Sri Lanka cannot now be taken for granted

Faf du Plessis will be remembered as one of SA’s best captains and his leadership (and batting) have contributed to some unlikely and dramatic victories.

He has held his nerve in extreme circumstances and backed his strategy, and his teammates. Just as he did during the fourth innings against Sri Lanka at Kingsmead.

Du Plessis has always favoured the “attack the tailender, give the batsman a single” approach. On several occasions he has been a little too quick to do so. It is a strategy fraught with risk because it is a backward step, it concedes the advantage.

To the batsmen in the middle, it is evidence of concern from the fielding team and their bowlers. It doubles the determination of the “batsman” and emboldens the courage and determination of the tailender.

Just last season, when India were 209/6 at Centurion, Du Plessis backed off against Virat Kohli only to see his opposite number plunder 153 and lead his team to 307.

It didn’t matter back then, but his determined belief in the strategy undoubtedly assisted the Sri Lankans in their famous victory in Durban.

Kusal Perera will always, and rightly, be remembered for playing one of the great runchase innings yet and the background details will fade with history, but it is a fact that was assisted, physically and mentally, by the feeling that his opponents had backed off from the fight.

Having said that, if ever there was a time to endorse the strategy, that was it, with 76 runs required from the last wicket. Du Plessis did so and remained steadfast in his commitment until, with hindsight, it was too late. He does not, however, deserve to be criticised for a decisive tactic which made sense and to which he was committed.

Less understandable was the commitment to, and persistence with the short-pitched bowling strategy. It worked against Pakistan with dramatic results, but the captain may wonder more about his intuition in reading that aspect of the game than where his fielders were and how many singles he was prepared to give Perera.

By far the focus of everyone’s attention, of course, should be Perera. Less than two weeks after being concussed in Australia and after a battering from Olivier, Rabada and Steyn, he did THAT! Perhaps it should be put down to fate.

Sometimes things are just meant to be. That would be the easiest thing to do. But that’s not the way Du Plessis rolls and he may also be questioning his allegiance to coach Ottis Gibson’s belief that the best fastbowling attack in the world should be given conditions to assist it.

After all, the Proteas toporder batting certainly isn’t the best in the world.

Suddenly there is so much to play for at St George’s Park. No subcontinental team has ever won a Test series in SA and, with respect to Bangladesh, this Sri Lankan team would be the most unlikely of the three major Asian nations to do so.

If there was any complacency before Kingsmead, and there certainly was among the vast majority of supporters, it will have been shocked out of the system now. Sri Lanka might be bullied out of the game, but the captain and his fast bowlers cannot take that for granted.

Then attention turns fully towards the ODIs and the World Cup. As always, the captain will have significant input into the selection of the starting XIs for the five matches against the Sri Lankans and also the composition of the 15-man World Cup squad.

Most of the decisions have been made already, but there are some tricky ones remaining. It appears that questions regarding Hashim Amla are just that. It is too late to make such a drastic change at the top of the order. But there might be another question on his mind. One involving an old school friend, a career-long colleague and former captain.

The rumours are building. Du Plessis is a strong believer in right and wrong and will not want to disappoint those who have fought so hard to be in contention. But, you know

DU PLESSIS HAS ALWAYS FAVOURED THE ‘ATTACK THE TAILENDER, GIVE THE BATSMAN A SINGLE’ APPROACH. ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS HE HAS BEEN A LITTLE TOO QUICK TO DO SO.