South Africa’s implosion against the Netherlands in Dharamsala was of epic proportions. It was a calamity that was always likely to happen at some point, and they have few options to stop it happening again, writes Katya Witney – but that doesn’t mean they should panic.
It was all going so well in South Africa’s World Cup until approximately a third of the way through their third game. They were the tournament bolters, the big hitters no one had quite seen coming, once again promising to vanquish the demons of their past failures. The brashness with which they thumped a World Cup record score against Sri Lanka before deepening Australia’s misery pointed to a team for whom it was all falling into place.
Still, there were concerns that prevented many from calling South Africa the absolute favorites to win. The bowling without Anrich Nortje was not tested as there were big points to defend in the first two matches. As the explosive batting lineup faded early on, No. 7 Marco Jansen left little room for error. Holland has added a weakness to spin to this list.
South Africa have lost six wickets in the 30 overs since they put the Netherlands in bat, and were able to limit their run rate to just over four per over. However, his quick 64-run partnership for the eighth wicket spoiled their plans and confirmed fears became reality. Roelof van der Merwe used short length and off-pace deliveries to hit Gerard Coetzee with consecutive fours and sixes. Scott Edwards did the same with Kagiso Rabada on the other side, but he also lost pace and went short. That was before Lungi Ngidi’s bowling went into an eight-ball over and Aryan Dutt got involved.
South Africa was as expected. They stuck to their plan even though they were forced to move across a short border. There was no attempt at intervention to advance the full length, hit the stumps, or do anything else in general. Themba Bavuma and other experienced South African heads never told Coetzee at any point that his best option was not to take an extra-base hit on a slow pitch with the following runners at bat.
Perhaps after the initial success there was overconfidence that they could win every set. But if Britain’s collapse in Afghanistan has taught South Africa nothing, their lessons must be learned from lived experience.
2022 T20 World Cup – Netherlands beat South Africa by 13 runs 🇳🇱
ODI World Cup 2023 – Netherlands beat South Africa by 38 points 🇳🇱
Zwei unglaubliche Ergebnisse! 🍊#SAvNED #CWC23 pic.twitter.com/s7k9QHsnoa
– Wisden (@WisdenCricket) 17. October 2023
Given how quickly the Netherlands seized chances to score crucial points against South Africa’s attack, it’s not hard to imagine where other teams would line up to target them. They next face England on Sunday, and they have the option of adding another batsman to their attack, so the bet is on whether they can outdo them. That was before they came to India in a few weeks.
South Africa has few opportunities to redeploy seafarers. If they decide there are too many holes in their attack, there are two pacers to choose from in the team: Lizard Williams, who conceded 64 runs in eight overs in his only ODI cap, and Andile Phelukwayo.
Phelkwayo is no expert on death, but he could solve another weakness highlighted today: the South African army simply cannot attack deep enough unless the top forces open fire. . After Heinrich Claassen lost his wicket today, the result was almost a foregone conclusion. His seventh place in Janssen is too high, especially considering the combination of Rabada, Coetzee and Keshav Maharaj behind him.
But if the top order continues to reel in the face of spin, Phehlukwayo is not the answer. Bavuma was daunted by the Dutch spinner’s early outburst and took 31 balls to score 16 runs. For him, this is a dismal record across formats in Asia. In ODIs alone, his average in the five matches he has played here is 26.25 with a strike rate of 67.30. Rassie van der Dussen’s shot, on a reverse sweep when South Africa were already three down, showed how quickly Rush can take over when the usual early runs are missing .
The problems identified by the Netherlands were many, but not unknown. South Africa went into this tournament knowing full well that if they wanted to win, they would have to win without some of their first picks, along with a group of specialists. There’s no need to panic just yet as two wins are at stake, but the warning sirens are blaring louder and louder.
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