Ken Borland

Having surrendered a 2-0 lead in the five-match series, Proteas vice-captain Keshav Maharaj admitted that “we need to come up with new plans” when they take on India in the decisive final T20 in Bengaluru on Sunday.

India have won the last two matches by record margins – 48 runs and then 82 runs – as the pitches have become slower. The latter defeat was particularly disappointing because South Africa had control of the match with India on 96 for four after 15 overs, only to bowl poorly at the death and concede 73 runs in the last five overs.

That loss of momentum carried into the batting, which never got going as the Proteas were bundled out for 87 in the 17^th over, admittedly on a pitch which featured more and more deliveries taking off from a length.

“We stuck to our lines fairly well in the beginning, with the way the pitch started – variable bounce seeing some balls take off and some keep low,” Maharaj said.

“But in the last five overs we conceded seventy runs, so we needed better plans and execution, maybe we could have held our lines longer. We need to come up with better tactics to combat India’s middle-order.

“We will come up with new plans on Sunday and hopefully it will go better for us. We had the momentum in the series but now India have got it and they are a strong outfit.

“It just makes the series that more exciting going to Bengaluru. The last couple of pitches have been very slow, but our plans are not cast in stone, it depends on how we feel on the day and the conditions,” Maharaj said.

The left-arm spinner was standing in for Temba Bavuma at the post-match press conference because the regular captain suffered an elbow injury while batting that forced him to retire hurt after facing just 11 balls.

Maharaj will only know on Sunday whether he will be captaining the team in the decisive match. The 32-year-old has done the job before in T20 cricket, leading the Proteas to a 3-0 sweep in Sri Lanka last September after Bavuma fractured his thumb. Maharaj showed excellent tactical judgement, handling the attack with aplomb.

Quinton de Kock is back and will be itching to make an impact in the series after being run out for 14 in his first match back from a wrist injury.

If Bavuma cannot partner him at the top of the order, Reeza Hendricks is likely to return. Or will the Proteas be willing to take a step into the unknown and play Tristan Stubbs?

The poor death bowling of the Proteas and their poor starts with the bat cost them as they were hammered by 82 runs by India in the fourth T20 International in Rajkot on Friday, allowing the hosts to level the series at 2-2.

The Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium pitch was obviously a factor as South Africa tried to chase down 170, with the variable bounce that was apparent in India’s innings of 169 for six becoming steep and dangerous in the second innings. Temba Bavuma was struck by a delivery that hit a crack and leapt off a length, while Marco Jansen received a potentially terrible blow on the side of the neck, the ball managing to scale the two metres needed to get there.

But the fact that India managed to get to 169 for six was thanks to Dinesh Karthik, a deserved man of the match, lashing a fiery 55 off 27 balls and Hardik Pandya belting 46 off 31 deliveries, with three sixes, as they added 65 for the fifth wicket in five-and-a-half overs. Their fabulous batting meant the Proteas conceded 73 runs in the last five overs, having held the upper hand as they restricted India to 96 for four after 15 overs after being sent in to bat.

The use of Test match lengths had served South Africa well up front, with Lungi Ngidi (3-0-20-2) and Marco Jansen, playing their first matches of the series, limiting India to 40 for two in the powerplay.

Dwaine Pretorius and Anrich Nortje (3-0-21-1) kept the pressure on, and spinner Keshav Maharaj (4-0-29-1) out-thought Rishabh Pant to reduce India to 81 for four after 13 overs.

Unfortunately, the death bowling of Nortje (15 runs off the 16th), Maharaj (13 off the 17^th), Pretorius (32 off the 18^th & 20^th) and Ngidi (13 off the 19^th) was not up to scratch.

Bavuma then had a torrid time opening the batting and retired hurt with an elbow injury on 8 off 11 balls. He was 1 off 7 before a boundary, but was then hit by a delivery that reared off a length, which does not do your confidence any good, or that of the rest of the batting line-up.

The real mess started when Quinton de Kock was sold down the river by Pretorius and run out for 14. De Kock squeezed Harshal Patel into the ground in front of him, Pretorius initially called for the run but then bailed out, leaving De Kock stranded as Harshal was already past him on his way to hitting the stumps.

With Heinrich Klaasen (8) and David Miller (9) both falling cheaply, Rassie van der Dussen was the last hope until he fell for a run-a-ball 20, one of three wickets Avesh Khan (4-0-18-4) took in the 14^th over.

With leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal taking two for 21 and slow left-arm orthodox Axar Patel one for 19, South Africa were all out for 87 in the 17^th over.

As South Africa’s T20 series against India heads to a conclusion, the Proteas are going to have to come up with an adroit response to how the conditions have become more and more typical of the subcontinent.

South Africa raced into a 2-0 lead in the five-match series with victories on a batting paradise in Delhi and on a pitch that assisted the seamers in Cuttack. But they were hammered by 48 runs by India in the third T20 earlier this week in Visakhapatnam, where the pitch was helpful to the spinners and much slower than the surfaces used in the first two games.

Fast bowler Anrich Nortje was one of the Proteas who struggled to adjust, bowling two overs for 23 runs, and he admitted on Thursday that the tourists were desperate to wrap up the series win in Friday’s fourth T20 in Rajkot. Nortje does at least have the excuse that he is still making his way back from a long-term hip/back injury that kept him out of just about the whole of last summer.

“The nets here have been a bit two-paced and up-and-down, they’re on the slower side. Our understanding is that it’s going to be a bit low and slow on Friday,” Nortje said.

“The game will be like a final for us. In the last match we didn’t get anywhere close towards what we are capable of playing, so for us this is a second chance and we need to seal the series as soon as possible.

“I’m still working on my bowling, I’m trying to find one or two things and my body is not 100% yet. It’s about slowly building up and I’m still trying to get back to where I was before last year’s T20 World Cup.

“It’s been a long time, but it’s about small, minor adjustments. Generally I try to keep things simple and stick to the basics, so there are small margins for me. But I think I’m on the right track,” Nortje said.

India have been able to clamber back into contention in the series thanks to their spinners coming more into play, but they have also been helped by Quinton de Kock’s injury and Aiden Markram’s illness, which have robbed South Africa of much-needed explosiveness up front, especially on pitches that get lower and slower.

The good news is that De Kock’s injured wrist has apparently made a “marked improvement” and he is practising again. Both he and Markram were in superb form in the recent IPL, but with the latter heading home after his Covid quarantine, the Proteas are eager for their regular wicketkeeper to return to the top of the order.

Having a left-hander in the top three would also make life more difficult for the Indian bowlers, who began to come into their own in the third T20.

Play starts at 3.30pm on Friday.

South Africa’s broth just failed to ever come to the boil in the third T20 against India as a mixture of poor fielding and slow batting at the start of their chase saw them let slip a chance to wrap up the series as they lost by 48 runs in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday evening.

Having again won the toss and sent India in to bat, the Proteas made a lacklustre start to their effort in the field as Ruturaj Gaikwad (57 off 35) and Ishan Kishan (54) raced the hosts to 120 for one in 12 overs.

Although the South African bowlers fought back well with the ball, three straightforward catches were dropped in the field and, one of those beneficiaries, Hardik Pandya, scored 31 not out off 21 balls to lift India to 179 for five.

Batting became progressively more difficult as the ball became softer, and it was clear the Proteas would need a quick start in pursuit of 180, a productive powerplay being crucial if they were to score the bulk of their runs in the first half of their innings, as India did.

But Temba Bavuma (8 off 10) and Reeza Hendricks (23 off 20) struggled to get going in the face of Bhuvneshwar Kumar (one for 21) hooping the ball around and South Africa were 40 for three after seven overs.

There were some squawks of defiance from Dwaine Pretorius (20 off 16), Heinrich Klaasen (29 off 24) and Wayne Parnell (22* off 18) but South Africa were never really in with a shout as spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (three for 20) and seamer Harshal Patel (four for 25 in 3.1 overs) revelled in slowing conditions that allowed India to feel much more at home.

The Proteas were all out in the final over for 131, producing none of their fireworks of the first two matches.

South Africa’s bowling comeback had been led by Pretorius (two for 29), Kagiso Rabada (one for 31) and Parnell, who conceded 32 runs in his four overs.