Ken Borland

Cricket South Africa’s Board issued a directive on Tuesday morning that all Proteas players must ‘take the knee’ in support of the Black Lives Matter initiative against racism before their T20 World Cup match against the West Indies in Dubai, a move that was later confirmed as the reason for key batsman Quinton de Kock withdrawing from the match.

De Kock was a notable omission from the starting XI for what team management called “personal reasons”. The wicketkeeper/batsman has previously expressed his struggles with bubble life, but the timing of his withdrawal inevitably cause immense speculation and CSA issued a statement during the West Indies innings confirming that the former captain had made a “personal decision … not to take the knee”.

The statement said the Board will await a report from team management before deciding on “the next steps”.

The Proteas were fielding first and all the players on the field and the support staff on the side appeared to take the knee with their right fists raised.

CSA Board chairman Lawson Naidoo said he believed the Proteas needed to have a unified response to BLM, rather than the previous situation where some players were standing, others kneeling, some had fists raised and others didn’t.

“A commitment to overcoming racism is the glue that should unite, bind and strengthen us. Race should not be manipulated to amplify our weaknesses. Diversity can and should find expression in many facets of our daily lives, but not when it comes to taking a stand against racism.

“South Africans were recently joined by people across the world in celebrating the 90th birthday of our revered Archbishop Desmond Tutu. What better tribute from the Proteas to an icon of the struggle for freedom in South Africa than to demonstrate we are working to fulfil his vision of a united South Africa,” Naidoo said.

Former long-serving Proteas Mohammed Moosajee urged the board to implement a unified response to BLM by the Proteas when he testified before the Social Justice and Nation-Building hearings last week.

Reasons why Mark Boucher sleeps easy going into the T20 World Cup

The middle-order batting is sorted – Batting in the subcontinent is easiest up front against the harder ball, so a strong middle-order is vital. It is also where South Africa have lost the most experience recently, with Faf du Plessis, Rilee Rossouw, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy and Farhaan Behardien all missing from the last T20 World Cup squad. But Rassie van der Dussen scored a brilliant, matchwinning, unbeaten century against Pakistan this week, showing how effective he is at accelerating after a somnolent start, Aiden Markram’s talent in white-ball cricket is starting to come through, and David Miller is in form and has played some rousing innings this year.

The Proteas have excellent spinners – Spinners are the dominant bowlers in T20 cricket these days, especially on the subcontinent. And South Africa have an excellent trio of left-arm slow bowlers to turn to. The unorthodox Tabraiz Shamsi is having an exceptional year and is No.1 in the T20 rankings for good reason, controlling the middle overs superbly. Keshav Maharaj is pure class when it comes to control of pace and length and can bowl up front or in the middle overs. Bjorn Fortuin has made his mark in the powerplay and has a fine record of 14 wickets in 13 T20 internationals and an economy rate of just 6.58.

Proteas have an excellent pressure game – The favourites for this World Cup – England, India and the West Indies – have not been shy to advertise their intent to aim for complete dominance with the bat, smashing as many boundaries as possible. But on sluggish, increasingly tired pitches, this could also get them into trouble. The Proteas – a bit like the Springboks – have shown that they are very good at playing a pressure game. As the win in the West Indies showed, a team that just chases boundaries and does not look after the ones and twos, can implode against the strangling South African attack and their sharp fielding.

Why Mark Boucher is tossing & turning at night ahead of the T20 World Cup

Previous World Cup selection dramas – There has been choking and there has been some unfortunate tomfoolery when it comes to selection at these premier cricket events in the past and Boucher, as a veteran of several of these campaigns as a player, will be keenly aware of those. Given that South Africa are underdogs at this tournament, they will need to be at their best and there is little room for error if they are to contend for the title. There could well be crucial selections that need to be made, such as when it comes to the bowling attack: If the Proteas are to continue to play both Shamsi and Maharaj, then only two of Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi will be able to play. Nortje was probably the best of those bowlers in the recently-completed IPL on the same grounds, but will he be selected?

Do Proteas have a false sense of their own ability? – The Proteas certainly seem to be peaking at the right time, beating Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Ireland and the West Indies on their way to the World Cup. The ease with which they dispatched Sri Lanka at home was particularly impressive, but the West Indies and Pakistan are both famously inconsistent. South Africa are yet to play one of the big guns during their winning run.

Is there too much pressure on Quinton de Kock? – It is almost certain that if the Proteas are to challenge for the title then Quinton de Kock, their leading batsman, is going to have to have a great tournament. De Kock only passed 50 once in the second leg of the IPL and, by the end of their campaign was being left out of the Mumbai Indians starting XI. But his pedigree is undoubted. The only thing maybe holding him back from his usual daring self is the sometimes fragile nature of the Proteas batting. Hopefully he can put those worries aside and be the dominator we know he can be.

Even without the No.1 T20 bowler in the world or much contribution from Quinton de Kock, South Africa enjoyed a highly encouraging dress rehearsal for the T20 World Cup as they beat Pakistan by six wickets off the last ball of their warm-up match in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday night.

Left-arm wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi bowled just four balls in the match before going off the field with a tight groin, and not playing any further part in the match.

And his absence was felt as Pakistan amassed 186 for six in their 20 overs.

But thanks to Rassie van der Dussen’s magnificent 101 not out off just 51 balls, the Proteas reached their target, he and David Miller scoring the 19 tuns required off the last over bowled by Hasan Ali.

Van der Dussen’s brilliantly-paced innings came when South Africa made a shaky start, losing both Quinton de Kock (6) and Reeza Hendricks (7) to spinner Imad Wasim in the third over.

It was captain Temba Bavuma, this time batting No.4, who helped steady the innings in a partnership of 107 in 12 overs. Bavuma was dismissed with five overs to go and 65 runs needed, having scored 46 off 42 balls. Opinions will probably be divided as to whether he made his runs quickly enough, but his tenacity and calmness under pressure cannot be questioned.

Heinrich Klaasen helped keep the Proteas in the hunt with his 14 off 8 deliveries before Van der Dussen started the final over with a six, Miller launched the third ball out the ground and Van der Dussen struck boundaries off the last two deliveries.

In terms of the Proteas bowling, it was an added positive that Kagiso Rabada bowled well, conceding just 28 runs in his four overs, with the added bonus of three wickets.

Lungi Ngidi (3-0-17-0) and spinner Keshav Maharaj (3.2-0-25-1) were also tidy, but leaking would be the verb to describe the bowling of Bjorn Fortuin (3-0-41-0), Anrich Nortje (4-0-44-1) and Wiaan Mulder (2-0-23-0).

Fakhar Zaman led the Pakistan batting with a sparkling 52 off 28 balls before retiring, while Asif Ali added the finishing touches with 32 off just 18 deliveries.

The Proteas came right when they needed to, centuries by openers Janneman Malan and Quinton de Kock leading them to a comfortable 70-run win over Ireland at Malahide in Dublin on Friday, but it meant they had to settle for the mediocre outcome of sharing the series with the 12^th-ranked team.

Putting their shock midweek defeat behind them, South Africa won the toss and this time elected to bat first, wanting to land the first punch and dominate from the outset. They certainly did that as Malan and De Kock shared an outstanding opening partnership of 225 in 36 overs.

De Kock was in majestic form, unfazed by anything the Irish could throw at him, and his superb 120 off 91 balls was the sort of quality innings where the left-hander looked in complete control throughout, striking 11 fours and five sixes.

De Kock eventually fell to the off-spin of Simi Singh when he just failed to clear the midwicket boundary, Mark Adair taking the catch with his heels lifted to avoid touching the line.

But Malan powered on to a magnificent 177 not out off 169 deliveries, hammering 16 fours and six sixes. Who De Kock’s opening partner should be in ODIs would now appear to be settled as Malan has collected 483 runs in his six ODI innings at a phenomenal average of 120.75.  He has two centuries and his strike-rate is 94.33. That should be sufficient for the 25-year-old to have cemented his place in the team.

Malan’s unbeaten 177 was the fourth highest individual score for the Proteas in ODI cricket and, with Rassie van der Dussen adding 30 off 28 balls, they were able to post a pleasing 346 for four.

In the field, South Africa snuck in left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj at the start of the innings and he had both openers, Paul Stirling (11) and Andy Balbirnie (7), well-taken at slip by Malan.

Lizaad Williams then had the delight of having Andy McBrine caught behind for 9 with his first ball in ODI cricket as Ireland slumped to 27 for three inside the first eight overs.

The run-rate only really arose from its slumber when former SA U19 all-rounder Curtis Campher, with a run-a-ball 54, and Singh slapped the ball around in a seventh-wicket stand of 104.

South Africa once again finished the innings poorly with both ball and in the field, and Singh took the opportunity to notch a maiden century, finishing with a dazzling 100 not out off 91 balls.

Tabraiz Shamsi continued to have spin aficionados purring with delight as he took three for 46 in his 10 overs, while there was some pleasing success for all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo, whose surprise packet of deliveries brought him three for 56 in 10 as Ireland were eventually all out for 276.