Breath-taking Babar bamboozles Proteas
SOUTH AFRICA 203/5 (Markram 63, Malan 55;
Nawaz 2/38)
PAKISTAN 205/1 (Babar 122)
Pakistan won by 9 wickets, lead four-matcn series 2-1
BABAR Azam delivered another masterful innings at SuperSport Park yesterday as Pakistan successfully chased a total of more than 200 for the first time.
The Pakistan captain has already produced an innings of rich quality on this tour – in the opening one-day international at the same venue – and yesterday’s performance was also packed with classical shots.
Babar made 122 off just 59 balls, hitting 15 fours and four sixes, and was more aggressive than in the ODI, because this situation demanded it, after South Africa had batted along at 10 runs an over throughout their innings.
The pursuit of a target as substantial as 204 was completed comfortably with 12 balls to spare.
A large part of that was the mastery of Babar, who was superbly supported by the Proteas’ nemesis, Mohammad Rizwan, who scored 73 off 47 balls.
South Africa played their part in the field, too.
The bowling was awful, worse even than in the first match at the Wanderers, where the ‘death’ bowling in particular had been dreadful.
The fielding too, was horrible, with two misfields in the second over setting the tone for what was another ragged performance that also featured a dropped catch by Pite van Biljon. He missed a fairly simple chance at point offered by Rizwan on 51 off Beuran Hendricks at the start of the 14th over.
It may not have made much of a difference in the outcome, but given how South Africa have fielded across all formats this season, it must be a real concern for the coaching staff, because the fielding is a genuine weak area in the side’s play.
The inconsistency of the bowling can be understood in the context of South Africa fielding an inexperienced attack at international level, but a lot of the players have also played plenty of T20 cricket, so the inability to control lines and lengths is inexcusable.
Both spinners, George Linde and
Tabraiz Shamsi delivered far too many short balls, which the Pakistan openers feasted on with relish.
In total, South Africa bowled 17 dot balls in 18 overs, illustrative of their lack of control.
There was also a lesson for the batsman in the way Babar played.
Both South African openers, Aiden Markram and Janneman Malan, made half centuries, but one of them really needed to bat deeper into the innings.
At the halfway point South Africa were 100 without loss and it would have been expected that they would accelerate from that position.
But both openers were dismissed before the 15th over, meaning a mini-rebuild had to occur, and that probably cost South Africa much-needed momentum.
When Babar didn’t locate the boundary, he and Rizwan ran magnificently between the wickets to put South Africa’s outfielders under pressure.
Babar has already risen to No 1 in the rankings in the ODI format and yesterday’s knock will put him in that conversation about the sport’s elite modern-day batsmen – a group populated by Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, Virat Kohli and Joe Root.
Babar deserves that recognition, and as poor as South Africa were in the field, the quality of his batting is for what this third match in the series must be remembered.