Not all smooth sailing for South Africa - Part 2 - Opinion
Continued from Part 1...
Poor bowling from the South Africans contributed to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755’s victory as they slowly slipped out of the rankings. It was an astonishing result for the Proteas as Pakistan were 5 for 136 at one stage only to chase down 286 runs in a grand fashion. For the
Proteas, the scars of that defeat continue to live on.
Chances of of Razzaq-like heroics however, were low in the recent encounter against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013, yet the fact that England managed to get past 200, hinted at complacency from a conventionally superior outfit. It was not the call of the day for South Africa as
England should have been wrapped up for around 180 to seal a memorable victory. Yet, late order assaults by the opposition, where one over went for over twenty runs, brought back vague flashbacks of inept bowling in the death. For South Africa, being buoyed
by a thumping victory, easily overshadowed areas for improvement, which they had traditionally shunned away.
Another loophole that has become quietly evident in recent times is the overreliance on http://www.senore.com/Cricket/HM-Amla-c1557 in the ODI arena. Amla’s stature as South Africa’s best batsman is reinforced by the fact that he has managed to resurrect the innings after a disastrous
start on numerous occasions. In the 2nd ODI, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hamisi-Abdallah-c61368 smashed 150 which was more than 50% of his team’s final total. The rest of the batsmen got starts which evolved around Amla’s magnificent innings which contained 16 boundaries. The next best scorer
was http://www.senore.com/Cricket/GC-Smith-c1473, who scored an inelegant 52 and looked out of sorts for the most part of his innings. This overt reliance on Amla has been a quiet feature of South Africa’s batting in recent times and is something that could plague their progression up the
ranks. The capitulation against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/NL-McCullum-c2120 triggering an undue collapse and put the Proteas on the back foot after bowling admirably in the first
innings. South Africa went on to lose that game comprehensively and crashed out of the World Cup amid shudders of being labeled ‘chokers’, once again.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/JP-Duminy-c1742 has made the South African inner-ring impregnable, and for the opposition it becomes difficult to ensure that
the ball is pierced through the gap with ease. Tumbling saves, back-hand throws which result in remarkable run-outs and catches being plucked out of thin air, are all aspects which have made South Africa one of the best ODI sides in the world.
Yet, a largely one dimensional approach needs to make way for a more purposeful manner of approaching the ODI game in order for South Africa to become a force in ODI cricket. The Proteas' place in the ICC ODI rankings could easily be jeopardized, if their
opposition tempers with their loopholes which encompasses poor death bowling, complacency, and over reliance on a few players to fire for them. If these things are taken up seriously, then South Africa could well and truly establish itself as a force to be
reckoned with. Otherwise it would be a case of the number one ranking open for grabs, from teams which tend to experiment and innovate more.
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