bavuma’s spirited team to prevail.

1. Quinton de Kock to fire at the top of the order – It’s been a rough tournament for the wicketkeeper/batsman. His bizarre dismissal against Australia was followed by his equally baffling decision not to take a knee and rather withdraw from the match against the West Indies. He has not passed 50 in any T20 match in eight innings, but he looks in form. De Kock is due and he is undoubtedly a potential matchwinner for South Africa.
2. Heavy dew after winning the toss & bowling first – Sharjah is known for its dew and it would be a marvellous early Christmas present for Bavuma if he could win the toss and elect to bat second. No-one would suggest England’s impressive attack are ill-equipped to handle a damp ball, but if South Africa can set themselves up to chase 140-150, and De Kock gets going, it would give the Proteas serious hope.
3. A pitch that is really tough for batting – England like to play aggressive T20 cricket, setting matches up with their dashing batsmen going hard from the outset. But if the pitch is a bit of a snakepit, say like the one the Dutch were bowled out for 44 on less than a month ago at Sharjah, then it could take them out of their comfort zone. They adapted brilliantly against Sri Lanka at the start of the week, but what if the pitch is even tougher and Jos Buttler fails? South Africa have the spinners to hound them in the middle overs.
4. Fired up new-ball bursts by Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje – Rabada was superb in the win over Bangladesh and Nortje is enjoying a magnificent World Cup. But if something can get them really cross before the England innings and they come out really firing, England could lose a couple of wickets in the powerplay to their sheer pace.

When a South African leader talks about finding an extra 5% it’s normally the Minister of Finance trying to balance the books in a time of constrained fiscus, but Proteas captain Temba Bavuma admitted on Friday that this is what his team will need to do to beat England in Sharjah and maintain their hopes of qualifying for the T20 World Cup semi-finals.

Depending on Australia’s margin of victory or defeat against the West Indies in Saturday’s earlier game in Abu Dhabi, South Africa could advance to the semi-finals even if they lose narrowly to England or could still be knocked out even if they beat the favourites.

Bavuma said the Proteas’ focus was simply on winning, and to do that they needed to be at their best on Saturday.

“We need to play our best cricket tomorrow and our first port of call is the win. Although our cricket has been good so far, we need to find a way to add an extra 5% in all departments,” Bavuma said.

“England have had the better of us lately, so we have to be at our best against them. We can’t leave it to individuals, we can’t rely on individual brilliance, it’s all about us as a team.

“We want to show the same character we have done and fight to the end. Every game we have tailored our strategy according to the opposition and England are obviously a very good team.

“So we will come up with plans that speak to England’s strengths and weaknesses, but mentally our approach should not be any different. The players and management have been through a lot and we have grown as a team,” Bavuma said.

Bavuma may be a playful character out of the spotlight, but he is clearly taking the responsibility of leading the national team at a World Cup most seriously. He is also extremely diligent about fulfilling his batting role, over which there has been much chatter recently. His strike-rate of 108.33 has been a particular focus, as was his run-a-ball innings of 46 against Sri Lanka the last time they played in Sharjah.

“If you look at conditions, they have not been freeflowing and you can’t just come in and hit the first ball out of the middle of the bat. We’ve really had to graft as a batting unit.

“I feel I can do a role up front or in the middle to hold the game and allow the big-hitters to get into the game. We’ve seen that’s worked in this World Cup, we feel it’s what’s best and we back it.

“We really do know now after the Sri Lanka game that the pitch in Sharjah will be on the low side. In terms of our batting, we took the game quite deep and what we have learnt is that we should have pulled the trigger a bit earlier,” Bavuma said.

People sometimes like to think of T20 cricket as being as complicated a strategic game as, say, backgammon, but for David Miller, the Proteas need to keep it as simple as possible in their crunch World Cup game against England in Sharjah on Saturday.

Of course South Africa have worked hard on implementing the right tactics against the tournament favourites, but Miller said the team, since bouncing back from their loss to Australia in their opening match, have broken their play down into small bits.

“We’ve bounced back from the loss and been really good in the last three games,” Miller said. “We have a blueprint that we are striving to perfect, and although there has been huge growth, we are still learning.

“It’s a massive game for us but we mustn’t be looking at the end result. We have to stick to our processes, take it ball-by-ball, over-by over. It’s a big cliché, but we have to do that.

“We need to be clear in our planning and preparation against England, we want to simplify what we have to do, and it’s important to really enjoy ourselves out there as well,” Miller said.

While South Africa have certainly not cured all their batting issues after some ham-fisted efforts in recent times, to have Miller back in peak form after injury is a massive bonus and the successive sixes he smoked in the final over to beat Sri Lanka will live long in the memory.

Top-level sport only loans its competitors confidence depending on the vagaries of their results, but the 32-year-old left-hander said the Proteas currently feel like they are riding a wave, having not only won consistently over the last six months but also, and certainly not coincidentally, having kept the same squad of players together.

“We’re nice and focused and ready for the next game, the team is in a good space and feeling refreshed. We’ve had a similar squad for the last six months and we’ve built up a really nice bond.

“We’re finding ways to win matches and that makes us really chuffed. We’ve won 12 of our last 14 games and that has definitely given us confidence going into this must-win match.

“In those tight moments in a game, you grab hold of every bit of confidence that you can. Winning does not necessarily have to be pretty – some of our games have been clinical and smooth, and some we still won when our performance was neither here nor there.

“We’ve happened to win one or two close games now, and hopefully that confidence, momentum and growth can keep going. Having the same squad means that we’ve learnt how to play with each other, what makes your team-mates tick,” Miller said.