Proteas iron out the chinks

It would be tempting, given their superb fightback to level the series against the West Indies at 1-1 over the weekend, to give the Proteas a general amnesty for the shortcomings in their T20 game, but with the third match looming tonight, there are a couple of areas that still need attention.

Despite not having a recognised sixth bowler, the Proteas did exceptionally well with the ball to limit the deep and explosive West Indies batting lineup to just 150/9 on the small St George’s ground in Grenada.

Spinners George Linde (above) and Tabraiz Shamsi were absolutely outstanding.

Coming on straight after the powerplay, they bowled six overs in tandem and squeezed the home side so effectively that they collapsed from 53/2 after six overs to 76/5 at the end of the 12th over.

The combined figures of Man-of-the-Match Linde 4-0-19-2) and Shamsi (4-0-16-1) were a remarkable 3/35 in eight overs.

Kagiso Rabada and the excellent Anrich Nortje, the pick of the pacemen in both matches so far, learnt quickly from the mauling in the first T20 that if you are going to bowl fast on this more typical Caribbean pitch then you have to bowl full.

But Lungi Ngidi, bowling like he’s in a Test match, has really struggled, conceding 95 runs in his seven overs thus far.

A change needs to be made and white-ball specialist Sisanda Magala, who has the skills to do well on these pitches, would be a good pick.

Swing bowler Beuran Hendricks and Lizaad Williams, who has shown an ability to adapt to different conditions, could also be in the running.

South Africa’s other big problem is the lack of animation shown by the batsmen in the second half of the innings.

Reeza Hendricks and Quinton de Kock have done well up front, with powerplay scores of 53/1 and then 69/0 (the Proteas’ fourth highest score ever in the first six overs), but then the innings have unfortunately fizzled out.