Ken Borland

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.

South Africa on Thursday named 29 different players for their ODI and T20 matches against Pakistan next month, which, even taking into account the larger squads needed for bio-secure bubbles and the players released to go to the IPL, could create the dangerous impression that the selectors are ‘calling all pockets’ to an extent.

A 22-man squad for the three ODIs that kick off the series includes uncapped players in Sisanda Magala, outstanding with the white-ball for the Lions, and in-form paceman Lizaad Williams, and returns for Aiden Markram, who is in a rich vein of form in red-ball cricket, all-rounder Wiaan Mulder and fast bowler Daryn Dupavillon.

George Linde is surprisingly not named in the squad, with Warriors veteran Jon-Jon Smuts filling the spin-bowling all-rounder berth. Andile Phehlukwayo, out of form and lacking game-time due to injury, hangs on to his place in the ODI squad, but will surely be under pressure from the likes of Mulder and Magala.

For the four-match T20 series, IPL stars Quinton de Kock, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, David Miller and Kagiso Rabada will vacate their places, leading to call-ups for uncapped players in the hard-hitting Wihan Lubbe, Williams and pace bowler and lower-order hitter Migael Pretorius.

From the T20 squad that toured Pakistan last month, batsman Ryan Rickelton and fast bowlers Okuhle Cele and Nandre Burger, none of whom played a game, have been left out of the squad, while Phehlukwayo, Junior Dala, Smuts, Jacques Snyman and Glenton Stuurman all join the club as players dropped from the 17-man T20 squad.

While South Africa have traditionally viewed the T20 squad as a finishing school for new talent, a way to introduce new players to the Proteas culture, there is a World Cup coming up in just seven months time and new captain Temba Bavuma would no doubt like to start gelling his first-choice unit together.

Throwing the selection net wide is all good and well, but the selectors’ efforts will surely need to become more focused after this series.

Squads

ODI – Quinton de Kock, Janneman Malan, Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen, Jon-Jon Smuts, Andile Phehlukwayo, Wiaan Mulder, Sisanda Magala, Keshav Maharaj, Junior Dala, Kagiso Rabada, Lutho Sipamla, Lizaad Williams, Anrich Nortje, Beuran Hendricks, Daryn Dupavillon, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi.

T20 – Temba Bavuma, Janneman Malan, Reeza Hendricks, Rassie van der Dussen, Pite van Biljon, Kyle Verreynne, Heinrich Klaasen, Wihan Lubbe, Dwaine Pretorius, George Linde, Bjorn Fortuin, Sisanda Magala, Migael Pretorius, Lutho Sipamla, Beuran Hendricks, Lizaad Williams, Tabraiz Shamsi.

Dwaine Pretorius was obviously the star of the show as South Africa levelled the T20 series against Pakistan on Saturday with the best figures in the history of Proteas T20 cricket, but the all-rounder said the efforts of spin bowlers Tabraiz Shamsi and Jon-Jon Smuts in the middle overs of the innings were as worthy of reward as his incredible return of five for 17.

Pretorius broke the record for best T20 figures for South Africa, previously held by Ryan McLaren, who took five for 19 against the West Indies at North Sound. He bowled the second over of the innings, trapping Pakistan kingpin Babar Azam lbw with his second ball and then returned in the 14^th over of the innings to remove top-scorer Mohammad Rizwan for 51 and claiming three other wickets in the closing stages of the innings.

But before his second spell, wrist-spinner Shamsi bowled brilliantly in the middle overs to take one for 16 in his four overs, while Smuts conceded just 20 runs in his four overs of canny left-arm orthodox.

“That was next-level bowing by Shamo and Jon-Jon and they could easily have taken the wickets instead of me. That’s why I say it was a collective effort by the attack and the two spinners tightened the noose superbly. And Heinrich Klaasen captained the team really well, changing the bowlers around a lot so no-one could get settled on the batting side.

“So the spinners did superbly and the other seamers also executed the plan really well, and I just tried to stick to my plan. Sometimes in T20, the simpler the better and I just tried to keep my plans simple, although I have learnt, especially from bowing coach Charl Langeveldt, that it’s vital that the batsman doesn’t know which ball is coming, you also don’t want the batsman to settle into facing one thing,” Pretorius said after the six-wicket win.

Pretorius also praised the batsmen, especially Reeza Hendricks and Pite van Biljon, who both scored 42 and played the spinners aggressively, showing that even a daunting leg-spinner like Usman Qadir is only human as he faltered under pressure, conceding 43 runs in his four overs.

“The batsmen have actually played a lot of good cricket lately, but then it’s just been one or two overs that we lose really badly. As a batting unit, they’ve tried to focus on making sure that when you hit a bad patch, you don’t lose a cluster of wickets. They’re trying to keep their intensity high and they did that unbelievably well today. It’s about the big moments and we played those better tonight,” Pretorius said.

Kagiso Rabada has just one IPL team on his portfolio – the Delhi Capitals – but notwithstanding his loyalty to them, the fast bowler said on Thursday that the Proteas are his first priority and he will probably have to miss the first week or so of this year’s T20 extravaganza in India.

The Delhi side, which was originally known as the Delhi Daredevils before a name change ahead of the 2019 IPL, were runners-up in last year’s competition, with Rabada playing a key role as the leading wicket-taker in the competition. He has unsurprisingly been retained for this year’s edition, at a salary of $575 000.

But the Capitals have expressed some anxiety about his availability this year as fixture-starved South Africa are hosting a white-ball series against Pakistan from April 2-16. Although the dates for the IPL have not yet been officially confirmed, it is believed likely that there will be some overlap.

“In terms of the IPL, my country comes first. It looks like I might miss about a week of the IPL, but the Proteas are my priority. That being said, Delhi is my home in India. They’re the only team I’ve played for in the IPL and they have looked after me really well,” Rabada said on Thursday.

While Rabada has stayed with Delhi since 2017, other leading South Africans have moved around: Faf du Plessis has played for Chennai and Pune; Quinton de Kock has played for four different franchises as have Chris Morris and Dale Steyn.

CSA’s director of cricket Graeme Smith said earlier this week that no definite decision had been taken yet over when the Proteas would be released because they were still waiting for the IPL dates to be confirmed.

The 25-year-old Rabada is now with the Imperial Lions side in Durban preparing for the CSA T20 Challenge which starts on Friday with the Titans playing the Knights and the Dolphins taking on the Cape Cobras. The Lions, who won the CSA T20 Challenge the last time it was held in 2018/19, start their campaign on Saturday against the Warriors. The entire tournament is being held at Kingsmead.

The Lions certainly have the firepower to be considered one of the favourites with Rabada leading a bowling attack that includes fellow Proteas in pacemen Dwaine Pretorius, Beuran Hendricks, Wiaan Mulder and Lutho Sipamla and the left-arm spinners Bjorn Fortuin and Aaron Phangiso.

“We’re going to be up against some really good opposition, it’s going to be a stiff challenge with the majority of the Proteas back. We saw in the Mzansi Super League that we have some great cricketers in this country and that was a competition I really enjoyed. This is also going to be awesome for South African cricket and it’s going to be well-contended.

“There’s always a lot of banter in the Proteas squad because we are always representing our franchises, for instance I’ll chirp the Cape guys that the Cobras haven’t won anything for a while. It shows how much pride there is when the Proteas go back to the franchises and I think everyone will see that in this competition. I always put pressure on myself, but it’s not a given that I’m just going to roll the opposition,” Rabada said.