It’s agreed! Spin is the way to target the Aussies 0
What happened on Pink Day sealed the deal for Ken Borland
Both the Proteas and Australia agreed at the end of their Pink Day ODI at the Wanderers on Sunday that it had been the South African spin bowlers who had once again been the difference between the two great rivals.
Sure, Temba Bavuma scored a masterful century and David Miller smashed a career-best (statistically and maybe in terms of what it meant personally too) 142 to take South Africa to 365 for nine after being sent in to bat.
But when Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head had added 130 for the first wicket in just 17 overs and Australia were ahead of the required run-rate, it was the spinners who turned the tide once again for the home team.
Left-arm spinners Keshav Maharaj and Bjorn Fortuin repeated their heroics of the first ODI in Durban on Heritage Day [September 24), and this time they had the support of part-time off-spinner Aiden Markram.
Together, that triumvirate of twirlers all bowled their full ration of overs and took five wickets for 179 in 30 overs. Not only did they go for less than a run-a-ball at a venue which can be very tough on spinners, but they also removed five of Australia’s top six.
Having been the key factor in the ODI series win with a game to spare, I believe Proteas coach Shukri Conrad should also look to spin for the Test series that starts on October 9.
When the fixtures were announced for this Australian tour back in February, the fact that the three Tests were being played at Kingsmead, St George’s Park and Newlands got me thinking.
All three matches being played at coastal venues made me wonder if Conrad, who often dissents with the popular or cliched view, was planning to attack the Australians with spin. South Africa’s coastal venues, especially Durban in recent years, are the most spin-friendly in the country.
Keshav Maharaj is based at Kingsmead and Prenelan Subrayen and Senuran Muthusamy all made their Test debuts while playing for the KZN Dolphins, such has been the success of spin in Durban.
St George’s Park in Gqeberha, formerly Port Elizabeth, can also be very spin-friendly depending on the wind. When thinking of the Test venues, my mind immediately went back to April 2022 when Maharaj and Simon Harmer destroyed Bangladesh, taking all 10 second-innings wickets at Kingsmead as they bundled them out for just 53, and then repeating the feat further down the coast in the next match, where they shot the tourists out for just 80. They are the only pair of bowlers to have achieved this in back-to-back Tests in the history of the game.
Newlands in Cape Town has also traditionally been a favoured venue for the spinners, Paul Adams and England’s Colin Blythe are both in the top-10 wicket-takers in Tests there, while Paul Harris, Shane Warne, Nicky Boje, Johnny Briggs, Hugh Tayfield and Maharaj are all in the top-20. When I was growing up, Western Province leg-spinner Denys Hobson was always a threat for visiting teams in domestic cricket, and I remember Transvaal’s slow left-armer Alan Kourie routinely winning games there on the third day, using the wind superbly.
The best red-ball return at Newlands in the last four seasons is left-arm spinner Kyle Simmonds’s seven for 39 against the KZN Dolphins in 2023/24.
My learned colleague Stuart Hess, whose coverage of South African and domestic cricket for TimesLive and the Sunday Times should be compulsory reading for cricket fans, did rather dampen my spinner daydreams when he informed me Conrad had told him the thinking around the fixtures was early-season pitches on the coast seaming around, the coach mentioning when Marco Jansen took seven for 13 at Kingsmead as he bowled Sri Lanka out for a measly 42.
But that match was actually at the end of November in 2024. Normally when I have disagreed with coach Shukri, he has invariably proven me wrong, but I would be very surprised if, having seen what has transpired in the ODI series, he is not thinking of attacking Australia with both Maharaj and Harmer.
Conrad did say this week that the double-spinner tactic, planned before what he called the “hamstring pandemic” amongst the quick bowlers, had “exposed” some weaknesses in the Australian ODI team, but he added that their Test batting line-up is very different to their limited-overs personnel.
But just to strengthen my argument, I can report that marvellous Miller agreed with my idea when he spoke to the media after his magnificent 142 off just 93 balls.
“I would love to see us test the Australians on days three and four with turn because we have great spinners. Playing our spinners has probably been a weakness for them. Our spinners are extremely good at holding a good length and asking questions. When the surface holds a bit, it takes a lot to hit them off that length,” Miller said.
Australian all-rounder Jack Edwards, who was their best bowler with five for 67 in just his second ODI and then scored 25 to give them a sliver of hope, explained why facing the Proteas spinners has been such a problem.
“The spinners are both really good at controlling their length and when the pitch is a bit dry and the ball a bit softer, one delivery will turn sharply and the next one skids through. So it’s a considerable risk to try and hit boundaries, they are quality bowlers,” Edwards said.
But let’s go back to Bavuma and Miller, who are both such inspirational figures in the batting line-up.
Captain Bavuma had to come in after the shock of Aiden Markram, back in the team for the first time since the T20 World Cup, being dismissed first ball of the match courtesy of a spectacular Cooper Connolly catch. A lengthy delay before the opening delivery was bowled – either due to SuperSport delaying things or the event managers getting their timings wrong – probably did not help him.
Bavuma looked in fine touch from the get-go and played some of the most elegant strokes of the day, while also showing he is capable of brutal dispatching too as he collected 10 fours and two sixes in his 103. Bavuma now averages 49 against Australia in ODIs, striking at 85, and averages 41 in Tests.
Whether he is still batting at number three in the next World Cup will become more clear in the months ahead, but what is certain is that he will be the lynchpin in the South African batting line-up, allowing the strokeplayers and boundary-hitters to bat around him.
Just like Miller did at the Wanderers. Their ground-record partnership of 156 off 135 balls for the fourth wicket featured timing as sweet as the most invigorating balsam, and just as medicinal for South Africa’s health after they had slipped to 93 for three after a difficult first 15 overs when the ball moved around and there was some steep bounce.
The previous fourth-wicket record for the Proteas at the Wanderers was 105 between AB de Villiers and JP Duminy, against India in 2013/14.
There are some who have written off the 37-year-old Miller’s chances of making the 2027 World Cup squad, but he has not averaged below 40 in his last four seasons of ODI action, while striking at 114. He has scored three centuries and seven half-centuries in that time.
His strokeplay had the large Pink Day crowd purring with delight, especially when he sent the Australian bowlers over the boundary fencing on nine occasions. His record against South Africa’s greatest rivals is extraordinary: He now averages 59.20 against them, at a strike-rate of 106, with four centuries.
“I just want to contribute in the best way I can, make an impact. I just try to stick to my processes, I’ve been around for a long time so it’s also time for me to lead from the front and stick my hand up.
“I was pretty hungry today. You can never 100% guarantee that you’re going to make the World Cup squad and I still have a lot of hard work to do. This is a very important series because we haven’t played at home for a long time. It’s going to be very nice to have a big summer here against some really good opposition before we host the World Cup next year.
“The key for us leading up to the World Cup is to find our balance and ensure our depth is good. There are a lot of batsmen coming through, and it’s similar with the bowlers,” Miller said.