Master blasters in Durban
ALTHOUGH it were the bowlers who did the job in Port Elizabeth in the first ODI against Sri Lanka, the real strength in the Proteas line-up lies in their batting order which has been held back like a caged beast thus far, but could come roaring out of the blocks at Kingsmead today.
It was definitely a balanced performance by the Proteas when they whitewashed the Australians in October last year, but with many of the Aussie strike bowlers out of the mix, the South African batsmen found their feet and rose to prominence.
It is now these same players who are waiting for their chance to shine in their series against Sri Lanka.
There have been glimpses, looking at the Port Elizabeth match. Most pleasing was seeing Hashim Amla pick up a half-century after going through a lead patch in both ODI’s and the Tests recently.
But the ever-humble “Hash” says the batting line-up is a huge strength even without mentioning his own name.
“The batting line-up looks very solid,” Amla explained from Kingsmead ahead of today’s game.
“Quinny (Quinton de Kock) is one of the best, Faf (Du Plessis) has been in good form, AB (De Villiers) is a legend, JP (Duminy) is batting well. They have all been contributing, so the line-up looks good.
“We do not look too far ahead, the game changes very quickly so we keep the feet on the ground and take it as it comes.”
Indeed, with De Kock opening, after picking up notable scores of 178 and 70 against Australia, and Du Plessis following in soon after with his own haul of 111 and 69 in the same series, not to mention 55 in the first Sri Lankan game, South Africa have some form top order players.
There is also Duminy who chipped in with 82 and 73 in Australia a little down the order.
But if form is temporary and class is permanent, then it does not get much more classy than De Villiers as well as Amla back in the mix.
The pair have the ability to take the game away in any style, be it power hitting or pace setting, and the experience they add cannot be beaten.
But when looking at this wealth of talent you cannot for- get about the power hitters who can finish off a job down the order such as David Miller and Andile Phehlukwayo.
Both have already shone on this ground together at the back of an innings, and even Wayne Parnell has been making centuries for fun in domestic cricket.
There is a bit of bravado about this team that the players are not buying into, but the hope is probably that the toss is won and the batters sent in, just for the sheer spectacle of what it could offer.