Ken Borland

India thwarted South Africa’s hopes of wrapping up the ODI series in the second match in Ranchi on Sunday, using aggressive batting and disciplined bowling to beat the Proteas by seven wickets with 25 balls to spare.

Chasing 279 to win, a fabulous 113 not out off 111 balls by a pugnacious Shreyas Iyer and a ferocious 93 off 84 balls by Ishan Kishan set the home side side up for a comfortable victory. The dashing pair added 161 for the third wicket in 25.4 overs, aggressively targeting anything even slightly loose from the bowlers.

And South Africa, who had won the toss, certainly had a tough time controlling a ball that was damp due to high humidity in the evening, and were unable to replicate the same consistent lengths that India’s attack had produced on a low and slow pitch.

India had to withstand some pressure up front as the Proteas reduced them to 48/2 in the first nine overs. Wayne Parnell bowled Shikhar Dhawan for 13, and Shubnam Gill looked threatening as he played some superb drives down the ground, but Kagiso Rabada took a breathtaking return catch to dismiss him for 28 off 26 balls.

But the rest of the innings was a fiery ordeal for the South African bowlers, with all six of them going for at least 5.50 runs-per-over, while India had four of their bowlers below that mark.

The Proteas will own up to not making the most of their own excellent third-wicket partnership, as Reeza Hendricks and Aiden Markram shared a run-a-ball stand of 129.

Hendricks, brought into the team for the first time on the Indian tour because regular captain Temba Bavuma was ill, stroked a classy 74 off 76 balls, with nine fours and a six, looking totally at ease on a tricky pitch as he injected valuable momentum into the Proteas innings.

With Heinrich Klaasen then adding a quickfire 30 off 26 balls, a total of more than 300 looked to be their’s for the taking as they reached 215/3 in the 38^th over.

Klaasen was brilliantly caught by Mohammed Siraj, running in from long-on off Kuldeep Yadav, and just two balls later, Markram leant back to lash a shortish delivery from off-spinner Washington Sundar through the covers, but hit it in the air to extra cover, where captain Dhawan took a sharp catch.

Having weathered a tough start against Kuldeep, Markram was beginning to really dominate the bowlers as he scored 79 off 89 balls.

But his dismissal meant there were two new batsmen at the crease and India conceded just 63 runs in the last 12 overs, their bowlers hitting the pitch hard with slower balls. The tactic even kept the in-form David Miller relatively quiet as he finished on 35 not out off 34 deliveries.

Siraj was the pick of the bowlers, claiming the wickets of both Quinton de Kock (5) and Hendricks, who picked out deep square-leg with a short-arm pull, and he finished with 3/38 in his 10 overs. Siraj bowled four overs on the trot at the death, conceding just 12 runs, an astonishing effort.

It’s been a long and sometimes potholed road for Temba Bavuma, but the Proteas vice-captain will play his 49^th Test in the second match against New Zealand and he says he now feels fully valued and accepted as a leader in the team.

Bavuma made his Test debut way back in 2014, in the Boxing Day match against the West Indies at St George’s Park, which was ruined by rain. Six matches later, his maiden Test century, against England at Newlands, was historic and one of the most memorable moments in South African cricket after the return from isolation.

But as with most of his team-mates, 2019 was an annus horribilis for Bavuma as he only averaged 19.84 in 13 innings. He was dropped and has come back stronger, averaging 46.16 since then.

“I have more peace about how I fit in now, my role in the team,” Bavuma said. “Every game does not feel like my last opportunity now. My role is not just about the runs but my presence, how I contribute to building the culture and environment.

“It has helped me to be more at ease. It’s also helped that I’ve played a fair number of games now and I’ve learnt to accept that there will be good and bad days. If it’s a bad day, then you need to have perspective.

“They don’t define who we are, although we take the lessons from them. Technically, I’ve just tinkered here and there, but I’ve not done much apart from trying to be as still as I can be when the ball is delivered.

“It’s more about the mental processes. But the main thing you want when you come in as a young debutant is to be accepted as part of the team, that’s the main way you perform. And I truly believe that I am accepted and valued in terms of my input, and I think that’s why I have had good performances over the last little while,” Bavuma said.

The 31-year-old Bavuma is a sucker for honest leadership, being that kind of skipper himself with the Proteas white-ball teams or the Central Gauteng Lions. Which is why he has dovetailed so well with Test captain Dean Elgar.

“Dean and I have played alongside each other for quite a while, ever since playing for SA A in 2012/13,” Bavuma said. “The relationship has always been built on honesty, there’s no bullshit with Dean.

“He can be very blunt, he will call you out if you need it, but if you’ve done good then he lets you know as well. His character resonates with me and he wants the same sort of feedback from me.

“As his vice-captain, I try to be a calming voice because he can be quite emotional. But I understand his vision and I back it 100%, and I also back him as a leader and player.

“His success is my success and vice-versa, and we both just want to bring back the respect for the Proteas badge and leave the team in a much better state,” Bavuma said.

The first ODI between South Africa and Ireland may have been washed out, but it did provide the Proteas with a valuable demonstration of how accepting that conditions are going to be tough for batting up front and not pushing too hard in the first powerplay is going to be crucial when the second match is played at the same Malahide ground in Dublin on Tuesday.

Ireland had reached 195-4, after being sent in to bat, in the 40.2 overs that were played before the rain ended matters, and were well-placed to post a decent total. That was partly due to, and not despite, a fairly painstaking start in which they scored just 28 runs in the first 10 overs but did not lose any wickets.

It is the exact opposite situation to what the Proteas experienced in the West Indies, where batting up front in the powerplay was the time to cash in and the best chance to score quickly.

“The pitch was a tad slow, but it was a good wicket. We’ll have to assess again for the next game, but up front was the toughest time to bat. So you have to be very watchful the first 10 overs and then the ball doesn’t do as much. The game gets easier and then you can press on.

“It’s definitely the right thing to field first because then you know what score you’re chasing and you know the conditions better. We need to show what we’ve learned from the West Indies and be clinical with the bat. We bowled pretty well, but we just need to remind ourselves that we need to execute day in, day out. It’s about being consistent, that’s the key word, we need to repeat the good performances,” all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo said on Monday.

Given that South Africa never got to bat, any changes to the batting line-up are going to be unfair on the likes of Janneman Malan and Kyle Verreynne. But if Quinton de Kock is ready to go after his rest, then who wouldn’t want him in a game that has crucial World Cup qualification points at stake?

Consistent fast bowler Anrich Nortje was also rested for the first game and he could return at the expense of left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj, who did not get any wickets but was tight, conceding just 38 runs in his nine overs.

Dwaine Pretorius produced the best ever figures by a South African in T20 Internationals as the Proteas levelled the series against Pakistan with a six-wicket triumph in the second match in Lahore on Saturday.

Medium-pacer Pretorius wrecked the Pakistan innings, especially in the closing stages, as he claimed fabulous figures of five for 17 to restrict the home side to 144 for seven.

The Proteas then chased down that target with 22 balls to spare, the innings being built around the partnership of 77 for the third wicket between Reeza Hendricks and Pite van Biljon, who both scored 42.

Pretorius opened the bowing with the left-arm spinner Jon-Jon Smuts and struck with the second ball he bowled, trapping Babar Azam, the Pakistan captain and kingpin, lbw for 5 as he nipped the ball back into the right-hander.

Mohammad Rizwan was once again the mainstay of the Pakistan batting, but the superb spin bowling of Tabraiz Shamsi (4-0-16-1) and Smuts (4-0-20-0) kept the home side quite in the middle overs.

The pressure told as Pretorius returned in the 14^th over to dismiss Iftikhar Ahmed (20) and end the most threatening partnership of the Pakistan innings – 45 in 7.2 overs – David Miller taking an excellent steepling catch as the ball descended out of the foggy skies.

The all-rounder then claimed the big scalp of Rizwan in his next over, the in-form wicketkeeper mishitting a slower ball to be caught by long-off for 51 off 41 balls.

Pretorius then claimed the wickets of Khushdil Shah (15) and Mohammad Nawaz for a duck in the penultimate over, with only the big hitting of Faheem Ashraf (30 not out off 12 balls) getting the hosts to a vaguely competitive total.

Pretorius claimed the fifth five-wicket haul for South Africa in T20 Internationals and his figures improved on the previous best performance of five for 19 by Ryan McLaren against the West Indies at North Sound in 2010. It was also the best ever display against Pakistan.

After their heroics in the field, South Africa did not take the gentle approach to chasing down their moderate target, although left-arm quick Shaheen Shah Afridi rocked them by removing Janneman Malan (4) and Smuts (7) in his first two overs.

But Hendricks and Van Biljon showed their experience by showing selective aggression. What was most impressive though was the intent they showed against the spinners.

Especially leg-spinner Usman Qadir, who dominated in the first T20 but was shaken from his cradle immediately on Saturday, as both batsmen hit him for sixes in his first over.

Qadir returned to dismiss Hendricks in the 12^th over, but the opener’s 42 off 30 balls had already set South Africa well on the way to victory.

Even with Van Biljon falling in the next over to spinner Nawaz for 42 off 32 deliveries, the experienced pairing of Miller (25* off 19) and captain Heinrich Klaasen (17* off 9) guided the Proteas home.

The deciding third match of the series will take place on Sunday in Lahore as well.