SA failure on Zimbabwe tour surprises national selectors – Cricket News Update
South African national selector, Vinnie Barnes, admitted his surprise over the team’s failure to come home empty handed from their tour of Zimbabwe.
"I was a bit surprised, I thought we'd play better. I know there was a bit of rustiness and they were up against international bowlers, especially the slower bowlers, who are world-class,” said Barnes.
The Proteas’ travelled to another African nation to contest in an unofficial T20 series, involving the Rhodesians and Bangladesh. However, they failed to perform at their best and suffered a convincing loss in the final where Zimbabwe beat them by nine-wickets.
Despite being without a few of their usual suspects, the likes of AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn, Jacques Kallis and Morne Morkel, the team was still blessed with plenty of fire power.
Headed by the ever reliable Hashim Amla, the batting department offered considerable threat including the likes of Richard Levi and Faf Du Plessis, while the bowling further contained players of international experience in Wayne Parnell, Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Marchant De Lange, along with the all-round ability of Albie Morkel.
However, the team stuttered after winning their opening encounter against the Bengali Tigers, suffering back to back losses, only qualifying for the finals by beating hosts in the last round robin game.
The inconsistent performances did not go unnoticed, despite head coach Gary Kirsten earlier, downplaying the outcome. The Proteas used various combinations throughout the series, opting to go with a changed lineup in each of their game in order to give all players a reasonable chance to showcase their ability.
Barnes also took this view in mind and said that the team is still searching for the right balance, and the tour gave them plenty of insight of what to expect in Sri Lanka, the venue of the World T20 Cup.
"We definitely have more clarity now, it gives us ideas of what combinations will work. Gary Kirsten wanted specific players to rest for the tour and we wanted to have a look at fringe players, we wanted to know what was available for our best 15 for Sri Lanka," Barnes said.
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