No wonder AB has a bad taste
ICC World T20 Super Eights South Africa 146/5 (20 overs) Australia 147/2 (17.4 overs) Australia won by 8 wickets COLOMBO: Did the Proteas choke yet again at a major ICC tournament yesterday?
To credit them with the dreaded “C” word would, however, be an insult to former South African teams who actually put in a good performance before the mental pressure got the better of them at the closing stages. AB de Villiers’s side were simply horribly inept, with Australia outclassing them in all three major disciplines.
India may have offered South Africa a semi-final lifeline by defeating Pakistan last night, but it will surely come to nought should the Proteas not improve dramatically in tomorrow’s must-win clash against the inaugural champions.
The Aussies, under former Proteas coach Mickey Arthur’s helm, certainly had better gameplans heading into the crucial encounter, and more importantly, executed it with precision under pressure. The 2010 losing finalists had noticed South Africa’s vulnerability to spin at the start of their innings in the defeat to Pakistan on Friday, and therefore saw fit to give left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty a run.
It took three balls for the plan to bear fruition, with Doherty (3/20) getting Richard Levi to bizarrely miss a straight ball. In a wise analysis of Twenty20, there is the theory that the loss of three wickets in the first six overs usually means the loss of the match as well.
South Africa have now proved that correct to almost an exact science in consecutive matches when Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla followed Levi to the dugout before the completion of the powerplay.
“It’s hard to put my finger on it. We started badly and finished badly as well, so there’s a bit of a bad taste in the mouth at the moment. We didn’t bat well in the first six. We lost three wickets again and it was hard to get momentum from there on.
“They are still world-class players and I still back them. They have proved in the past that they can play, but unfortunately, they haven’t come off in this tournament. I’m pretty sure they will come through on Tuesday. But we may try a few other combinations in the team,” said De Villiers, who hinted post-match that Faf du Plessis may come into the reckoning for tomorrow’s game.
In contrast to South Africa’s woeful top-order, Australia boast arguably the strongest top three in the competition, led by the in-form Shane Watson. The burly all-rounder yet again put on a Man-of-theMatch display – his fourth in succession – with his 70 from 47 balls spearheading Australia’s march into the semi-finals. He also claimed 2/29 with the ball.
In the attacking manner that Watson delivers his hammerings – because that’s what they are – he is always likely to offer an opportunity for a dismissal. South Africa had to take it when it came, but Wayne Parnell put it down when running in from long-off. It was not the easiest of catches, but with Watson on 52 by then already, the fate of the match and the Proteas’ standing in the tournament was already being decided.
Parnell did eventually hold on to one at long-off from Peterson’s bowling, but that was 18 runs later when Watson had already done the core damage, leaving Mike Hussey and Cameron White with a comfortable passage to the finish line.
Although hard to digest considering the 14-ball margin of defeat, the equivalent of a drubbing in this format, South Africa’s fate could have been a lot worse were it not for an unbroken 60-run partnership for the sixth wicket between Peterson (32 not out off 19 balls) and Farhaan Behardien (31 not out off 27 balls).
Peterson, in particular, showed some of the flair and Xfactor that was absent at the top of the order with a couple of amazing switch-hits and reverse sweeps.