Proteas’ poor form continues

Sixth ODI capitulation highlights a lack of fight among batsmen

IT’S one thing to call on the public to understand, as the Proteas go through this experimentation phase with their one-day side, but it’s quite another to expect viewers to comprehend when the players’ attitudes appear as soft as they did during this defeat at Centurion last night,

Ottis Gibson bemoaned the lack of fight shown by his players in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday, but this capitulation with the bat was arguably worse.

Aside from Khaya Zondo, the rest of the Proteas were awful and the manner in which they gifted their wickets to the Indians was atrocious. Where was that pride they were supposedly playing for?

Not one of the South African batsmen can look themselves in the mirror without feeling a bit of shame.

In fact over the course of India’s tour (encompassing this six-match series and the three Tests prior), Faf du Plessis’s 120 in the first ODI in Durban is the only hundred.

Virat Kohli has scored three on his own. Yesterday’s was another imperious performance, his unbeaten 129 coming off just 96 balls with 19 fours and two sixes – part of a ludicrous return of 558 runs in the series, the most ever scored in a bilateral series.

The Proteas’ batting coach Dale Benkenstein must be wondering what manner of task he’s taken on here.

And to be fair to him, none of what took place here yesterday can be blamed on him. Not Hashim Amla failing to properly execute a hook shot, not Aiden Markram – nor any of the other five batsmen who drove the ball in the air in the cover region – nor whatever it was AB de Villiers was trying to do against Yuzvendra Chahal.

Although the format will be different, Australia’s bowlers must be salivating at the prospect of having a go at this batting line-up – Dean Elgar being the exception.

It was the collective lack of mental fortitude that stood out as far as the Proteas batting was concerned.

The World Cup, as Amla and De Villiers can attest, is a high pressure environment, and if this is the kind of fragility that South Africa are displaying, then never mind just casting the selection net wider, Gibson has great deal more that he needs to improve.

One aspect of the problem is that as Benkenstein said after the second match – which De Villiers and Du Plessis missed due to injury – this was South Africa’s next best group of players.

There were calls for Farhaan Behardien to be given a chance, but he too gave his wicket away with an awful shot, early in his innings.

Behardien and Zondo were given opportunities, in place of the terribly inconsistent duo of JP Duminy and David Miller, and only Zondo really stated his case, with a gritty half-century.

He played Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav reasonably well, attacking them mainly off the back foot.

Zondo’s was just the third half-century by a Proteas player – he would be justified in believing he is worthy of another opportunity when South Africa’s next ODI assignment rolls around in Sri Lanka in August.

According to selection convener Linda Zondi, once that series is complete, all experimenting ends and he and the coaching staff, along with Du Plessis, want to focus on a group of about 18, which they will cull further next summer.

There are – depending on whether South Africa take on Australia in November – 21 ODIs on the schedule before the World Cup in May 2019.

Gibson and Zondi could not have imagined their plans going this far awry just 15 months out from that tournament.

D’Arcy Short anchored Australia's batting order to produce the highest successful run chase in Twenty20 international cricket to beat New Zealand by five wickets in their tri-series clash at Eden Park yesterday, reports Reuters

Short scored 76 from 44 balls as the Australians reached 245-5 with seven deliveries remaining.

The run chase eclipsed the 236-6 West Indies achieved in beating South Africa in Johannesburg in 2015.

New Zealand had scored 243-6 in their 20 overs after Martin Guptill (105) and Colin Munro (76) had produced a blistering 132-run opening partnership in 10.4 overs.

Short and captain David Warner (59), however, put on 121 runs in 8.3 overs to give the visitors the ideal start before Glenn Maxwell, who scored 31 from 14 balls, and Aaron Finch (36 not out) ensured they got home.