De Villiers has too go cheaply
Tim Southee knows there are two main solutions to limiting the damage caused by the broad bat of AB de Villiers in the dying stages of a one-day cricket international.
And, for experienced New Zealand seamer Southee, one clearly stands out over the other when it comes to South Africa’s masterful limited-overs skipper. It is impossible not to agree. Removing de Villiers, who has fashioned a remarkable average of almost 55 during a 215-match ODI career, early in his innings would appeal to any bowler when compared to trying to keep him quiet at the death.
Where the problems come in is the high level of difficulty associated with successfully implementing either strategy, as the hosts may very well need to if they are to prevail in the fifth and deciding ODI at Eden Park today.
That goes up a notch when you talk about de Villiers record on Kiwi soil.
After scoring 239 and being dismissed just twice across the first four matches of this series, he has
609 runs at the eye-popping average of 103 in 11 ODIS in New Zealand.
Not surprisingly, then, Southee indicated they had placed particular focus on de Villiers in their preparations for the series decider.
‘‘We’ve had mixed bag when comes to death bowling in series,’’ he said yesterday.
‘‘When you’ve got a player like de Villiers who can hit the ball 360 degrees at will at the end it is difficult. Coming to a ground with different dimensions, we’ll work on a few things today at training.
‘‘We’ve seen throughout the series when we haven’t got him [early] he has been able to really make the most of those last five or
six overs.’’
Southee is bang on, and you could even add four or five to those numbers.
With a set de Villiers at the crease, the last 10 overs of the Proteas innings has reaped 77 in their game one win, 88 in their game three triumph and a massive 106 in a game four they lost at the hands of a belligerent Martin Guptill.
Although the ideal scenario was to remove the South African skipper early, Southee said they wouldn’t shy away from the challenge of bowling to him at the death.
‘‘That is something you really enjoy as a bowler. You do have days when it doesn’t go so well but you learn from that and move on.
‘‘There is no better feeling than when you can close out a game. That is what keeps you going back for more.’’
South Africa were in a similar frame of mind, if the words of Faf du Plessis were anything do go by.
The test skipper said bouncing back from a seven-wicket thumping in game four and another return to the scene of their devastating loss in the semifinals of the 2015 World Cup were sizeable tasks they were embracing.
Reclaiming the No 1 ODI ranking, relinquished to Australia after the Guptill demolition in Hamilton, also added to the Proteas motivation.
‘‘It’s a nice challenge for us as a team,’’ du Plessis said. ‘‘I don’t think this series has seen the best cricket we are capable of.
‘‘Tomorrow is an opportunity to play in a big pressure game. New Zealand are a team who play the big moments really well.
‘‘There is pressure on both teams. For us playing in a big moment and for New Zealand as the home team with a very good record of winning a home series.’’