Proteas ready to lay dark ghost of Sydney pitch to rest
SYDNEY: It was at a very different looking Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) that South Africa, the rookies of the 1992 World Cup, were forced to sit back and watch from the dressing room in the same old Members’ Stand as the rain washed away their chances of a historic semi-final victory.
Little did that group of players, and those who have followed them, know that 23 years later South Africa would still be searching for that elusive maiden knockout win at a World Cup.
There have been moments down the line when South Africa have come agonisingly close, but crossing that psychological barrier has yet to be achieved.
In two days’ time, ironically back here at a now refurbished SCG, another set of Proteas have the opportunity to finally lay this dark ghost that haunts South African cricket to rest in this 2015 edition’s first quarter-final against Sri Lanka.
“I wasn’t aware of that fact (that South Africa’s first knockout defeat was at the SCG),” batsman Hashim Amla said after training at the Blacktown International Sports Park. “But it’s extremely important. We’re well aware that we haven’t won one. And this serves as a wonderful motivation to South African history.
“The guys are really raring to go. We’ve been fortunate that in the build up to this World Cup we were at home, so most of the guys are very fresh,” said Amla. “I think some of the other teams have been away from home for a long time.”
Creating “history”, though, will be no easy task against an experienced Sri Lankan team that thrives when it gets to squeaky-bum time.
Besides the collective know-how of Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Lasith Malinga, all veterans of the last two World Cup finals,
make the 1996 champions also rely heavily on this group of players to provide a big individual performance when the team needs it most, which is usually delivered by one – or even two – of the star quartet.
By contrast, South Africa’s core has often failed to take hold of a situation that demands their skill and aptitude and left the responsibility, often unfairly, to their less experienced teammates.
With South Africa’s captain, A B de Villiers, and his deputy, Hashim Amla, headlining the ICC ODI batsmen’s rankings in the No 1 and No 2 spots respectively, there is no doubt that a large part of South Africa’s intended further participation in this World Cup rests squarely on their broad shoulders. And a bit like action-figure superheroes – which they are for South Africa with both their individual ODI averages in excess of 50 – the pair work sweetly together.
They have shared partnerships worth 2 705 runs, which include 10 partnerships of more than 100 and a further eight in excess of 50, to give them an average of 81.96 when batting together.
Considering these impressive numbers, and the fact that De Villiers is often allowed to play in his own unique, extravagant way because of Amla’s capacity to build a base upfront, the Proteas Test captain is acutely aware of his responsibilities on Wednesday.
“There’s no doubt that when it comes to these knockout stages, you almost want to be the guy to score the big runs,” Amla said. “Especially the senior guys in the team want to be that guy to make that big play for us.
“That’s pretty much been what my gameplan is – to bat for as long as possible and to set the game up for the guys to have fun at the end.”
If Amla does get into his work with the efficiency that has become customary on Wednesday, South Africa may finally be able to create new memories at the SCG.