Ken Borland

+ Rassie van der Dussen and David Miller are settled in the middle-order: The two experienced campaigners fulfilled their roles to perfection in the two matches they played. Van der Dussen had scores of 123 not out and 60 and they were contrasting innings to suit the situation. His century was a backs-to-the-wall effort after the Proteas had slipped to 55 for four and his second knock – off just 37 balls – provided crucial acceleration just when it was needed.

Miller performed his finishing role superbly; in the first ODI he stabilised the innings with Van der Dussen and then provided some impetus with his 50 off 56 balls, and in the second ODI he took advantage of the platform laid by Temba Bavuma and Van der Dussen to lash 50 not out off just 27 deliveries.

+ Welcome Verreynne & Malan to the Proteas family, now keep them there: Janneman Malan has now scored 222 runs in his four ODI innings, at a strike-rate of 89.87, and has now surely done enough to keep his place ahead of Aiden Markram, who has looked so good, but continues to get out when well set. The whole Markram package is so enticing, but at the moment it is Malan producing the numbers.

Kyle Verreynne has 163 runs at a strike-rate of 94.21 in his four innings and has shown tremendous composure and fight in his two half-centuries. He can play as a specialist batsman, as he did in the last ODI, and must have moved ahead of Heinrich Klaasen now in the queue.

+ Maharaj is as good in Green & Gold as he is in the Whites: Spinner Keshav Maharaj carried his brilliant domestic limited-overs form into the third ODI and was simply outstanding. Left-arm orthodox might not be as sexy as wrist-spin in white-ball cricket, but Maharaj’s teasing accuracy and flight showed how effective it can be. He’s a useful hitter too that will deepen the batting order and Tabraiz Shamsi must know he has a battle on his hands for the first-choice spinner role.

– The way Pakistan tore into the death bowling, Proteas bowlers have no idea what to do when the batsman tees off: In the second and third ODIs, Pakistan scored 51 and 65 runs respectively in the last five overs of their innings. When Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Ali or Babar Azam were teeing off, the Proteas did not seem to have good plans at their disposal; , or was it just their execution that was so poor? Either way, as bowling coach Charl Langeveldt acknowledged, they ain’t winning no world cups at the moment with that sort of death bowling.

– Rabada & Nortje having to pick up the tab for a lack of fast bowling depth: While Rabada was classy as ever, an economy-rate of just 4.70 speaking to his accuracy, and Nortje was superb with his controlled aggression, the rest of the pacemen were disappointing. Lutho Sipamla was wayward, Lungi Ngidi failed to take wickets or keep the run-rate down, Andile Phehlukwayo bowled some excellent overs but some extremely poor ones too, and Daryn Dupavillon and Beuran Hendricks had little impact.

Proteas pace bowler Lizaad Williams provides some insight into how difficult it has been for all the new players included for the series against Pakistan to step up to the plate when he said on Tuesday that he feels like “a toddler going into primary school”.

Williams has been one of three debutants during the T20 series, while half-a-dozen fringe players have also been pressed into action in the two formats to cover for players who have left for the IPL and those who are injured. While the ODI series was lost 2-1, all three games were close, and the T20 series is level at 1-1 following South Africa’s overwhelming victory in the second match, heading into the third game at Centurion on Wednesday.

“It’s been an unbelievable experience and I’m really honoured to represent my country at the highest level, and being able to contribute in the second game after the first match did not go to plan. But there are still two big games coming up. And I am still trying to figure out the intensity of international cricket, I’m still very much in a learning phase.

“I feel like a toddler going into primary school, I’m just observing everything and trying to take it all in. The difference in intensity is the biggest thing, probably the biggest lesson that the margin for error is much smaller. The batsmen don’t give their wickets away easily, they grind you out. So at training you have to try and match that intensity,” Williams said on Tuesday.

The Proteas bowling was outstanding in the second T20 as they restricted Pakistan to 140 for nine, which the home side chased down in the 14^th over with six wickets in hand. Williams said the mental side of the bowlers’ game was much stronger, giving them a template for what to do in Wednesday’s crucial game.

“The biggest thing was the clarity in your mind when you go up to bowl. You have to commit 100% to the delivery and not think too far ahead about what the end result will be. In the first game I got caught up a bit in what the end result would be, but you should just be thinking about executing to the best of your ability. It was actually a bit easier to make your debut with no crowd.

“I would enjoy the crowd to be there, but in those very nervous moments they bring a bit of added pressure and you just want clarity of mind in those moments. But at the start of my professional career, I played two seasons with Charl Langeveldt in Cape Town and I learnt so much, so I’m very excited to be working with the bowling coach again,” Williams said.

Being very poor in short periods of play and not being desperate enough in the field were the two main concerns Proteas coach Mark Boucher has after the ODI series loss to Pakistan, but he is also worried about injuries to captain Temba Bavuma and key batsman Rassie van der Dussen heading into the T20 series.

South Africa lost the decisive 50-over match at Centurion on Wednesday evening by 28 runs but were competitive for almost the entire contest despite missing six first-choice players. They were not only deprived of their five IPL stars, but Van der Dussen had to pull out due to a quad strain.

“We want to start winning series, especially at home, so it is very disappointing to lose this one. We knew a while ago that the IPL guys would be leaving, so the players coming in were prepared. It was unfortunate to lose Rassie to injury, that was another blow, and although a couple of the guys coming in did really well, it’s not about individuals but about the team, and we lost.

“The problem is when we’re not good in certain pockets of the game we are really bad. For example the last two overs today going for 43 runs … if we had kept that down to 25 then we would have had a much better chance of winning. I would also like to see higher intensity and more desperation in the field; we maybe would have won the first ODI if we had been better in the field,” Boucher said after Wednesday’s match.

The coach said Van der Dussen and Bavuma, who injured his hamstring while batting, are both doubtful for the T20 series that starts on Saturday at the Wanderers.

“Rassie has between a Grade I and Grade II quad strain so he’s probably out for 10 days. We hope for a quick turnaround but it would be stupid to try and push him, so he’s not likely to get on the park. Temba is a tough guy but he’s hobbling in the changeroom and in quite a bit of pain, so I’m afraid it’s quite bad. But those are the cards we’ve been dealt and we have to find a way.

“The senior players need to stand up in those tough, pressurised moments. Even when we’ve played at only 50%, we’ve still had a chance to win if it were not for disappointing little things. But it was good to see we have some depth, we’ve got backup players who can stamp their mark on international cricket. Kyle Verreynne, Janneman Malan and Keshav Maharaj all did really well,” Boucher said.

Temba Bavuma narrowly missed out on a century but he enjoyed the greater delight of notching his first win as Proteas captain as South Africa beat Pakistan by 17 runs in the second ODI at the Wanderers on Sunday to level the series, despite Fakhar Zaman’s record-breaking, magnificent 193.

Bavuma was the glue around which the rest of the Proteas batted, his 92 off 102 balls being a masterpiece of determination and intensity as he overcame a tough start by being busy at the crease and rotating the strike well. With Quinton de Kock (80 off 86), Rassie van der Dussen (60 off 37) and David Miller (50* off 27) all contributing well, South Africa posted a sizeable 341 for six after losing the toss and being sent in to bat.

It was tough going again for the first 90 minutes in cool conditions, before the clouds cleared and the pitch flattened out, allowing the Proteas to gain reward for their earlier hard graft. Aiden Markram made a flying start, hitting a couple of imperious sixes as he cruised to 39 off 34 balls, but missed out on making a substantial score when he slapped a back-foot drive straight to extra cover off Faheem Ashraf.

De Kock made a scratchy start, struggling to find the middle of his bat, but he was not lacking in application as he and Bavuma added 114 off 126 deliveries for the second wicket.

Van der Dussen then added impetus with his brilliant innings, which saw 101 added for the third wicket off just 69 balls, Miller then providing the slick finish even as wickets tumbled, Haris Rauf finishing with an impressive three for 54 in 10 overs.

Pakistan, needing to mount the second biggest run-chase behind the famous 438 game, made a promising start as Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam added 63 off 56 balls for the second wicket. But the visitors were then rocked by another ferocious burst from fast bowler Anrich Nortje.

He claimed the key wicket of Babar for 31 and then removed another dangerman in Mohammad Rizwan for a two-ball duck. Making liberal use of the short ball, Nortje then bounced out rookie Danish Aziz for 9 to reduce Pakistan to 85 for four.

Pakistan were kept in the game though by a quite extraordinary innings by opener Fakhar, who made the highest ever score in an ODI chase and the biggest on South African soil.

He reached his century off 107 balls and by that stage it seemed it would be a valiant losing effort. But the South African bowlers were then put to the sword by the left-hander, as he plundered 93 more runs off just 48 deliveries, hitting 18 fours and 10 sixes.

He was eventually run out in the final over by a superb direct hit by Markram from long-off and a brilliant piece of deception from wicketkeeper De Kock, who motioned that the throw was going to the bowler’s end, causing Fakhar to continue ambling back for the second run.

Rabada was the other South African paceman to shine, taking one for 43 in his 10 overs.