The Proteas’ World Cup Opener
"Once bitten, twice shy". A big win against Zim could help the Proteas avoid the repeat of 2021.
The Proteas are set to open their T20 World Cup campaign against Zimbabwe on Monday, the 24th of October in Hobart. A Southern African derby as most have termed it. The Proteas go into the world cup with a number of questions regarding selection and overall team combinations. It will be crucial for the Proteas to start well in this world cup. However, Temba Bavuma and his men will have the last world cup world cup at the back of their minds. A group stage exit in the previous T20 World Cup due to inferior net run rate is exactly why an opening encounter against Zimbabwe could be what the doctor ordered for the South Africans.
While it will be very crucial for the selectors to get the team and team composition or balance right, it will be even more imperative for the team to get its tactics right. With all due respect to Zimbabwe, an opening match against Zimbabwe is the best chance for the Proteas to get a big win to avoid the possibility of history repeating itself. In the last T20 world cup, a 5-wicket loss to Australia in the opening match set the Proteas back a bit. They managed to bounce back and won all their remaining matches but the game against Bangladesh proved to be a disaster. Chasing down 84 runs in 13.3 overs was not ideal at all and came back to bite the Proteas as ended up with tied points with England and Australia, the Proteas were then knocked out of the tournament because the other two sides had a superior net run rate. Playing against Zimbabwe will by no means be easy, but one cannot deny the fact that the Proteas are the superior side between the two. A big win for the Proteas could set them up well for the remainder of the tournament and could send a big message to other teams. I am not saying the Proteas must go out there and undermine or disrespect the Zimbabweans but rather asking for aggression and positivity.
Going into their opener in Hobart, the Proteas’ selectors have a few questions they need to answer. One of those being the question around the opening pair.
For a while now, there has been a lot being said about Temba Bavuma’s selection considering his recent form and the fact that many people believe he might not really be suited for the format. However, Temba being captain has meant that dropping him somewhat is not as easy as most make it out to look. With that being said, the selectors will have to make a decision as to who their openers for the world cup will be between the 3 selected opening options.
Quinton de Kock
Everyone knows what de Kock can do with the gloves and the bat. He is currently the team’s best wicket keeper batter, but his recent form has been worrying. Apart from the 69 and 68 he scored against India recently, Quinny’s form has not been great but that is least of my concerns with Quinny. My biggest concern is his overall performances in World Cup. He is a big player for the Proteas and the team needs him to do well however, in world cups he has seemed to struggle. He is striking at 121 in T20 world cups and has played no more than two good innings in a world cup.
Temba Bavuma
Temba will be first to admit that his form has not been good and that he really needs to step up. His recent form has been awfully bad and has resulted in a lot of people calling for his dead. Coach, Mark Boucher backs him to come good so it will be interesting to see if they go in with Temba if he has fully recovered from the infection or will there be a surprise selection. While most people seem to think Temba is not suitable for this format, one can argue that Temba has shown to have the ability to do what is needed in this format. He just has not done it enough for the Proteas to fully gain everyone’s trust. He is still captain of the side and probably one of the first names on that list if fit.
Reeza Hendricks
The most in form opener in the side, Reeza Hendricks had been in and out of the side for a while and had been struggling with consistency. “From zero to hero.” This phrase sums up Reeza’s career so far. Not so long ago, many were questioning his selection as he was also in and out of the side. Things changed after Temba got injured and Reeza replaced him for the series against England. Even with Reeza’s form, the selectors have stuck with their captain and wicketkeeper so it will be interesting to see what they do at world cup.
These 3 players all played at the last world cup, and both did not do much and have very little separating them as far as their strike rates are concerned.
Temba 91 runs @ 108.33 SR, 46 highest score
Quinton 69 runs @ 107.81 SR, 34 highest score
Reeza 56 runs @ 101.81 SR, 39 highest score
It does not matter who the selectors pick because it will not change the fact that they will have their work cut out for them. South Africa has a destructive middle order but a good start from the openers could make the middle order’s job slightly easier.
The Proteas have more questions to answer apart from the Opening pair issue however, the other questions are slightly easier than the above mentioned. Dwaine Pretorius’ injury leaves a big gap in the allrounder department when considering what he could do with the bat. Wayne Parnell and Marco Jansen can do much better than Pretorius with the ball but not with the bat. It also remains to be seen whether the Proteas will go in with two spinners or will they back Aiden Markram to bowl some spin?
While Australian grounds may be quite big, New Zealand showed today that you can still score big. Australian pitches are mostly flat and good for batting, but the size of the grounds will always play their part. It will be important for the Proteas to avoid being bogged down when batting. If the Proteas have ever had a chance to win the world cup, this is certainly it. All they need to do is to take it 1 game at a time, play aggressive and remember their processes.