Lack of top order runs costly

THE Durban Heat closed off their Mzansi Super League campaign with a bit of momentum, but it was all too little, too late.

Their final round victory over the Tshwane Spartans at Centurion couldn’t prevent them from finishing at the bottom of the six-team table, confirming that it has been a very difficult month for the Kingsmead-based side.

Coach Grant Morgan had insisted throughout the campaign that there was no lack of effort from the team at practices and in matches, but they simply could not transfer that endeavour into something substantial on the field.

Their biggest problems stemmed from a lack of runs at the top of the order, with several top-class players simply out of sorts for the duration of the competition. Runs up front are crucial in T20 cricket, and the team’s constant battle to lay a foundation saw them heap pressure onto a middle-order that had been picked to provide the flourish at the end.

“We were 40 for four too many times in this tournament,” skipper Albie Morkel said.

“We never quite clicked as a batting unit, and that lack of confidence with the bat eventually feeds into the fielding and the bowling, and you are under pressure as a team.

“When players are out of form, it is not easy to come in and have to chase at 11 or 12 an over right away,” Morkel added.

The Heat managed just four half-centuries during the course of the tournament, and two of those were after they had been eliminated from the running for play-off places.

There were some narrow defeats that were tough to swallow, especially the lastgasp loss to the eventual champions, the Jozi Stars.

The Stars needed 12 from the final two balls, in the final game at Kingsmead, and somehow managed to win with a ball to spare.

Nono Pongolo hit a no-ball from Marchant de Lange for six, and then repeated the trick off the following ball to seal the unlikeliest of victories for the visitors.

The loss was perhaps synonymous with the Heat’s campaign, which was a series of mishaps and disappointments. When the squad was initially picked, there was talk of the Heat having perhaps the most balanced team on paper, with superstar Rashid Khan set to join in the latter stages.

By the time Khan arrived, there was simply too much to do.

The Heat were already depending on winning with bonus points, and then other results going their way.

It was a campaign full of tough lessons, but also one that had elements of misfortune.

As Morkel pointed out, four of the five Heat home games were affected by weather, and that is something that was beyond their control.

The weather may also have contributed to attendances in Durban not being what they could have been, as people didn’t flock to Kingsmead in the manner that might have been anticipated.

In all, the 2018 Mzansi Super League was one to forget for the Heat, but the lessons taken from this year will hopefully stand them in good stead for future editions of the tournament.

– Sports Reporter