Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Plays of the Day: Jansen shows his fiery side
SOUTH Africa recorded their fifth victory of the World Cup yesterday, meaning they are virtually one win short of booking a spot in the semi-finals.
We picked four plays of the day from the victory over Pakistan in Chennai...
Catch of the Day
Behind the stumps, Quinton de Kock is one of the best in the world. He proved it yesterday with a blinder of a catch off the bowling of leg-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi. Shamsi delivered a sharp leg-break towards middle-stump, and the right-handed Babar Azam looked to scoop the ball over the keepers head.
Azam could only glove the ball straight into the gloves of De Kock. What was impressive about the catch was how the SA wicketkeeper managed to follow the ball despite having very little sight of it.
Wicket of the Day
David Miller is part of the power-packed Proteas batting unit, but rarely gets sufficient time to shine in similar fashion to how his teammates higher up in the line-up have succeeded in this World Cup.
Yesterday, Miller came in to bat with South Africa 134 runs away from the target and with 28 overs remaining.
There were occasions in the past where the left-hander got his timing wrong in a chase, instances where he looked timid and scared of losing his wicket, thus preventing himself from playing his attacking style.
Yesterday, Miller came in and played his natural game despite the match situation. But Shaheen Shah Afridi got the better of him with a delivery that held its line to force Miller to poke at it and get an edge to dismiss the South African and give Pakistan hope of a classic Proteas batting collapse.
Game-Changing Performance
Aiden Markram has come a long way in ODI cricket, with the right-handed batter only crossing the three-figure mark for the first time earlier this year, almost six years into his ODI career.
His 91 off 93 balls yesterday easily takes the game-changing performance honours, purely because of where he rescued South Africa from to eventually take them close to the target.
His innings changed the narrative of South Africa being poor chasers in this format.
Markram was at his usual best yesterday, unleashing attractive cover drives and showcasing his raw power with some clean power-hitting.
Hottest On-Field Battle
South Africa were hit by an unexpected back spasm to the leader of the attack, Kagiso Rabada. The situation called for one of the remaining fast bowlers to take on that responsibility, and it was Marco Jansen who showed up for the team yesterday.
Known for his quiet nature in the field, Jansen revealed a different side of his character, a behaviour that we have seen on a few occasions in his young career.
He got into a heated battle with the in-form Mohammad Rizwan, with the tall fast bowler exchanging a few words with the Pakistan batter and letting him know he is there to compete.