This team dominates spin bowling and is probably the best top-six team on the planet.
Siddharth Monga
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July 6, 2019, in Manchester, was an emotional night for South African cricket. It was the final match of a disappointing World Cup campaign. It was like a farewell for the band, as much of the backroom and administrative staff had left. The players had moved on. Everyone was saying goodbye and there was uncertainty about the future of South African cricket.
In the year and a half leading up to that World Cup, South Africa had lost a home Test to India, suffered a crushing defeat against the same opponents in a home ODI, and cricket’s socio-economic factors had made it difficult to retain talent. There was a natural sense of doom and gloom about the future of South African cricket that night.
Still, that night, South Africa teased its faithful with a glimpse of what could be. Faf du Plessis scored 100 runs and Rassie van der Dussen made his mark on the world by pitching 95 innings and defeating Australia. A repechage victory might change the expected semi-final line-up and thus the outcome of the tournament, but there were few concerns for South Africa that night. When asked about the future, the players did not know what to answer.
Four years later, in the next ODI World Cup match, this resilient sporting nation declared itself a credible threat. Whatever the realities of South Africa and the cricketing economy, regeneration has been reaffirmed.
And no major changes were necessary. The three centurions who played in the opening game of the tournament, Aiden Markram, van der Dussen and Quinton de Kock, were all part of that Manchester eleven. Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi have only gotten better in the last four years. David Miller is back.
This is not the South African team we are used to. They come here with great numbers against spin. Since the start of 2022, they have averaged 42 against spin in the middle overs on run-a-balls, the highest in terms of distance. Markram and Heinrich Klaasen are two of the most notable middle-over batsmen. Still, in the T20 World Cup, where they were one of the favorites to win last year, they ended up losing to spin, so even those who were strengthening the team were a little cautious.
It will be difficult to play against a team that relies on slow bowlers in Delhi, but the re-laid surface did not fully test South Africa in terms of conditions. With this rider out of the way, South Africa gave other contenders a warning. The record for most World Cup totals, fastest World Cup history, and triple century in one innings would be enough to get the world to take notice, but it’s the way they did it so reliably and effortlessly that other countries This will cause concern.
De Kock’s last hurray in ODI cricket was a more sophisticated car than the runaway car we know. We had a slow start but gradually continued to pick up the gears. He was 28-21 when Sri Lanka first spun, but soon de Kock pulled off a reverse sweep to counter Dhananjaya de Silva. This was his way of saying he was paying attention but was not going to let the bowler get on top of him.
De Kock ended up scoring 87 off 56 balls in the middle overs, taking little risks other than 16 down against de Silva’s turn. Van der Dussen didn’t take that many risks. His pitching was a truly disappointing innings for a No. 3 player who promises to repeat.
The high point was a great drive to mid-on and the scramble that followed after stepping out into a left-arm spin. No left-arm spinner likes this and Danis Wellerage is no exception. A cat-and-mouse game ensued, with Van der Dussen trusting the pitch and trying to move forward, but Wellaraju stayed put. He kept Van der Dussen rooted by simply changing the amount of air he gave the ball. After a few half edges, a reverse sweep came out.
Wellaledge ended up with an unspectacular record of 10-0, 81-1, but he was the only one to challenge Van der Dussen. Markram faced no great difficulties. His performance is the South African team’s most notable comeback. Markram, a genius opener who was given the captaincy too soon, looked like a weight in the world in 2019.
Now Markram has reinvented himself. of Premium batsman fighting with old ball in limited overs cricket. During the World Cup, he averaged 64 runs and scored 107 runs in the middle overs. In Kotla, he showed what he can do when he has the platform and can take the innings to the death overs.
The most remarkable thing about this century’s fastest World Cup was that there was nothing frenetic about it. Facing 10 pitches in just nine runs, all that’s left is precise timing and placement, and a few upstraight drives are all you need to get started.
South Africa provided an early reminder that, in terms of form and versatility, they could be in the top six at this World Cup, although untested lower-ranked sides may hold them back at times. We have come a long way since that dark night in Manchester four years ago.
Sidharth Monga is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo