Faf injury overshadows Proteas’ crushing victory
Dobson takes a lot of positives from Province’s semi-final win over the Lions
ANOTHER DAY, another one-sided cricketing contest between South Africa and Bangladesh. Maybe if the selectors yank out every single one of the regulars, and play the South Africa ‘A’ side, we may see something approaching a match, because we have seen nothing of the like to this point of the Tigers’ toothless visit here.
The people of East London will be thankful that Faf du Plessis won the toss, thus allowing them to at least see a batting performance that went 50 overs, on their way to victory by 200 runs.
South Africa had scored their highest ever score against Bangladesh yesterday, even though there was no centurion in sight for once. Everyone got a start, and Du Plessis may well have bucked the trend, but he retired hurt on 91 not out.
The South African leader limped off with a lower back strain, and did not play any further part in the match. His fitness, ahead of a massive start to 2018, is probably the biggest headache occupying South African cricket – outside the T20 Global League, that is. It is testimony to how completely underwhelming Bangladesh have been that the biggest issues facing the local game are all off the field.
On the park, Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock added 119 for the first wicket, before the former holed out for 48. He will curse his smear to long-on, because a pile of runs was there for anyone who wanted it.
De Kock followed soon after, as he skyed Hasan Miraz for his second wicket of the day. Du Plessis and debutant Aiden Markram then looked completely untroubled during their 151-run alliance. Once Du Plessis pulled up, Markram also let a century slip through his fingers, as he ran himself out for 66.
There was time for AB de Villiers to become the fastest player to reach 9500 ODI runs, though South Africa stumbled somewhat towards the end of their innings. It took Farhaan Behardien (33 not out) and Kagiso Rabada (23 not out) to add the gloss at the end, with Rabada again showing flashes of batting prowess that suggest he ain’t no stock tailender.
With ball in hand, there was early joy for Dane Paterson (3 for 44), who struck with the new ball to erase some of the pain from his previous pasting. Debutants Wiaan Mulder and Markram also got in amongst the wickets, as De Villiers marshalled the troops in Du Plessis’ absence.
It was all too easy, a Sunday stroll for a team that is yearning for some proper competition. They will say all the nice things in front of the press, but this past month against Bangladesh has done precious little to teach us anything more about the Proteas. Shakib Al-Hasan fought valiantly with 63, but the rest of the batting card essentially read like a toll number for emergencies.
On the day, there was immense pride for Mulder and Markram as they contributed straight away in national colours, but they will know deep down that the intensity of these matches is only just scraping into the standard that permits it to be labelled as full international. They have been pushed further in domestic cricket this term. Indeed, Mulder may have played school matches last year that strained him more than Bangladesh.
We have all waited for Bangladesh to show up, but the Tigers have been spotted as easily as a leopard during a day safari. Maybe, just maybe, the T20 international series may shrink the gulf in class, given the kamikaze nature of the format.