Ken Borland

For Rassie van der Dussen, every innings is a new instalment of his career, a new situation to adapt to, and he did it to perfection at Boland Park in Paarl on Wednesday as his unbeaten century led South Africa to an impressive 31-run win over India in the first ODI.

Van der Dussen came to the crease in the 18^th over when the Proteas were struggling on 68/3. Together with his captain Temba Bavuma, who was busy getting himself in and would go big in scoring a brilliant century of his own, they added a magnificent 204 off just 190 deliveries, the best ever fourth-wicket stand for South Africa against India.

Van der Dussen’s commanding 129 not out off just 96 balls means he has now scored 1178 runs in his 30 ODIs at an extraordinary average of 73.62. What marked this innings out was how fluently he played right from the start of his innings, on a slow and tricky pitch that made scoring difficult.

“The pitch was taking a bit of turn and I knew I would have to go to my sweeps and reverse-sweeps fairly early,” Van der Dussen said after his career-best ODI score. “If I let the spinners settle on a slow pitch then it would not be easy to go down the ground.

“I tried to put the pressure back on them, and Temba and I were constantly reminding each other to keep the intensity high. Always as a batsman, especially in the middle-order, I try and read the situation.

“I’m trying to make a good score that will win the match, I have no other reference. I appreciate it may look like something else for those outside. Today I knew that if I allowed the spinners to settle then they would get into a good rhythm and it would be very difficult to win.

“So I tried to reverse the pressure with low-risk boundary options. You have to be able to go to those skills whether it’s your first ball or 100^th ball,” Van der Dussen said.

South African teams have historically struggled against the turning ball and both Indian spinners, Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal, have prospered against them in the past. But the way Van der Dussen and Bavuma played them on Wednesday suggests all is okay now on that front.

“Conditions in Paarl generally suit the spinners because there’s not a lot of pace,” Van der Dussen added. “But the way we’ve upskilled ourselves has allowed us to use these game-plans against spin.

“It started in the West Indies last year and then in Sri Lanka, while we knew spin would play a big role at the T20 World Cup. So it’s been a process that has been going on for more than a year.

“In the past we came short against spin, but we identified it as a weakness and credit to Mark Boucher and Justin Sammons [batting consultant] for giving us the skills to apply out there and execute in the middle,” Van der Dussen said.

Superb centuries by Temba Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen laid the platform, but then South Africa called on all their deposits of character and composure in the field as they beat India by 31 runs in the first ODI at Boland Park in Paarl on Wednesday.

Captain Bavuma, having won the toss and elected to bat, found himself at the crease in just the fifth over as a flatfooted Janneman Malan (6) was caught behind off Jasprit Bumrah.

Bavuma was patient on a tricky pitch, getting himself in, but South Africa found themselves in trouble on 68/3 when a scratchy Quinton de Kock (27) and Aiden Markram, who ran himself out for 4, were dismissed.

But enter Van der Dussen and he and Bavuma added a magnificent 204 for the fourth wicket, a record for South Africa against India, off just 190 deliveries.

Bavuma provided the solid foundation for the impressive total of 296/4, scoring a wonderfully controlled 110 off 143 balls, working the ball around the field with aplomb.

Van der Dussen, despite coming in at a tough time with ace spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal bowling on a slow pitch that made scoring difficult, was quickly off and running.

His half-century came at a run-a-ball as he played with marvellous skill and shot-selection, using sweeps to great effect.

Having reached a sublime century, Van der Dussen was able to change gears at the death, hitting four sixes and finishing on a magnificent, career-best 129 not out off 96 balls, his last 29 runs coming off just 13 deliveries.

Chasing what would have been a record score at Boland Park, Shikhar Dhawan (79) and Virat Kohli (51) laid an excellent platform as they took India to 137/1 at the halfway stage.

But Keshav Maharaj (10-0-42-1), ever the fighter, then turned a delivery sharply out of the rough to bowl Dhawan and get the Proteas back in the game. Once they had a sniff, they were relentless.

The key wicket of Kohli would come just three overs later as a change of pace from Tabraiz Shamsi (10-1-52-2) saw him toe-end a sweep to short midwicket.

Aggressive short-pitched bowling from Lungi Ngidi (10-0-64-2) then removed Shreyas (17) and Venkatesh Iyer (17), both on the hook.

The end of India’s hopes would come when De Kock pulled off an outstanding leg-side stumping off Andile Phehlukwayo (5-0-26-2) to dismiss Rishabh Pant for 16.

Shardul Thakur swung hard at the death to score 50 not out off 43 balls, but South Africa’s composure was unfailing.

An excellent third-wicket partnership between Zubayr Hamza and Kyle Verreynne held a tidy, probing Netherlands attack at bay in helpful bowling conditions, before the dam wall broke in the last four overs as Andile Phehlukwayo raced South Africa to 277/8 in the first ODI at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Friday.

Phehlukwayo lashed 48 off just 22 balls, including six mighty sixes, as he and Keshav Maharaj (18*) pounded 68 runs off the last 40 balls of the innings, including 61 off the final four overs. It provided the late boost needed to convert an average score into a good one.

Winning a useful toss under cloudy skies following heavy overnight rain, the Netherlands gained early reward for bowling first when left-armer Fred Klaassen removed both Proteas openers inside the first seven overs. Reeza Hendricks (6) played way too early and popped a catch to cover, while Janneman Malan (16) edged a loose, flatfooted drive at a wider delivery to second slip.

At 24/2, Zubayr Hamza had just the man for a crisis join him in fellow Western Province star Kyle Verreynne. The pair added 119 off 137 balls for the third wicket to give the innings a solid platform.

Hamza looked particularly good and played some wonderful strokes, while Verreynne was typically busy and positive and ensured that the Dutch bowlers never totally gained the upper hand, playing strongly off the back foot.

Hamza fell for 56 off 79 deliveries when he skied a pull off a Brandon Glover slower ball, but Verreynne went on to a career-best score and was in touching distance of a century when he was unfortunate to fall to a slower-ball gone wrong from Vivian Kingma. The back-of-the-hand delivery came out as a dipping full toss, which the wicketkeeper/batsman swung away one-handed, but straight to deep square-leg.

Verreynne had worked hard through the tough times for his 95 off 112 balls, and was all set to really launch before his dismissal.

The rest of the batting was made of flimsier material though as South Africa slid from 143/2 to 209/7; up to that point, Verreynne and Hamza had scored 57% of the Proteas runs.

Fortunately, Phehlukwayo showed his finishing ability as he belted the ball over the boundary to great effect, with skipper Maharaj providing important support as the Proteas made a strong end to their innings.

New-ball bowlers Klaassen (8-2-45-2) and Kingma (9-0-49-2) were good for the Netherlands, while Roelof van der Merwe returned to his former home ground with 1/27 in six overs of tidy left-arm spin.

The Netherlands, with former Protea Roelof van der Merwe leading the way in typical Bulldog fashion on his former home ground, and motivated by the anger caused by the scrapping of the Super League for World Cup qualification, will come out roaring in the first ODI against South Africa in Centurion on Friday, but Tabraiz Shamsi promised that the home side will also be sufficiently fired up to be at their best.

South Africa’s motivation will come from a combination of new faces being given precious opportunity at ODI level, and their own rather poor standing in the Super League at present: They are currently in ninth place. The 2023 World Cup will be a 10-team event, with the top teams from the Super League qualifying.

But earlier this week the ICC decided that the 2027 World Cup, of which South Africa will be co-hosts, will be a 14-team event with a separate, one-off qualifying tournament for non Full Members.

“The Netherlands have a few South African players and I’m sure they’ll have a point to prove,” Shamsi said. “And with the Super League being scrapped, the Netherlands could feel this is their last opportunity to make a statement.

“But we definitely won’t be taking it easy either, we have been preparing as hard as we can because we need points for World Cup qualification. The Netherlands also have some quality players, some of them play county cricket.

“It took me two-and-a-half years to play two ODIs in a row and now we have some new guys who will get to play three games in six days, so it’s a massive opportunity to establish yourself.

“So not much changes whether we’re playing England, India or the Netherlands, every game is an international and we’ll be trying to put in a performance that reflects that,” Shamsi said.

South Africa’s attack will be a pale imitation of their usual firepower, with Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje being rested, Lungi Ngidi testing positive for Covid and Lizaad Williams out injured. Although there are experienced seamers still available in Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius and the recalled Wayne Parnell, it is likely that the Proteas will rely heavily on spinners Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj.

The duo have enjoyed a purple patch in ODI cricket of late, taking 26 wickets between them in eight matches at an economy rate of just 4.68 runs per over.

SuperSport Park has a reputation for spinners being mown all over the ground, but the actual figures are not so clearcut. Shamsi brushes off the theory that spinners can’t shine on the Highveld.

“It’s weird that the chat is that the Wanderers and SuperSport Park are not spin-friendly, but I made my international career playing at Centurion and I don’t see any stigma for spinners there.

“Yes the ball flies, there are smaller boundaries and not as much assistance from the pitch, but we have developed different game-plans that take the pitch out of the equation if it doesn’t turn,” Shamsi said.