McKenzie zeroes in on bowling
BATTING COACH: WE HAVE ALL THE BASES COVERED NOW
Proteas see bigger picture ahead of the Champions Trophy.
The batting may be his area of expertise, but Neil McKenzie has his eyes set firmly on the Champions Trophy as he says the biggest improvement in the Proteas side has come in the better balance of their bowling attack.
The Proteas went into this morning’s second one-day international against New Zealand in Christchurch holding a 1-0 series lead after their four-wicket win in Napier on Sunday.
“We have some real quality batsmen and we started very well the other night with Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock getting runs. We knew the Seddon Park pitch would get harder to bat on, but we didn’t think it would become that difficult and there were a few dismissals in the middle-order which got guys in who probably didn’t think they were going to bat. But there was a good fight and we’re glad we came out on top,’’ McKeznie said in reference to their win in the series opener.
“We have all the bases covered now. We have a few spinners, including a big matchwinner in Imran Tahir, who’s been our go-to guy for a while and he’s the world No 1. Tabraiz Shamsi has come through, he’s a big player in a lot of the T20 sides he plays for, and we have JP Duminy for some offies. We’re just looking for a leftarm spinner. It’s nice to have that variation.
“We also have quite a few all-rounders, which lengthens the batting and is something we haven’t had for the last few years,” McKenzie said yesterday.
Asked if his focus is on the Champions Trophy, McKenzie said the Proteas were seeing the big picture.
“These are very much the conditions we’ll face in the Champions Trophy and all one-day sides will gauge themselves in the leadup to that tournament. But this is a hugely contested series against New Zealand and if we can get the result here then it bodes well for the Champions Trophy because we’re up against a high-quality side,” he said.
If the Proteas win today, the current class will claim the South African record for most consecutive ODI wins with 13, beating the 12-in-a-row of the 2005 side. Including a tie and two no-results, they went on a 20-game unbeaten streak and midway through that run, current bowling coach Charl Langeveldt took a hat-trick in the last over to beat the West Indies by one run. Defeat finally came when Langeveldt was left out of the team for a six-wicket hammering at the hands of India in Bangalore.
“We’ve been trying to impose our game-plan on teams and I think winning 12 in a row shows that what we have been doing for the last year has really worked. We’re still trying to get the perfect game, but we need to groove our blueprint in every game. The record would show the game-plan works and it would be nice to have,” McKenzie said.