Ken Borland

“We did not bat according to plan but we threw everything into it in the field,” Proteas captain Temba Bavuma said after South Africa began their T20 World Cup campaign in disappointing fashion with a five-wicket loss to Australia in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

The comment about the batting is an understatement after the Proteas could only muster together 118 for nine in their 20 overs. As bad as their batting was, they certainly gave it their all with the ball and in the field as they made Australia sweat, the target only being chased down with two balls to spare.

Going into the last four overs, it even looked possible for South Africa to snatch victory at the death as Australia, having just lost two wickets in four balls, had two new batsmen at the crease, needing 36 runs off 24 balls to win.

But those batsmen were Marcus Stoinis (24* off 15) and Matthew Wade (15* off 10) and they fought hard to deny the Proteas with their unbroken stand of 40 off 29 balls.

“It was quite tough in the second half of the game knowing we only posted 118,” Bavuma said. “So I just asked the bowlers to stick with the plan and execute as well as they can, and for the fielders to throw everything into it.

“We wanted to try and build some pressure and I felt we did that. We spoke about being resilient and it was a great effort for the majority of the Australia innings.

“We did not bat according to plan and there’s a lot us batsmen need to improve. The bowlers did quite well, although at the end it was a bit frantic and maybe that’s something we can talk about.

“The fielding was good, barring one or two incidents. But we will obviously be looking to improve by a couple of percentage points in all departments,” Bavuma said.

If there has been one area of the game where South Africa have disappointed in recent times, it would be the batting, and they are relying on better starts from Quinton de Kock and Bavuma so the middle-order are able to come in and dominate.

The Proteas are now in a group with both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, who although they had to qualify, are now in groove and playing in conditions that suit them. South Africa play the West Indies next in Dubai on Tuesday and they are going to need their batsmen to stand up quickly, because another defeat would probably mean the end of their challenge.

“Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are two subcontinent teams playing in their own conditions, so that makes the group a lot tougher. We know now that every game we are going to have to bring our best cricket,” Bavuma admitted.

The Proteas have been swearing blind that they will give their all in the T20 World Cup and they certainly did in the field after their batting failed, but it was still not enough to deny Australia victory in the opening match in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

Having posted just 118 for nine with the bat, South Africa made Australia sweat as they reached their target with five wickets down and only two balls remaining.

Anrich Nortje, save for a short penultimate delivery that Marcus Stoinis swatted away for a crucial boundary in the 19^th over, was outstanding as he took two for 21 in his four overs.

The four other South African bowlers all backed him superbly, but Marcus Stoinis (24* off 16) and Matthew Wade (15* off 10) added 40 off 29 deliveries to see Australia home and fend off a wobble when they lost two wickets for one run in the 15^th and 16^th overs.

Steven Smith top-scored for Australia with 35 off 34 balls before he fell to a wonderful running boundary catch by Aiden Markram off Nortje.

South Africa were sent in to bat and Temba Bavuma made a great start by driving Mitchell Starc through the covers for two boundaries in the first over.

But Bavuma then hung back in his crease to off-spinner Glenn Maxwell in the second over and was bowled for 12 and Josh Hazlewood (4-1-19-2) then struck two major blows by having Rassie van der Dussen caught behind with his first ball and then bowling Quinton de Kock in his next over.

De Kock made just seven and tried to paddle the paceman fine, but edged the ball on to his thigh pad and then it bounced on to his stumps, with the batsman unaware where it was and unable to knock it away.

From 23 for three, the Proteas were indebted to Markram for his 40 off 36 balls, putting away boundary chances with ease, that gave them an almost defendable total.

Heinrich Klaasen (13) and David Miller (16) hung around for a bit, and Kagiso Rabada landed a couple of good blows at the death in his 19 not out.

But with Pat Cummins (4-0-17-1) and leg-spinner Adam Zampa (4-0-21-2) both excelling, there was no let-up in the pressure on the Proteas.

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.

Tabraiz Shamsi said he is feeling much better as South Africa enjoyed a rest day on Thursday after their impressive chase to beat Pakistan in their last warm-up match for the T20 World Cup, allowing them to go into their opening game against Australia on Saturday in confident mood.

While Rassie van der Dussen’s brilliant unbeaten 101 off 51 balls led a morale-boosting batting display on Wednesday night, the bowling attack struggled after Shamsi pulled out of the game after bowling just four balls, struggling with what was revealed to be a “tight groin” by Proteas management.

The world’s No.1 T20 bowler did not return to the field, raising alarm bells for Saturday’s World Cup opener, but the word from the camp on Thursday was that the ace spinner was making good progress.

One of the few bowlers to do well against Pakistan was Lungi Ngidi, who last played a competitive match for the Proteas in July in Ireland. But upon his return to the team he says he can feel the mood in the camp is just getting better and better.

The 25-year-old paceman missed the tour to Sri Lanka and has been involved in the IPL since then.

“The team has been successful since the West Indies tour and there’s been a momentum shift in a positive direction. And you can tell it’s still moving in the right direction.

“It’s great to be back with the guys, the language is all positive and there’s a good mindset. We think that we’ve ticked all the boxes we need to heading into the World Cup,” Ngidi said on Thursday.

Van der Dussen’s perfectly-paced innings was further proof that hope never dies for the 32-year-old as he and David Miller scored 22 runs off the last over to win off the final ball.

“We were chasing quite a big score [187], but we knew the pitch was good and we just had to give ourselves a chance,” Van der Dussen said. “We were a bit behind in the powerplay, but we knew we had boundary options at the end.

“We also knew it would be important to have an in-batsman in the last five overs to put them under pressure. The guys played around me very well, we managed the chase well.

“I just tried to stay in fifth gear, the score dictated we had to. We maybe left ourselves with a bit too much to get in the last three overs, 47 runs, but fortunately we managed to get some boundaries.

“I just tried to play the situation of the game as the run-rate dictates, and just stay calm even if it gets to 15 an over, that’s the learning,” Van der Dussen said.