Rain delays may help Proteas to prepare for cup

PREPARING for any eventuality lies at the heart of the Boy Scout movement, and it is a philosophy adopted by the South African cricket team as they boarded the flight for Colombo this morning, following a frustratingly truncated T20 series with England.

They had one full game, in Durham, but in Manchester and at Edgbaston last night they had overs reduced due to rain – a nine-overs-a-side match at Old Trafford, and 11 overs per team in Birmingham – but saw value in both.

Far from taking nothing away, they’ve taken plenty, and given themselves some idea of how they need to play if they face a reduced-overs situation at the World T20 championships in Sri Lanka

“I hear there is quite a bit of rain about in Sri Lanka, we might get a few rain-delayed games, which might cost you the World Cup if you’re not ready,” said South African captain AB de Villiers.

Last night England were the better team, with bat and ball, in a match reduced to 11 overs. South Africa held them under control for the most part thanks to Johan Botha, in particular, who bowled three overs for just 19 runs while picking up two wickets.

However, in such reduced circumstances the match can turn in one over – heck, three balls – and last night it happened in the 10th over of the England innings, when Wayne Parnell conceded 32 runs to two no balls (and subsequent free hits) and two sixes and two fours to Jos Buttler.

“He took it to us, I thought he hit a few very inventive shots, which is what’s necessary in this format,” said De Villiers.

Buttler finished unbeaten on 32 – 31 of those off Parnell’s over, which was the second most expensive in international T20 cricket’s short history, surpassed only by Yuvraj Singh’s unforgettable six sixes at Kingsmead against Stuart Broad in 2007.

England made 118-5 in their 11 overs, with SA finishing on 90-5, to hand the hosts a 28-run victory. The series was tied at 1-1.

“It’s certainly not our best performance with the ball in hand. We came up short in a few areas. We were pretty much outplayed tonight,” De Villiers added.

Morné Morkel had a comical first over in which he bowled one wide delivery that bounced on an adjacent pitch, fell over at the end of his bowling action and conceded 16 runs.

Parnell started excellently, conceding just five runs and bowling Michael Lumb with a beautiful delivery that ducked back into the batsmen.

Again Hashim Amla ended as SA’s top scorer with 36, and received another rich round of applause – a reflection of the respect he has garnered on this trip. Unfortunately for the South Africans, they could find no one to produce the pyrotechnics Buttler provided in the England innings.