Ken Borland

The unavailability of Rassie van der Dussen due to injury made the selectors’ job an easy one when it came to choosing South Africa’s squad for the T20 World Cup, but the obvious headache of how to fit in both the captain, Temba Bavuma, and Reeza Hendricks, the player of the series against both England and Ireland, is now to the fore.

Van der Dussen broke his finger in the second Test against England and his absence has allowed Bavuma to return from the torn elbow ligament that kept him out of the entire UK tour, while powerhouse batsmen Rilee Rossouw and Tristan Stubbs keep their places.

Hendricks has been in the type of form that makes him all but undroppable, with four half-centuries and a 42 in his last five innings for the Proteas, and he has continued that red-hot form with 257 runs at an average of 85.66 and a strike-rate of 154.81 for the Central Gauteng Lions in the Namibia Global T20 they won on Monday.

But convenor of selectors Victor Mpitsang said on Tuesday that he could not envisage a situation where the Proteas would leave out their captain at the World Cup.

“Rassie broke his finger in the last Test and needs surgery, which will leave him with up to six weeks of recovery. The timings are just not right, which is why he was excluded,” Mpitsang said at the squad announcement at Cricket South Africa’s offices on Tuesday.

“Temba has been playing in Namibia over the last week, he is well-recovered, and good to go. I think he will open the batting, that’s been his role for the last year or two.

“Previously, Reeza opened in India and Temba was at three, but Rilee has now done a great job at three against England. We will have to see how we balance the top-order, to get the best out of them.

“It would be a tough decision to leave out your captain, I can’t see that happening. But nothing has been decided yet and it’s so difficult to make calls now,” Mpitsang said.

The 15-man World Cup squad and the three travelling reserves – Andile Phehlukwayo, Marco Jansen and Bjorn Fortuin – will play a three-match series in India that ends on October 4.

Three ODIs will then be played over the next week, for which Janneman Malan and Phehlukwayo come in for Stubbs and Rossouw, before the Proteas leave for Australia and their opening World Cup match against a qualifier in Hobart on October 24.

Mpitsang believes the Proteas have an attack to adapt to whatever conditions confront them.

“There are good headaches to have because it means we have a lot of bases covered. We have definitely selected with consideration for the pitches and we feel the 15 will cover conditions well.

“We will make adjustments when we get there. We can make the right calls for the conditions we face, we have got the right options.

“We have two spinners and Aiden Markram, a left-armer in Wayne Parnell if we need that. The crucial thing is we’ve got bowlers who can take wickets, because that’s the only way to restrict teams in T20.

“We are more than capable of putting other teams under pressure and I’m excited by the brand of cricket we’ve played for the last few months,” Mpitsang said.

Squad: Quinton de Kock, Temba Bavuma, Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lungi Ngidi, Heinrich Klaasen, Anrich Nortje, Wayne Parnell, Rilee Rossouw.

Having last week given the impression he believed it was only a matter of time before the middle-order clicks, Proteas captain Dean Elgar now seems to have lost patience and said changes were going to happen for the third and decisive Test against England starting at The Oval on September 8.

South Africa will be forced to make at least one change to the batting line-up, with Rassie van der Dussen returning home with a fractured left index finger.

Van der Dussen’s place has been under pressure as he has now gone 13 innings without a Test half-century, although his 41 in the second innings at Old Trafford, spending nearly three hours at the crease when his finger was obviously causing him pain, was a substantial effort. It probably would have saved him, but ironically he now cannot play.

Aiden Markram is still very much in the firing line, having gone 15 innings without reaching fifty. His only chance of survival would seem to be if the Proteas management decide it would be too risky bringing two inexperienced players into the middle-order for the series-decider.

Van der Dussen is likely to be replaced by Ryan Rickelton, who has played two Tests against Bangladesh at home, or Khaya Zondo, whose only Test cap came as a concussion substitute on the final morning of the Gqeberha Test against Bangladesh, and he did not bat.

“There are a few tough decisions coming our way,” Elgar said after the Proteas’ innings defeat in Manchester. “Obviously we have to replace Rassie, so that’s a definite change.

“But whether that’s the only change, we’ll have to see, we’ve got a few days to get ourselves a better combination. The bottom line is that we need runs from the middle-order and they have let us down quite a bit. The guys know it already.”

Markram’s cause is not helped by both his dismissals at Old Trafford making him look like a clot: In the first innings he fell crucially just before lunch, skying a pull at a Ben Stokes long-hop outside off-stump; in the second innings he got a nick to an ambitious drive on the up, outside off-stump, against Stuart Broad.

Many people regard Chris Gayle as the greatest T20 batsman ever and Brendon McCullum did so much to popularise the format with his record-breaking feats in the early days, and now Reeza Hendricks has joined that illustrious pair as the only batsmen to score four successive half-centuries in internationals between Test-playing nations.

McCullum did it first against the West Indies, Australia and India (two) in 2008/9, followed by Gayle, who passed fifty in four consecutive innings against New Zealand (twice), Australia and England in 2012.

Hendricks will have the chance to claim the record for himself when South Africa play Ireland in the second T20 in Bristol on Friday night, having added to his 57, 53 and 70 against England with a brisk 74 off 53 balls against Ireland in Bristol on Wednesday evening, earning himself another Man of the Match award.

“I wasn’t aware of the record, but those are big names to rub shoulders with, to be mentioned in the same group as them is really special,” Hendricks said after his innings, which set up a 21-run win.

“A lot of work has gone into the run. I’ve seen how T20 has evolved and it’s a mindset shift as well. That’s the way the coach wants us to play.

“Starting the tour well gave me confidence and you just take that forward with you. There’s no secret to how it happens, I just go about my business and try and follow my process.

“It’s the nature of the game, how it goes sometimes. I’ve got on a good run and momentum is on my side. Hopefully that can continue in the next game against Ireland,” Hendricks said.

Aiden Markram lashed 56 not out off 27 balls in partnership with Hendricks, bringing up three successive half-centuries for the second time in his career (he first did it against Pakistan in Gauteng last year), so he can also join Gayle and McCullum on Friday.

The other South Africans to have scored a hat-trick of T20 fifties are Quinton de Kock, in the West Indies last year, and Hashim Amla, against England (two) and Australia in 2016.

De Kock has, of course, scored many T20 runs for South Africa – his 1887 runs is second only to JP Duminy’s 1934. But he has made just 129 runs in his last 10 innings; he was run out for just seven on Wednesday night, the second time he has suffered that dismissal in recent times.

Just has Hendricks has hit a wave, so De Kock is in a trough and the in-form opener can sympathise.

“The game can quickly turn and then you’re in the dark side,” Hendricks said. “Unfortunately Quinny is on the other side of things, but he just needs one good innings and things will turn.

“We know what quality he has and it’s just a matter of time before it all clicks for him.”

With the rest of the South African batsmen making merry in the UK, Friday night in Bristol would be a good time for De Kock to break his run of low scores.

Reeza Hendricks has surely now sealed his World Cup spot as he and Aiden Markram banded together in a dominating century stand that allowed South Africa to score 211/5 in the first T20 against Ireland in Bristol, a score that was safe as houses with ace spinners Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi doing their usual hustle in the middle overs.

After the Proteas had elected to bat first and Quinton de Kock (7) ran himself out in the fourth over, Hendricks notched his fourth successive half-century, scoring a beautifully-paced 74 off 53 balls, scoring freely through the off-side in particular as he collected 10 fours and a six.

South Africa were 47/2 in the powerplay, but Hendricks and Markram then combined superbly for a stand of 112 off just 62 balls for the third wicket.

Markram was explosive, blasting a punishing 56 off just 27 deliveries, including five sixes, but he and Hendricks fell in successive deliveries to leg-spinner Gareth Delany in the 16^th over.

That left South Africa on 158/4 after 16 overs, but Tristan Stubbs showed he has the priceless finishing gift as he scored a spectacular 24 off just 11 balls, filled with remarkable strokes. Dwaine Pretorius also did his job with a dashing 21 not out off only seven deliveries, the Proteas scoring 53 runs in the last four overs.

Maharaj, deputising as captain because David Miller had a back spasm, and Shamsi were then the two best South African bowlers. Maharaj struck in the eighth and 10^th overs to take 2/29 in his four overs, while Shamsi was also excellent at the other end with 1/22 in his first three overs.

They reduced Ireland to 111/5 after 12 overs, but Lorcan Tucker won himself many fans as he did not sit back, lashing a destructive 78 off just 38 balls.

George Dockrell supported him brilliantly with a defiant 43 off 28 as Ireland regrouped to need 71 off the last six overs.

Shamsi had to stand up and bowl the 17^th over and he claimed the key wicket of Tucker, top-edging a sweep, and Dockrell fell to Pretorius next ball.

Lungi Ngidi bowled an effective array of slower balls at the death and conceded just 16 runs in his last two overs, while Pretorius went for just five off the 18^th over and Wayne Parnell six off the last, restricting Ireland to 190/9 and a 21-run victory.