THAT South Africa beat Australia in Mackay on Friday to clinch their men’s ODI series with a game to spare was only the tip of the iceberg. There’s plenty going on below the waterline, particularly in a batting sense.
The visitors, who won the first match by 98 runs in Cairns on Tuesday, added an 84-run thumping at the Great Barrier Reef Arena to make Sunday’s game at the same venue an irrelevance.
Lungi Ngidi was the star, intelligently applying his variations of pace — and diving across the pitch to claim a stunning return catch — to take 5/52. That did more than anything to dismiss the Australians for 193 in 37.4 overs to complete a comprehensive victory.
With that South Africa had their fifth consecutive series win in the format over these opponents, who slipped to their third straight defeat in ODI rubbers. Let’s not forget Australia are the current holders of the World Cup, which they have won a record six times. Or at least three times as often as any other team.
The Aussies were also who South Africa downed in the WTC final at Lord’s in June. What made them such beatable opposition for the side from the sharp tip of Africa?
Ngidi was having none of that at his press conference: “It’s always a tough challenge; they always put you under pressure. It was a test of character today. It usually is against Australia. Today there was assistance [in the pitch], but it’s more of a mental battle every time you play Australia.
“You’ve seen from the T20 series [which Australia won 2-1] how it’s up and down. They win, we win, and they win again. It’s always competitive. In the ODIs, it’s no different.
“We had the opportunity to win a series tonight. It was about mentally stepping up and finishing it off. It’s a great rivalry that’s always been there, and it’s going to continue for many years.”
The win was South Africa’s first white-ball success since Shukri Conrad added the short-format portfolio to his red-ball duties in May. Before the current series, South Africa had lost five of the eight T20Is they had played under Conrad – who has cemented his international credentials by guiding his team to 13 victories in 17 Tests, only three of them lost.
One of the keys to Conrad’s style is to give players more autonomy than other coaches. What does that mean on the field?
“For the bowlers, it’s pretty much giving you the freedom to bowl what you want to bowl,” Ngidi said. “We’ve been playing international cricket for a couple of years now, so we know what we’re good at and what we need to do. That’s the beauty of what he’s gifted us. It’s freedom – set your field and bowl what you want to bowl according to whatever you see in front of you. Play the conditions and don’t be scared to try things.”
For instance, Ngidi said, “I believe in the slower ball, so if I want to bowl it in the powerplay I’ve got the freedom to do it. That’s something beautiful because it gives me confidence in what I want to execute.”
.But however eloquently Ngidi articulates what life as a bowler is like with Conrad as coach, he’s not going to be able to say what it means for batters. Which brings us back to what is going on under the waterline around South Africa’s iceberg.
The Conrad approach seems to be working for Matthew Breetzke, whose lowest score in his four ODI innings is the 57 he made in Cairns on Tuesday. Breetzke’s form has already made him the leading runscorer among all ODI players in their first five innings – even if he gets out for nought in his next trip to the crease.
Other batters are not in such prolific form.
Tristan Stubbs’ 74 on Friday marked the first time he reached 50 in 14 innings across formats. But he might not be out of the woods yet – he also dropped two catches, which makes it six spilled chances in five games for a player capable of making the stupendous look simple in the field.
Ryan Rickelton admitted that his 71 off 55 in the first T20I in Darwin on August 10 was too laboured for the requirements of the match situation. He looked fretful at the crease in his four subsequent innings, in which he had a highest score of 33.
Aiden Markram’s 136 in the WTC final was among the most consequential and momentous performances by any player in the history of South African sport, but he was out for fewer than 20 four times on this tour; including for nought and one. The exception was his 81-ball 82 in the first ODI – when his anguished anger after he flapped untidily outside his off stump and was caught behind to end what until then looked like a hundred in the making spoke volumes.
Tony de Zorzi, who cracked the nod on Friday because Temba Bavuma was left out as “part of his workload management,” has gone 15 innings without making a half-century. And that by a player who scored 85, 119 not out, 81, 78 and 177 in the course of his first 23 innings.
Doubtless, Conrad is more acutely aware of all of the above than anyone else. Just as certain is that only he and his support staff, and nobody else, can do something about it. (Cricbuzz)