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.

Bangladesh’s batsmen discovered at the Wanderers that there are no vaccinations against the pace and bounce of Kagiso Rabada when he is at his fiery best, and South Africa’s ace fast bowler is hopeful that they won’t have time to figure out how to handle him and his fellow quicks before the ODI series decider at Centurion on Wednesday.

With Rabada leading the way with an outstanding 5/39, Bangladesh were restricted to just 194/9 in the second ODI, South Africa levelling the series when they chased down that target with seven wickets and 76 deliveries to spare. After a slightly flat performance in the first match at SuperSport Park, this time the Proteas pacemen came out firing.

While Rabada said he was still not sure why they struggled for wickets in the first ODI, he did say the extra pace and bounce of the Wanderers pitch made them more lethal.

“It’s a question I’m still asking myself,” Rabada said at the Wanderers after his man-of-the-match display. “I guess this pitch did a bit more with the new ball.

“I thought we bowled very well in the first 10 overs of the previous game too, but were just unfortunate not to get the breakthrough. And on the Highveld, you’re guaranteed to score quicker once you’re in, as the ball gets older it’s better to bat.

“But there was more bounce at the Wanderers, we got the ball in the right areas and it was good to us. You generally want to use the extra bounce and pace at the Wanderers.

“The talk is that the subcontinent teams are not able to deal with the bounce as well as we do because we’ve grown up here. You can’t just rock up and expect to bounce them out, but you try use the conditions to the best of your ability,” Rabada said.

While the Proteas were delighted with their all-round performance at the Wanderers, they are dismayed by their continued tendency to start series poorly, a destructive habit when it comes to a growing side developing consistency.

“It is a concern because we always want to throw the first punch but we keep finding ourselves in this position.

“We don’t do it on purpose and we don’t want to make our job even harder. So we still hve a bit of work to do before we go back to Centurion,” Rabada said.

The Proteas dare not reproduce their performance of the first ODI.

Young pup Marco Jansen earned praise from Justin Sammons for standing up to Jasprit Bumrah on Wednesday and now the Proteas batting consultant is hopeful his remaining batsmen will show similar character in scoring the remaining 122 runs South Africa need for a remarkable win over India in the second Test at the Wanderers.

The Proteas ended the third day on 118/2, chasing 240 for victory, and went toe-to-toe with a feisty Indian team that is desperate to win their first series in South Africa.

The battle was at its most tense when left-arm quick Jansen was bowling a stream of short-pitched deliveries at fast bowler Bumrah, his Mumbai Indians team-mate, who was generally swinging and missing. But after being struck on the body, Bumrah advanced angrily down the pitch and gestured at Jansen to say what he had to say right to his face.

The 21-year-old took up the invitation and umpire Marais Erasmus quickly inserted himself between the two combatants.

“It was pleasing to see the young guy stand up for himself and his team-mates,” Sammons said. “He showed that he is in it for the team, that’s Marco, a real team man.

“It goes without saying that it’s not going to be an easy task against a pretty relentless attack, but we still believe we can win this Test. We need to stick to our plans, keep doing what we know brings us the best chance of success.

“Being decisive is a key aspect, but it’s not about playing every shot. You need that element of discipline, balanced with a positive mindset and being able to dominate balls in our areas.

“The basics must come first: Knowing where the off-stump is, leaving well, and in defence playing nice and late with good bat angles. Anything tentative will land the batsman in trouble,” Sammons said.

It’s the sort of batting exemplified by captain Dean Elgar, the opening batsman surviving for three hours up to stumps, scoring a doughty 46 not out that was garnished with just two boundaries. Aiden Markram (31) and Keegan Petersen (28) both played more strokes, but both were out lbw and will play no further part in the chase.

“It’s massively important to have someone like Dean there, to have someone bat through and allow partnerships to form around him,” Sammons said. “His leadership will go a long way to getting us over the line.

“Dean is definitely a tough cookie, a competitor. The competitiveness is what he loves about Test cricket, it brings out the best in him.”

Elgar will certainly be up for the fight on Thursday morning, he will be ready to bleed for the cause. The big question is whether the rest of the batsmen will be too.

The sweet fragrance of blooming confidence and the reward for hard work put in seems to be permeating through the Proteas batting line-up in Sri Lanka at the moment and South Africa are hopeful they will hit their peak in the third and decisive ODI in Colombo on Tuesday.

The Proteas have posted scores of 286 for six and 283 for six in the two matches thus far. Their defeat in the first ODI was mostly due to some shoddy bowling and fielding. As a measure of their improvement with the bat, of their last 20 innings totals on the subcontinent, only five have been higher.

“Sri Lanka is known for spin bowlers, we were well-aware of that before the tour and a lot of work was put in behind the scenes, especially at our camp in Potchefstroom, which really helped. Coming here, our focus has been on how we face spin. Fortunately all that hard work is paying off, we’ve adapted well and we are playing nicely,” top-order batsman Reeza Hendricks said on Monday.

“We would now love to play our best game in the decider. It’s just about mindset. We played well in the first game but we came up just short, we leaked 15-20 runs too many in the field. The good thing is there are a few guys contributing and we are quite confident with the team we’ve got and the way we’ve been playing.”

Hendricks batted particularly well in the second ODI, coming into the side for the injured regular captain, Temba Bavuma. The 32-year-old, playing his 22^nd ODI, came in at 43 for one in the ninth over and scored at pretty much a run-a-ball from the outset, making the Sri Lankan bowling look pretty friendly as he cruised to 51 off 54 balls.

“I still took some time to get myself in and then I was able to play freely. My role was to keep the intent going and the scoreboard ticking over. I would have loved to go on further though,” Hendricks said.

He most certainly fulfilled his role as he helped increase the run-rate in a second-wicket partnership of 96 with brilliant centurion Janneman Malan.

Speaking of friendly, fast bowler Kagiso Rabada was decidedly unfriendly as he rocked the Sri Lankan reply with two for 16 in his six overs up front. Unfortunately he then sprained his ankle fielding and had to pull out of the rest of the game.

According to team management, Rabada was “progressing well” on Monday and will do a final fitness test before the match on Tuesday.