Chilled Domingo: We’re up for the big moments
Proteas may have mental scars, but opponents have problems too
IF South Africa’s mental readiness for the most critical stage of this World Cup can be judged by the calm demeanour of their coach Russell Domingo when he met the media yesterday, then the Proteas are certainly in a good head space.
And taking into account how previous meltdowns have transpired in knockout matches involving South Africa, that is arguably more important than all the balls bowled and hit during yesterday’s lengthy training session.
Unlike previous knockout defeats that could possibly have been attributed to tension and anxiety, they will have no such excuses should they not get past Sri Lanka in the World Cup’s first quarterfinal tomorrow here at the SCG.
Domingo was prepared – in his laidback style – for anything yesterday and struck down the first expected bouncer “four minutes” into the press conference with the same ease that AB de Villiers sends 140km/h yorkers over his left shoulder to the boundary while on bended knee.
It was refreshing to see a South African not tensing his shoulders, clenching his jaw or rubbing his hands continuously the moment the inevitable “choker” question arrived.
“We’ve spoken long and hard about playing the big games, the big moments, well,” Domingo said after first calling out the reporter for being a “bit slow” in posing the question. “The guys are really up for peaking for the latter stages of the competition. We want to focus on our particular skills and not carry the focus too much on the opposition; not focus too much on the occasion.
“When the pressure points come, to really focus hard on our strategies and our thinking, on what’s made us successful over the last year, on what helped us beat Sri Lanka when we toured there eight months ago. We’ve eased our way towards it (the quarter-final), we probably haven’t played the brand of cricket we’ve wanted to, but I’m expecting that to happen on Wednesday.”
Domingo was even confident enough to suggest that while South Africa may have mental scarring of years gone by that is the obvious centre of attention, Sri Lanka have problems of their own ahead of this World Cup tie, especially in relation to the 1996 champions conceding more than 300 runs in three of their six first-round matches.
“Sri Lanka are a very good side, they have been playing some really good cricket of late. The record between the two teams shows that we are evenly-matched sides. We have won just about the same number of games against one another.
“They obviously have got some form batters at the moment. But they have leaked a few runs and they might probably have a few concerns with their bowling.” he said.
For South Africa to exploit this potential weakness they will have to find the correct balance within their starting lineup though. And it is here Domingo and his selectors on tour would have been left scratching heads deep into the night.
With Quinton de Kock currently holding an immunity pass that is helping him to survive being kicked out of the starting XI regardless of form heading into the most important match of his international career, the crucial No 7 position is the one open for debate again.
Rilee Rossouw’s X-factor with the bat will probably see him edge the all-round skills of Farhaan Behardien, which will place extra pressure on the likes of De Villiers and JP Duminy to complete the fifth bowler’s duties. It will be a calculated risk – but a risk nonetheless – to take into a match of such magnitude.
In the grand scheme of things, South Africa know they will need to play as close to a perfect game as possible if they are to re-write the history books. That entails Dale Steyn charging out of the blocks, Hashim Amla batting deep into the innings, De Villiers providing the pyrotechnics and Imran Tahir bamboozling the Sri Lankan batsmen, especially the southpaw with the insatiable appetite for runs, Kumar Sangakkara.
But for all this to happen it will undoubtedly boil down to this group of players remaining calm in the moment and not being weighed down by the mistakes of others that have come before them. Their coach has showed them the way; it is now up to them to follow his lead.