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.

Veteran Duane Vermeulen has been on the sidelines for the last five massive Springbok Tests and as fantastic as their results have been, the eighthman said there are still many areas they can improve on.

“We can always improve. There have been small steps taken through the Georgia game, the SA A matches and the Tests against the British and Irish Lions. We slipped up on the first Test against them, but it’s been nice to see us get some continuity. We want to keep on improving and be consistent. It’s one step at a time but we’re heading in the right direction,” Vermeulen said.

So what are the areas the Springboks still need to work on?

Getting the back three more involved in attack

The Springboks’ five victories so far this year have largely been down to their tight five outmuscling and outworking the opposition. As effective as it has been, forward dominance alone has seldom triumphed in the Southern Hemisphere competition. It would be great to see Cheslin Kolbe, Makazole Mapimpi and Willie le Roux able to exploit space out wide more. They can also be brought into play from clever first-phase plays. Those three are all capable of breaking defensive systems and showing a clean pair of heels.

Increased tempo

One can forgive the Springboks for adopting a wear-them-down strategy against the British and Irish Lions because their lack of high-intensity conditioning after 18 months out of Test rugby made it essential. But they now have a good month of game-time and conditioning work under their belts so the time has come for them to put more speed on the ball. Unlike Argentina, Australia and New Zealand will be actively trying to quicken the game up, so the Springboks will need to be more mobile, with greater continuity between forwards and backs, and maybe even more offloads.

Better discipline

The old benchmark for Springbok teams was to concede fewer than 10 penalties per game. recently they have been in double figures most of the time. It’s not that their discipline has been bad, but under pressure they have tended to err a bit too easily. They can get their penalty count down and that will help with momentum and territory.

More accuracy at restarts

At times the Springboks have looked like a bunch of boisterous pups having a bone thrown to them when it comes to receiving the restarts. The absence of Vermeulen has been felt there and a bit more organisation and clinical execution will help make their exits smoother and relieve territorial pressure.

Improving their strengths even more

In the sage words of Nick Mallett: “It is not up to us to change the way we play because it’s not attractive. You play the way you play best in order to beat the opposition”. And the Springboks’ strengths are their set-pieces and kicking game. Which can still improve!

Lood de Jager and Franco Mostert have been immense at lineout time, but more options can be brought into play there.

Ox Nche, Malcolm Marx and Trevor Nyakane have excelled at scrum-time, but we are still waiting for Steven Kitshoff, Bongi Mbonambi and Frans Malherbe to really cut loose and destroy opposition scrums.

And the Springboks can improve their box-kicks and kicking into space.