TAHIR IN FULL CRY!
Five-star Immy as SA open Kiwi tour with a flourish
PROTEAS bowling coach Charl Langeveldt had put his young charges on notice prior to departing for New Zealand.
Despite taking all 10 Sri Lankan wickets in three of the five one-day internationals played at home, Langeveldt still rated his bowling unit at 50 percent.
He was particularly up front about the fact that there was still a new-ball vacancy alongside Kagiso Rabada leading up to the ICC Champions Trophy.
So Langeveldt would have left Eden Park after last night’s 78-run Twenty20 demolition of New Zealand a much happier man and filled with plenty of fresh optimism leading into the start of the five-match ODI series in Hamilton tomorrow (3am SA time).
The irrepressible Imran Tahir may deservedly receive all the accolades for his career-best 5/24 that skittled the Black Caps for just 107 in response to South Africa’s 185/6, but it was undoubtedly the performance of the pace bowlers that allowed the Proteas to get their tour off to a flying start.
With young Rabada being eased into New Zealand by being offered a much-deserved break last night, captain Faf du Plessis entrusted Chris Morris and Dale Paterson with the new ball.
It was a risky decision with Morris renowned for being inconsistent while Paterson was playing only his second full T20 International after a disappointing debut at Newlands a couple of weeks ago.
With Langeveld’s words ringing in their ears, the pair raised their level of performance considerably, especially Morris who struck a double blow in his second over.
But it was not just the wickets that would impressed “Langes” but also the intent and purpose with which Morris hit the crease and got the ball to zip through off a pacy Eden Park surface to wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock.
And when their spells were completed, the pressure was maintained by rookie allrounder Andile Phehlukwayo, who grabbed three wickets for good measure.
His change of pace was particularly impressive, while he too enjoyed slipping in the odd bouncer.
The latter accounted for the dismissal of New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson, who pulled a short delivery straight to Wayne Parnell on the square-leg boundary.
Test and T20 skipper Du Plessis was certainly impressed with the effort of his bowlers.
“I thought everyone bowled really well. Obviously Immy was the standout but I thought our seamers were really good,” Du Plessis enthused.
“We have an extremely young bowling unit. They’re eager to buy into whatever is necessary on the day. They’re so fresh they pretty much buy into everything that is required. They were very crisp.
“Chris Morris with the new ball, a relatively new job for him, bowled with good heat. I thought he bowled fantastically well.
“Everyone bowled really well.”
New Zealand, especially the batsmen, certainly have a fair knowledge now of what is expected of them during the oneday series.
They will get the experience of Ross Taylor and Dean Brownlie back tomorrow, but even that may not be enough to counter the brilliance of the planet’s premier white-ball bowler Tahir.
The leg-spinner was exceptional at Eden Park with his concoction of googlies and will relish having another crack at the Black Caps at Seddon Park.
“Immy is a big reason why we’ve had the success we’ve had,” Du Plessis said.
“He’s a massive weapon. Even if teams get off to a good start, we know that the chances of him coming on and slowing up the game is pretty high. He’s just so consistent. He doesn’t bowl many bad balls anymore.”
But Du Plessis knows that even having dispatched the world’s top-ranked T20 side with relative ease with batsmen like Amla (62 off 43 balls, 9x4, 1x6) showing good form, there is an entirely different challenge awaiting the Proteas in the one-dayers.
“When two really good teams go at each other, you want to put a peg in the ground to just show the brand of cricket you are playing. That’s what we did.
“But obviously (tomorrow) is a brand new start, and we have to make sure we start over again because they are a quality one-day side,” said Du Plessis, who will hand the captain’s armband to AB de Villiers for the one-day games.