Ken Borland

For all the joy of the wonderful Test series triumph over India, the Proteas now need to turn their attention to ODI cricket, where there has been an underlying uncertainty in their play over the last year, often due to the difficulties in selection when it comes to balancing the side.

Since whitewashing Australia 3-0 in February/March 2020, South Africa have won just three of their eight completed ODIs. Little wonder then that they are languishing in ninth place in the ICC Super League for World Cup qualification.

South Africa’s problems centre around having just five bowlers, unless they choose a batsman who can bowl. The venue for the first two ODIs against India is Boland Park in Paarl and the five-bowler recipe worked a charm the last time they were there, beating Australia by 74 runs in that 2020 series.

But it is a risk, especially against a strong batting side like India.

As ever when it comes to selection debates these days, Aiden Markram is seemingly at the centre of it all. He provides the ideal batsman/sixth bowler combination, and he did score 96 just three innings ago in ODI cricket, in Sri Lanka.

But he was opening the batting in that series in the absence of Quinton de Kock, who is back and no doubt raring to go following his break over the Test series.

Fitting Markram in elsewhere in the order is also problematic.

Janneman Malan has cemented himself as De Kock’s opening partner with 661 runs in his first 10 ODI innings, earning him a nomination for the ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year title.

Temba Bavuma is captain, Rassie van der Dussen averaged 57 at a strike-rate of 95 last year, and Kyle Verreynne scored 95 against the Netherlands in the last ODI the Proteas played. David Miller has been one of the best finishers in global cricket over the last year.

Paarl can sometimes provide a sluggish, tricky surface to bat on, however, and South Africa may want to gamble with just five bowlers in order to strengthen their batting. But Markram showed in the T20 World Cup last October that he can be explosive in white-ball cricket; he knocked his 162 tournament runs off just 111 deliveries (SR 145.94) and that will count in his favour too.

But it would be extremely tough on Verreynne to be left out and the selectors will ponder long and hard over South Africa’s batting line-up.

The bowling attack is more settled with spinners Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj both set to play, while Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi should lead the pace brigade, with Andile Phehlukwayo likely to be their back-up, especially since he blazed 48 off just 22 balls against the Dutch.

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.

Having failed to withstand the heat of the Indian attack at SuperSport Park, the Proteas will now hop into the furnace of the Wanderers in the second Test starting on Monday, but captain Dean Elgar says their confidence has not been dented.

South Africa, bowled out for just 197 and 191, lost the first Test by 113 runs in Centurion on Thursday and a struggling batting line-up is going to have to come to terms quickly with the outstanding Indian pace trio of Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.

“India have a really balanced attack. Shami posed issues for our right-handers and Bumrah always runs in with high energy, he’s always challenging you. You have to be very mindful of both of them,” Elgar said after his brave four-hour 77 was not enough to inspire the rest of the batting line-up, apart from Temba Bavuma, who remained unbeaten on 35.

“And when Mohammed Siraj has his tail up he’s also a bit of a handful.

“But we will not lack confidence going into the Wanderers Test. It’s never nice to lose but we know where we went wrong and we have time to reflect and learn from that.

“You need big runs to compete in Test cricket and we did not execute in the first innings when that was doable. We’ve got to compete against the new ball, but we were behind on the number of runs scored on all four days,” Elgar said.

South Africa’s bowlers also took a while to wake up to what was required, although India’s pacemen certainly enjoyed the benefit of a more lively pitch on the third day as the surface quickened up with the early moisture gone.

India reaching 272/3 at the end of the first day meant they could snooze easily for the rest of the Test match, knowing they were already ahead of the game.

Johan Grobbelaar is not exactly a seasoned hooker at just 23 years old, but he is a Springbok tourist now and is looking forward to his new-found experience rubbing off on the young pups at the Bulls who have had to hold the fort in the United Rugby Championship.

With the international season now over, national call-ups will no longer be a factor, although it is likely someone like Trevor Nyakane will be having a few weeks’ rest before joining the URC fray. But the Bulls should be strengthened for their match against the Sharks in Durban on Friday night by the return of Grobbelaar.

The Paarl Gym product did not make it on to the field for the Springboks, but the experience gained from just being in the set-up for the Rugby Championship in Australia will have made him an even better player.

“The thing about the Bulls is that the knowledge is passed from player to player, maybe that’s why people say Loftus is a locks factory and now it seems to be a bit of a hooker factory too,” Grobbelaar says.

“We have good hookers here now and we are putting pressure on each other as well as helping one another.

“Being with the Springboks was a very good experience, I was surprised and excited to be called up and it was very nice to see how the system works. But now I’m looking forward to playing with the Bulls and getting some game time after a long time off the field.

“The lessons I can pass on are about how small the margins are because there were three Tests we could have won, and how to vasbyt and keep your composure at the end,” Grobbelaar, whose last on-field action came on July 30 in a Currie Cup match against Western Province, said.

No-one would expect Ox Nche, Siya Kolisi, Lukhanyo Am, Makazole Mapimpi or Bongi Mbonambi to turn out for the Sharks following their heroics with the Springboks, but the KwaZulu-Natal outfit could well be boosted by the inclusion of prop Thomas du Toit, scrumhalf Grant Williams and outside backs Aphelele Fassi and Sbu Nkosi, all of whom saw no action in Europe.