A team that has virtually forgotten how to win will today attempt to salvage their pride dressed in pink.
The Proteas are 2-0 down in the series against Pakistan, outplayed and outsmarted. Their chances of winning the series blew away in the Cape Town wind on Thursday evening and now all that’s left is to build for next year’s ICC Champions Trophy – ironically in Pakistan.
Lose again today at the Bullring and the confidence will be further eroded, particularly amongst a batting unit that is desperately searching for some kind of formula to win games of one-day cricket.
A Delightful Debut !🤗
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) December 21, 2024
Kwena Maphaka talks us through his ODI debut for the Proteas this past Thursday and receiving his cap from his idol KG Rabada.🇿🇦🏏✨#WozaNawe#BePartOfIt #SAvPAK pic.twitter.com/D1PVm3yxdk
“I think if we're honest with ourselves, we're not close to where we want to be, where we know ourselves to be. We haven't played our best cricket in all the different facets of the game,” said captain Temba Bavuma.
“We know that there's still a lot of work for us to do to get to that level. We don't have a lot of opportunities from a playing point of view within the 50-over space, so we're going to have to find a way to really up our game, up our skill level, up our intensity to again become a competitive, strong unit that we know that we are capable of being.
“Just on one specific area, a big strength last year was how the top-order performed in India (at the World Cup).”
Unlike the Test batting unit, that has undergone a virtual renaissance where batters are scoring centuries regularly, it has been a complete reversal in ODI cricket. Only two Proteas batters have managed to score ODI centuries since last year’s World Cup in India, and ironically it has been two faces in Tony de Zorzi (119* v India) and Tristan Stubbs (112* v Ireland).
Again this is in contrast with the World Cup where the Proteas stroked nine centuries by different players in 10 matches. The notable difference since then is the ODI retirement of Quinton de Kock, who blazed four tons at the World Cup, which has left a significant void at the top of the order.
Ryan Rickelton has been trialled in De Kock’s place, but the Lions batter has yet to reach his stride in white-ball cricket. Instead of focusing on De Kock’s absence, Bavuma feels that batters are in good touch but due to the large volume of T20 cricket being played, they have not made the necessary adjustments to be successful in the longer white-ball format.
“When we're at our best, whoever gets in and finds themselves getting to 20 or 30 runs, generally the guy goes on and converts,” the skipper said.
“There have been a number of guys, a number of us, who got in and starts, but we just haven't been able to convert those starts. Really, we haven't been able to put ourselves in positions where we can be able to get scores of 350, 350-plus. So, that's an area that we need to chat about.
“The reason behind that, I think T20 cricket doesn't allow you to do that. I guess if I'm using it as an excuse, I could use that. With that being said, there's the guys who play in the test arena where batting for long is obviously an important thing.
“I think just us playing, to be honest with you, us just playing more and more 50-over cricket, that will give us that opportunity to kind of get that groove back, to get that rhythm. Fifty-over cricket is different in that you're kind of batting through the different situations, different rhythms of the game, and there's a balance we need to get used to.
“We don't want to be focusing too much on the excuses as to why we're not doing certain things. The important bit is that that's what is expected of us, that's what people know that we can do, and that's why we pride ourselves on doing it.
“We trust in ourselves as batters. We also know that if one guy gets 100, it's going to kind of start happening for everyone else.”
The Proteas have a host of injuries to consider for today’s Pink ODI with Titans all-rounder Corbin Bosch primed for his international debut, although Bavuma indicated that premier fast bowler Kagiso Rabada would be available for selection.
FULL SQUADS FOR THE PINK ODI
Proteas: Temba Bavuma (capt), Corbin Bosch, Tony de Zorzi, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Kwena Maphaka, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Tristan Stubbs, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen.
Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan (captain & wk), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufyan Moqim, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan (wk)