< 1 minute readThis appears to be South Africa’s thinking after picking only four proper bowlers. It should present a vulnerability, but when you then make 408, you find you have a certain amount of breathing space – perhaps even enough that you could field Jade Dernbach and still harbour reasonable hopes of
Continue readingCategory: South Africa
Lower orders and the last 10 overs
3 minute readAt the start of the tournament, we highlighted a weakness of South Africa’s – the fact that their batting order “quite quickly becomes a little bit Farhaan Behardien”. This weekend, it just as quickly became a little bit Wayne Parnell. That’s a long tail. South Africa’s best batsmen are so
Continue readingAB de Villiers needs Moonraker
< 1 minute readBack in November 2012, AB de Villiers made 33 off 220 balls so that South Africa could save a Test against Australia. In March last year, against the same opposition, he made 43 off 228 balls, but this time South Africa lost. Today it took him all of 31 balls
Continue readingSouth Africa’s 2015 World Cup strategy
2 minute readIs it a sign of a good side that they can get away with working to a fairly predictable strategy? Innovation is often a way of making up for shortcomings. South Africa’s approach to one-day cricket is what comes up by default in cricket strategy software. You’re meant to tweak
Continue readingFaf du Plessis has grown weary of getting hit in the nads
< 1 minute readAside from batting all day at one run an over to save Test matches, Faf du Plessis’s other thing is getting hit in the balls. You might say that he’s a specialist. In the video below, he talks you through the countermeasures he has been forced to take. Here’s a
Continue readingJP Duminy has just scored three off 65 balls
< 1 minute readThat is… stellar. Particularly when you consider that he made three off 58 balls in the first innings. He wasn’t alone either. You can see the full deadbattery in scorecard format here. South Africa were playing for a draw to secure the series and succeeded in fine complete-absence-of-style. Rangana Herath
Continue readingSouth Africa chose to bat
< 1 minute readThat was where everything went wrong. They hauled it back a bit by batting okay, but really the match was decided when Faf du Plessis scorned the coin’s generosity. Why would you ask Virat Kohli to chase? It’s like asking Mike Gatting to guard your cupcakes from scavengers. This leaves
Continue readingWhen is a lottery not a lottery?
< 1 minute readMinnows, upsets, India v Pakistan and the semi-finals already – this World T20 is getting the job done. And while some people claim that Twenty20 can be a lottery, you can make a strong case for the four remaining teams also being the four strongest. Sri Lanka v West Indies
Continue readingDeath by seam bowling
2 minute readWe’re not in favour of demonising individuals. But three runs, Jade. Three runs. That’s all that was in it. Couldn’t someone have saved three runs somewhere along the way? Maybe Jos Buttler’s missed stumping proved costly. Would a specialist wicketkeeper have made the difference, or would that merely have meant
Continue readingMore Test cricket for South Africa
< 1 minute readThat’s not a chant. There are too many syllables. You’d have to rush through the ‘Test cricket’ bit to make it work and Test cricket ain’t for rushing through. No, ‘more Test cricket for South Africa’ actually comes about because it looks like there is going to be more Test
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