The Proteas to take batting and spin questions one day at a time

SOUTH AFRICA have only won four oneday internationals in Sri Lanka, two of those coming in the first series win for the Proteas in that country four years ago, with a certain AB de Villiers making a match-winning century in the decider.

It’s 2018 and De Villiers’ international retirement has left an enormous hole in the SA batting unit, that may be even harder to fill in the limited-overs side than was the case with the Test team, which just suffered a couple of embarrassing defeats.

Under coach Ottis Gibson and convenor of selectors Linda Zondi’s guidance, the SA ODI team is in the midst of a period of experimentation with an eye on finding the best squad to take to the World Cup next year.

Their strategy was knocked severely off kilter when De Villiers quit earlier this year. A lot of SA plans in the 50-over format were built around him and those plans have largely been consigned to the scrapheap as the side looks to create a successful formula with players lacking De Villiers’ supernatural skillset.

Firstly, there’s the fairly simple question about who will bat at No 4; does David Miller get given more responsibility by moving up the order or is his spot as “finisher” too ALSO INSIDE Powell is satisfied, P27 Lebese ready to deliver, P26 Marx is a menace, P27 important at No 6?

Is another attempt made to try and revitalise JP Duminy? What about Aiden Markram who in his brief ODI career has opened the innings four times, batted at No 3 once and at No 4 twice, where he made his best score of 66 on debut against Bangladesh? Heinrich Klaasen’s performances against India last summer means he merits consideration, too.

There are pros and cons for each of those players in what is shaping up to be another trial by spin in Sri Lanka. The hosts, who will be led by Angelo Mathews, have picked three frontline spinners in their squad, although its unlikely pitches for the five ODIs will be as dry as was the case in the two Tests.

Whatever the state of the surfaces, however, the Sri Lankans would have noted how much SA struggled in their previous ODI series against Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav.

Aside from facing spin, how captain Faf du Plessis utilises his spinners will be of importance, too. SA’s selectors chose not to include Imran Tahir for the series, stating they knew what they had with him. Keshav Maharaj one of the few bright spots from the Test matches, will be given the chance to add to his two ODI caps with the selectors wanting to see how he might combine with Tabraiz Shamsi, who also lacks experience at the highest level having played just seven ODIs.

The other combination that Gibson, Zondi and Du Plessis will want to assess is how Andile Phehlukwayo and Wiaan Mulder may fit into the same starting team. Phehlukwayo has quickly made himself a key component of the ODI side with his flamboyant batting helping win games against Australia and India, while his “death” bowling deserves more of a look at international level.

With Chris Morris recovering from injury, Mulder gets a chance to show why Gibson is such a big fan of his.