Plenty reasons why AB can smile
THERE were several reasons for South African captain AB de Villiers to be disappointed with the Proteas’ first international visit to Christchurch’s Hagley Oval yesterday.
For starters, it ended a run of 12 consecutive One-Day International victories and with it the chance for the Proteas’ class of 2016-17 to stand alone behind Australia (21 wins) as the team to have enjoyed the longest winning streak in ODI cricket.
Secondly, with new millon-rand man Kagiso Rabada consigned to drinks duty due to a sore knee, that well-known Achilles heel of South African cricket reared its ugly head again during the “death overs” with the Proteas conceding 51 runs in the last five overs of New Zealand’s innings.
And the final nail in the coffin was, of course, the senior batsmen’s decision to take the day off through “soft dismissals” that left just too much for the all-rounders to do on this occasion.
But De Villiers is an optimist by nature and refused to let team spirit drop after the Proteas suffered their first ODI defeat since July last year, yesterday. He doesn’t need to look very far either, with Dwaine Pretorius putting in the sort of performance that should make the selectors think long and hard about taking him to the ICC Champions Trophy in England in June.
In fact, all the all-rounders bar Wayne Parnell, who in fact had a solid outing with the new ball at Hagley Oval, have taken major strides in all three internationals played thus far on tour. Chris Morris was sensational with the ball in the T20 international at Eden Park and first ODI at Hamilton before fading later on, while Andile Phehlukwayo put in a “Lance Klusener-esque” performance with the bat at Seddon Park.
Having only arrived in New Zealand this week after the long flight from South Africa – he missed the first week of the tour due to the birth of his first child – it was now Pretorius’ chance to shine. The Highveld Lions all-rounder showed no JP Duminy st Lat’m b Santner AB d V’liers c Latham b Boult D Miller c Latham b Sodhi D Pretorius b Boult C Morris run out W Parnell lbw b Santner A Phehlukwayo not out I Tahir not out Extras (lb-5 w-7) 34 45 28 50 7 0 29 0 12 --Total (for 9 wickets) 283 Bowling: T Southee 10-0-60-1 (w-1), T Boult 10-0-63-3 (w-3), J Neesham 3-0-20-0 (w-1), C de Grandhomme 4-1-10-1, K Williamson 3 0-16-0, I Sodhi 10-0-63-1 (w-2), M Santner 10-0-46-2.
New Zealand won by 6 runs signs of jet lag in his first outing on tour. He performed admirably with the ball, claiming 2/40 despite Ross Taylor’s ton pushing the Black Caps to 289/6, and then proceeded to produce a pyrotechnics show with willow in hand.
With SA reeling at 214/8, Pretorius took full advantage of Trent Boult dropping him on the boundary when on 15, to race to a 27-ball maiden ODI 50. The temperament and skill selection was hugely impressive in such a high-pressure situation. “The youngsters have showed a lot of promise,” De Villiers said. “It is great to see them play with confidence, with a bit of freedom. I think it tells a story about our culture in the team. The guys are really freed up. They can just watch the ball and express themselves.
“They are all fully backed by the older guys and the management. They come in and feel confident and free. I was pretty impressed with some of the younger guys today. I thought Dwaine also bowled really well. I think the depth looks really good and the future looks bright.”
The next stop on the Proteas’ tour of New Zealand is a visit to the capital city of Wellington for the third ODI early on Saturday. Play will return to day-night affairs and there’s no doubt the team management and analysts will pore over the video footage to see exactly where things unravelled at the Hagley Oval.
Secretly, De Villiers might just be found sitting in a corner smiling to himself armed with the knowledge that his Proteas ODI outfit is finally involved in a proper contest after a one-sided home series against the struggling Sri Lankans earlier in the summer.
It can only be beneficial to a group of youngsters, who may have come out on the wrong end yesterday, but are growing in stature with every performance.