CWC 2019: South Africa, South Africa, where are you?
If you are trying to find South Africa on the World Cup 2019 points table, you won’t find them in the top three. You won’t find them in the top six either. Gaze lower and there you see them, at the eighth spot!
Only nine out of 48 World Cup matches have been concluded but the South African campaign is already under gloom. India might have been the last team to enter the World Cup but the South Africa we know is yet to arrive.
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Within the first week of the World Cup, South Africa played their first three matches. Their defeat against tournament favourites England while chasing 312 runs was not surprising. The Proteas were expected to be back on the track with a win over Bangladesh, but the Asian tigers sprung a surprise by raising a 330-run mountain while batting first. South Africa fell short by 21 runs. India handed them their third consecutive defeat yesterday with a six-wicket bashing.
Currently, South Africa and Afghanistan are the only teams who are yet to win a game in the World Cup. For a team that has often been at the top in the last seven editions of the global tournament, South Africa has never had such a disastrous start to their campaign.
Batting shambles
South Africa’s batting totals in this World Cup read – 207, 309/8 and 227. With their greatest-ever ODI batsman AB de Villiers retired, the South African batting has lost the sting. They have been over-reliant on Captain Faf du Plessis and wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock with only Rassie van der Dussen stepping up from the middle order. The experienced trio of Hashim Amla (shaken by Archer’s bouncer), David Miller (no 50-plus score in 10 ODIs this year) and JP Duminy (56 runs in three WC matches) has struggled to get going.
Crumbling bowlers
When the selectors announced their 15-man World Cup squad of South Africa, the world had to take notice of their pace battery. Dale Steyn, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and Anrich Nortje – four genuine pace bowlers to attack batting lineups. But when South Africa took the field against India yesterday, only one from the quartet was standing.
The injuries have hit South Africa hard. Steyn has been ruled out of the tournament due to a shoulder injury. Ngidi is nursing his left hamstring. Nortje missed out on his World Cup debut due to his fractured thumb. With only Rabada steaming in, opponents have made merry against the African medium pace bowlers.
Faltering fielders
There’s hardly any cricket fan who has not seen leaping Jonty Rhodes running out Inzamam-ul-Haq in the 1992 World Cup. South Africans have been pioneers in great fielding and the likes of Jonty Rhodes, Herschelle Gibbs and AB de Villiers have dazzled us over the years.
David Miller dropped a catch of Rohit Sharma.
But yesterday against India, David Miller dropped a simple catch offered by Rohit Sharma and it brought a deluge of comments. Fielding was one department that South Africa is expected to excel in every time they come out on the park but at this World Cup, they have not been at their best.
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South Africa still have six matches remaining in the tournament. Winning at least five of them will be essential. With matches against Australia and New Zealand still to come, it will be a tough challenge for the Proteas. Ending up in the top four will severely test Faf du Plessis and his men unless they play like the South African team we know.
