Proteas batsmen need to shape up

The South African cricket team predictably wrapped up their one-day international series against Zimbabwe with one match to go. With no disrespect to Zimbabwe, the Proteas were always expected to beat their neighbours by virtue of being ranked seven places above them and having too much firepower.

Even an experimental South African team was expected to do the perfect job. A five-wicket win in Kimberley on Sunday, followed by this week’s 120-run win in Bloemfontein, gave the home side a series win with tomorrow’s final match in Paarl to come.

However, the series was not as predictable as some people thought it would be.

South Africa have their bowlers to thank after two lacklustre performances with the bat. In Kimberley, in pursuit of a modest 118 runs to win, they were 58/4 at a certain stage. In Bloemfontein, the team had to rely on the unheralded exploits of fast bowler Dale Steyn with the bat to get out of a tricky position of 101/7 to at least post a respectable score of 198.

In short, the bowlers looked the part, but the batsmen didn’t inspire any confidence.

With seven months to go until the 2019 World Cup and sterner tests against Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in store for the Proteas before that, let’s hope they find their feet sooner, rather than later.