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ICC World Cup 2019 Preview: Could 2019 be the year when the Proteas finally defy the 'chokers' tag?

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“The teams that make the best decisions under pressure perform the best” : SA coach Ottis Gibson

Durban - The Proteas have a major problem playing against quality spin bowling.

That is a statement that they cannot get away from.

It was evident on the 2015 tour of India where they were smashed 3-0 in a one-sided Test series, and it was equally evident in Sri Lanka over the past month or so.

In the Test matches in Sri Lanka, the wickets aided the likes of Rangana Herath and co, but in the limited overs leg of the tour the Proteas' troubles against the slow bowlers had much to do with their own approach.

From the very beginning of the tour, South Africa wanted to be positive against spin, across all formats.

Skipper Faf du Plessis acknowledged that the plan had backfired after the first Test at Galle, where spin accounted for 17 of South Africa's wickets as they fell to a 278-run defeat.

Things didn't get any better in the second Test, either, where spin accounted for all 20 Proteas wickets in a 199-run loss.

The ODI series provided flatter wickets initially as the Proteas raced to a 3-0 series lead, but as soon as there was some assistance on offer for the slow bowlers, the problems came back.

In Tuesday's one-off T20I, Lakshan Sandakan (3/19) and Akila Dananjaya (2/15) embarrassed the South Africans.

Next year's World Cup is in England, but that part of the world can still dish up dry, flat ODI wickets.

More importantly, the Proteas will face quality spin bowling in all of their matches against Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India.

Regardless of the surfaces, spin bowling is set to play a major role at the World Cup, and right now South Africa are not where they need to be in that regard.

Gibson would still rather see his players looking to be positive against the slow bowlers, but he acknowledges that there needs to be more common sense applied after watching Tuesday's fiasco.

"I don't think there was enough thinking in terms of guys figuring out for themselves what shots were relevant on the pitch," Gibson explained.

"It wasn't a normal T20 wicket, but you still have to adapt, and we didn't bat well enough.

"We want to be positive, but you still want to make good decisions. The teams that make the best decisions under pressure are the ones that perform the best, and the decision making of some of our players was questionable."

What Gibson doesn't want is batsmen going out to the middle looking to simply survive.

"Some guys play spin very well and others not so well, but I still like the fact that we're trying to score runs," he said.

"My feeling is, if you defend and get out defending, then you're still not scoring runs. You still have to find a way to score.

"I don't want people to go into their shells and start to think that they have to defend. I want guys to look to score."

The Proteas are next in action when they host Zimbabwe in three ODIs and three T20Is, starting in Kimberley on September 30.

https://www.sport24.co.za/Cricket/Proteas/gibson-opens-up-on-proteas-spin-woes-20180816
 
Wonder if SA will choke in the WC 2019. Although with the retirement of de Villiers, no one is really giving them a chance and making them favourites, wonder if that will work in their favour?
 
Also rans, always there, there and there abouts – some of the tags that have accompanied the South Africa side throughout their World Cup participation history. It does indeed defy belief that a side which has boasted the likes of Jacques Kallis, Lance Kluesner, Jonty Rhodes, Allan Donald and Ab de Villiers is yet to win the World Cup. But could 2019 be the year when the Proteas finally defy the 'chokers' tag?


<img src="https://i.imgur.com/uIk53DT.png" width="700">​


Strengths:

A team which boasts two bowlers, Imran Tahir and Kagiso Rabada, ranked among the top players in ICC’s ODI rankings for bowlers can only be rated as strong. Add to that presence of one of the most menacing bowlers on the face of the planet, Dale Steyn and you have a bowling unit which would be the envy of many others. But the awesomeness of this South African outfit doesn’t stop with their bowling strength as the batting also has some names which would already be causing nightmares to potential opposition bowlers. Quinton de Kock and Faf du Plessis are currently ranked 4th and 5th respectively in ICC’s ranking for ODI batsmen and they are well supported by the likes of the veteran Hashim Amla, JP Duminy and Aiden Markram – each of whom can win games on their own.


Weaknesses:

The current South Africa squad may have its strengths but to succeed in England, as Pakistan have seen to their detriment recently, there needs to be variety in the bowling attack. Imran Tahir’s excellence is well known but, what South Africa lack is a genuine spinner to support Imran should they encounter pitches in England where two spinners are needed. To look for weaknesses in this South Africa line-up is a tough ask but like other sides from this country, there is a distinct lack of mental toughness when competing in major tournaments. We have seen this in the past World Cup, and we saw it happen again in the Champions Trophy in 2017. It appears that South Africa will need to overcome a mental block which has afflicted them over many years of competing in the World Cup. Whilst having Steyn and Rabada in their squad looks great on paper, the fact is that both bowlers have been plagued by injuries. Additionally, for a tournament which is being expected to be dominated by the batsmen, the batting does have a fragile look about it.


Players to watch:

Rassie van der Dussen at 30 years of age isn’t young but he has still forced his way into the squad by the sheer weight of runs in the nine ODIs he’s played in, scoring 353 at an outstanding average of 88.25, which includes four half-centuries. Amongst the regulars, Quinton de Kock will be the man to watch for especially where Hashim Amla has been going through a lean patch of late. And amongst bowlers, the Kagiso Rabada factor will be an important one if the Proteas are to make any significant attempt at reaching the top.


Prediction:

The tag of ‘chokers’ is one that South Africa will look to expunge as soon as they can, but history indicates that this has always been tough ask for team that always looks good on paper but fails to deliver when it counts. A disappointing exit in the semi-final stage is more than likely for Faf du Plessis’ men.


Full squad:

Faf du Plessis (captain)
Hashim Amla
Quinton de Kock
JP Duminy
Aiden Markram
David Miller
Lungi Ngidi
Chris Morris
Andile Phehlukwayo
Dwaine Pretorius
Kagiso Rabada
Tabraiz Shamsi
Dale Steyn
Imran Tahir
Rassie van der Dussen
 
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QDK cant do it alone on top so they need to have a plan in place if Amla messes up
 
Any losses in this WC would not be choking, they actually aren't favourites this time. It will be something special if this squad manages to get past the semi-finals.
 
Lungi Ngidi could be among South Africa’s main weapons at the World Cup, according to his captain Faf du Plessis.

Ngidi opened the bowling against Sri Lanka in Cardiff and took two wickets in an incisive four-over opening spell.

And Du Plessis believes that is just the beginning of what the big fast-bowler has to offer.

“I rate Lungi very highly. He is an exceptional fast bowler who is going to get wickets for us,” du Plessis said.

Though du Plessis would have liked to see Ngidi bowl “seven or eight overs straight,” he capped the quick’s participation to six overs to give “everyone a good run out.”

The match also saw Kagiso Rabada make a return from a back injury that resulted in his early departure from the IPL and Chris Morris come back into the national side after his late inclusion in the World Cup squad. Du Plessis hopes to see both improve as the tournament goes on.

“KG has been slowly building up, working on his action and working on his run-up. Today was the first time with he was bowling at full intensity,” du Plessis said.

“Chris Morris was a bit rusty, he hasn’t played much cricket but he still has time to try and get over that rustiness.”

Morris will be competing with Phehlukwayo and Pretorius for a place in the final XI, with du Plessis confirming that there is “definitely not space for three,” allrounders.

There may be room for two, but that would depend on the fitness of Dale Steyn, who is “progressing,” from a shoulder injury.

Should Steyn be fit, South Africa may only have room for one allrounder in their final XI to accommodate the full variety of all their frontline seamers. “If our fast bowlers are all fit, we love that diversity in that attack,” du Plessis said.

South Africa also have plenty to ponder in their batting line-up, with a middle-order that currently includes JP Duminy, David Miller and Rassie van der Dussen.

Only van der Dussen scored significantly in the Sri Lanka match (40 off 41 balls) and his versatility could see him slot in anywhere in the line-up.

“Rassie has been exceptional for us the last 12 months. He fits in extremely well into any position: No.3, 4 and 5. He has put his name down for any of those positions,” du Plessis said.

At the top of the order, Hashim Amla restated his case for a position with his highest score since January, something du Plessis couldn’t have been more pleased about.

“Today was beautiful to see Hash play, the way Hash plays: quietly killing the bowling attack,” du Plessis added.

The only person left for South Africa’s captain to mention was himself. He top-scored with 88 off 69 balls and demonstrated a new level of confidence in his approach, which he hopes his team can emulate.

“It’s important to try and let my actions back up my words. I feel if I am asking the batting unit to play with more freedom, not to fear failure and to be courageous, then I have to do it when I bat out there in the middle,” du Plessis said.

“I feel like the last year I have improved that aspect in my game. I have to keep making sure I lead with that.”
 
They can't afford both rassie and Amla in that lineup. They need qdk and markram to open to get them off to fliers in the first 10.
 
South Africa’s comfortable 87-run victory against Sri Lanka in an ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup warm-up game in Cardiff on 24 May will have given the team a good deal of confidence heading into the tournament, not least with respect to the strength in depth they have in the seam bowling all-rounders spots.

Runs for Andile Phehlukwayo (35), Dwaine Pretorius (25*) and Chris Morris (26*) and wickets for Phehlukwayo and Pretorius, means all three men should be in the mix for a spot in the starting XI.

“I think there is quite good competition and good depth within the squad,” Phehlukwayo said. “Personally, I am not looking in terms of those competitions. I just want to contribute for the team, whoever is playing in that all-rounder position is obviously the person in form and hopefully they can do the job for the team. Aside from that I don’t think personally I have any agenda in terms of the all-rounder.

“We have a very diverse squad so I think on the day we can play any combinations and that team that is fit to play will do everything to perform and to win the game for South Africa. So, at the moment I am really not sure, but I know that the diversity and the depth that we have in our squad is really good so whoever is fit to play will do the job for the team.”

South Africa’s captain, Faf du Plessis, said that at least one of those three players would have to sit out.

“There is definitely not space for three of them,” Du Plessis said. “Depending on fitness, Dale Steyn is progressing. So, if he doesn’t progress the way that he wants to then two all-rounders comes into the equation. If our fast bowlers are all fit, we love that diversity in our attack.”

In the match against Sri Lanka runs from the lower middle order was hugely important in South Africa posting a total of 338/7 after there was a burst of three wickets for 52 runs in the middle of their innings. When asked if he sees himself as a finisher, he said that was a role he relishes.

“Definitely I do,” Phehlukwayo said. “Every day you’re learning in terms of your batting, your bowling, and I need to get into the nets and keep improving my power hitting. It’s definitely there and today there were glimpses of it. I need to go and practice it a little bit more.”

The pitch in Cardiff seemed to have lots of runs in it, and the games in England in recent times have seen big scores in ODIs. Phelukwayo has said dealing with being hit for boundaries when bowling or looking for boundaries when batting is a big part of the game.

“It’s the mindset that you take in, in terms of watching all the games and then when you’re in the middle, and you face a few balls and you’ve got to get yourself in quickly. You don’t want to get fewer runs and then get caught up at the end of the day going, we should have gone earlier, or we should have waited. Those things you’ve got to adjust, and you’ve got to assess really quickly, and you’ve got to train yourself in the nets, and that’s something that comes with the game plan, and on the day how the wicket is playing.

“Sitting at home watching a couple of the games in England it has been really interesting. And to come and see how good the wickets truly are is going to be fantastic. I think it is going to be a high scoring tournament. I think the team that bowls really well in this tournament will win the tournament. I think we would have liked a few more runs. Obviously, they bowled quite well and the wicket had something in it through the whole innings so it was nice to see that both of the teams got a good outcome out of the game. Especially for us, out there batting and scoring 300 runs is quite a lot of confidence for us going into the tournament.”

https://www.cricketworldcup.com/news/en/1225860
 
Whether it is making his case in warm-up matches or bowling at the death in tight finishes, Andile Phehlukwayo is the man for the Cricket World Cup occasion.

The all-rounder came in with South Africa teetering slightly at 228-5 in the 37th over of their first warm-up match against Sri Lanka.

But he struck 35 and then took 4-36 with the ball in their 87-run win to advance his case to start Thursday's opening game against hosts England.

Phehlukwayo announced himself in international cricket with decisive performances against New Zealand and Australia in 2017 and relishes his reputation as a finisher.

"Batting at number seven is an interesting one – you’re the last recognised batter," the 23-year-old said.

"There's pressure, but it's the chance to show off your skills and make a really decisive play for the team.

"I think there are going to be a lot of tight situations in this tournament, with so many games to play.

"Hopefully I can put myself in those situations and rise above them.

"It's something I do enjoy - that's where all good players are tested. I hope I can come through for the team in those situations."

South Africa average 310 in first innings since the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2015 and showed their clout in getting to 338-7 in Cardiff.

After brisk half-centuries from Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis gave them a roaring start, they were pegged back in the middle overs.

Phehlukwayo reckons the Proteas could have clocked 40 or 50 more runs, an encouraging sign with the tournament proper a week away.

"It was a good day out," he said.

"We batted pretty well - I personally would have liked more runs, but the wicket had something in it if you hit a good length.

"It's encouraging to know we can get 300 without being at our best. Hopefully we can take this momentum into the tournament."
 
Special shout out to DeVilliers for retiring a year before the World Cup
 
They have bowlers who can be lethal in English conditions. They have power in the batting and decent batting depth. Don't even need to talk about how good they are in the field.

Faf is an excellent leader and good tactician so no worry about the captaincy.

The main issue is as always can they handle the pressure. Not every loss is a choke. I think people are underestimating them. The team has been together to a while and they have all basis covered other than AB being out. I don't think they will win it , but if they get to the semis anything is possible. I think if they go out this time , it won't be due to choking.
 
This format will favor South Africa as they can afford to have one or two shocking days and still qualify by winning the remaining games. If their fast bowlers can get through the tournament uninjured then they will surely get to the semis. However, the middle and lower middle order isn't as strong as it used to be and given Amla's decline, they will depend heavily on QdK, Faf and their bowling to win them games.
 
Their bowling unit is lethal, diverse and experienced - this may prove to be their biggest strength and may take them to the finals or even win them the cup!
 
South Africa’s top-order put the finishing touches on their World Cup preparations in a rain-affected encounter against West Indies in Bristol.

South Africa’s top-order put the finishing touches on their World Cup preparations in a rain-affected encounter against West Indies in Bristol.

Hashim Amla scored his second, successive half-century, off just 44 balls, after finding form in the first warm-up match on Friday.

There, Amla’s touch and timing was apparent, here, he was fine-tuning, turning the wrists over and scoring quickly.

In addition to his eight boundaries, Amla also struck the only six of the innings, a ramp shot off Oshane Thomas to out-bat is regular opening partner, Quinton de Kock.

The wicket-keeper-batsman returned to the line-up after being rested from the first warm-up game and picked up from where he left off at the Indian Premier League, where he was the third-highest run-scorer.

De Kock powered his way to 37 off 30 balls, which included a cracking cover drive and two meaty pulls before the first rain delay.

After an initial interruption of 29 minutes, the players came back for seven balls before being forced off the field for a further three-and-a-half hours.

The stop-start nature of the day did not affect South Africa’s opening pair and they returned from the long delay to score 35 runs off 20 balls before the drizzle returned and play was called off.

While Amla and de Kock could be content with their efforts, the wash-out meant that the rest of South Africa’s line-up were unable to cash in on a flat surface and fast outfield.

In particular, Aiden Markam, who is competing for a place in the final XI and David Miller, who was dismissed cheaply on Friday, would have wanted some time in the middle.

Both Markram and Miller were in the nets, though, facing throw-downs from South Africa’s coaching staff and Dale Steyn, who is returning to full fitness.

Steyn has not been part of either of South Africa’s warm-up matches as he continues to recover from the shoulder injury he sustained last month and appears to be progressing well.

With three more days before South Africa’s campaign begins, Steyn’s participation in the match against England has yet to be confirmed but indications are that he will not be rushed into the XI before he is fully fit.

The rest of South Africa’s attack also did not have the opportunity for another run out because of the rain. Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi seem to be over their back and side strains respectively and may have wanted another competitive fitness test while Dwaine Pretorius and Chris Morris are searching for consistency as they tussle over the allrounder spot.

But, with some selection questions yet to be answered, South Africa’s competitive match preparation is now complete. They will travel to London on Monday and have two training sessions before kicking off the 2019 World Cup against the hosts, England, at The Oval on Thursday.
 
Dale Steyn, the veteran South Africa pacer, has been ruled out of the side's opening match of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019 against England.

Steyn, 35, had aggravated a long-standing right shoulder injury during his short stint in the Indian Premier League. He had been under observation and coach Ottis Gibson confirmed on Tuesday, 28 May, that he won't be fully fit in time for the tournament opener at The Oval on Thursday.

Steyn is also unlikely to feature in their second match, against Bangladesh at the same venue on Sunday, with the 5 June game against India identified for his return.

"He is getting closer everyday; we hope that if not by Sunday then by the India game," Gibson told presspersons on the sidelines of the team's training.

South Africa have among the most potent pace bowling attacks going into the tournament, but injuries have been a concern. Kagiso Rabada too returned early from the IPL after a back issue, while Lungi Ngidi is only just returning from a spell on the sidelines. The team had earlier been forced to withdraw Anrich Nortje because of a fractured thumb.

In Steyn's absence, Faf du Plessis has the option to ask Dwaine Pretorius or Chris Morris to step into the attack.

https://www.cricketworldcup.com/news/en/1227507
 
Tuesday, 28 May 2019

Standard Bank Proteas fast bowler, Dale Steyn, is unavailable for selection for the opening ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup match against England at The Oval on Thursday. Steyn, who is recovering from a right shoulder injury, has not made a satisfactory recovery to feature in the key opening match of the tournament.

Proteas head coach, Ottis Gibson, confirmed the decision on Tuesday afternoon: “He is not quite ready, not far away but he is not ready yet. We think with a six-week tournament there is no real need to force the issue right now. So he won’t be available for the first match.

“We know that he is close and is getting closer every day,” he explained. “We will give him as much time as we can for him to get ready. We are hoping that he will be ready on Sunday against Bangladesh, but if not, then against India.”

The remainder of the squad has been given a clean bill of health.

The match is scheduled to start at 10h30 (11h30 SAST) local time.
 
Gibson knows each and everything about English players he was there with them for long time.He have passed on the knowledge beautifully to Sa players which they are exploring perfectly.
 
Rassie van der Dussen has rated South Africa as being at ‘70 percent with bat and ball’ in their opening match against England and believes there is enough time for them to improve in the competition.

Rassie van der Dussen has rated South Africa as being at ‘70 percent with bat and ball’ in their opening match against England and believes there is enough time for them to improve in the competition.

The Proteas lost by 104 runs to ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 hosts England at The Oval, where Ben Stokes impressed with a fine all-round performance.

Despite that loss, Van der Dussen is confident South Africa can improve over the course of the tournament.

“It's the first game, it’s a stepping stone for us. At the end of the day, you want to peak at the right time and that’s at the back end,” Van der Dussen said. “We were probably at 70 percent so that’s not where we want to be. But it’s the start of a long competition where you want to have an upwards curve in terms of your performance.”

Van der Dussen himself had an impressive first World Cup outing and scored 50 off 61 balls to keep South Africa in the hunt, chasing 312. Though they lost seven wickets for 65 runs and were defeated by 104 runs, Van der Dussen does not think the difference between South Africa and England is as large as the margin reflects.

“It looks a lot worse than it is,” he said. “When myself and Quinny (Quinton de Kock) were in there, if we could have stayed there together for five or 10 more overs, it would have really put pressure on them. We could have come really close. We just lost too many wickets along the way.”

Van der Dussen put the dismissals down to a lack of execution and not the sense of occasion that came with playing the host nation in front of a full house.

He added: “There were a few nerves but you are nervous when you are not in the situation. As you are looking in from outside, that’s when the nerves come in. Everyone, as soon as they got the ball or bat in hand, they just come out and do the job.”

In fact, he enjoyed the crowd involvement, whether or not it was in South Africa’s favour.

“There are a lot of South Africans in London so we are grateful to them for coming out. The English crowd is a hostile crowd but a respectable crowd. They give credit where credit is due and that’s something nice,” Van der Dussen said.

South Africa will be back at The Oval on Sunday, when they play Bangladesh and only have two days to tune up. Van der Dussen said it will only require minor tweaks to get them match ready.

He added: “Everybody’s games are in a good space at the moment. We worked really hard over the last few weeks and everybody knows where they are. It will be a situation of just topping up on some of the batting and bowling skills, no drastic changes. We know if we are at our best or close to it, we can beat any side.”
 
People don't know what chokers mean do they?

Old SA team were chokers because they were the best team going around and crumbled under pressure.

This team is just not good enough to beat the top 4 teams. So they are not chokers they are just not good enough..

Just because the old team was tagged chokers people don't understand what it actually means and use the word all the time..
 
Rassie van der Dussen has rated South Africa as being at ‘70 percent with bat and ball’ in their opening match against England and believes there is enough time for them to improve in the competition.

The Proteas lost by 104 runs to ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 hosts England at The Oval, where Ben Stokes impressed with a fine all-round performance.

Despite that loss, Van der Dussen is confident South Africa can improve over the course of the tournament.

“It's the first game, it’s a stepping stone for us. At the end of the day, you want to peak at the right time and that’s at the back end,” Van der Dussen said. “We were probably at 70 percent so that’s not where we want to be. But it’s the start of a long competition where you want to have an upwards curve in terms of your performance.”

Van der Dussen himself had an impressive first World Cup outing and scored 50 off 61 balls to keep South Africa in the hunt, chasing 312. Though they lost seven wickets for 65 runs and were defeated by 104 runs, Van der Dussen does not think the difference between South Africa and England is as large as the margin reflects.

“It looks a lot worse than it is,” he said. “When myself and Quinny (Quinton de Kock) were in there, if we could have stayed there together for five or 10 more overs, it would have really put pressure on them. We could have come really close. We just lost too many wickets along the way.”

Van der Dussen put the dismissals down to a lack of execution and not the sense of occasion that came with playing the host nation in front of a full house.

He added: “There were a few nerves but you are nervous when you are not in the situation. As you are looking in from outside, that’s when the nerves come in. Everyone, as soon as they got the ball or bat in hand, they just come out and do the job.”

In fact, he enjoyed the crowd involvement, whether or not it was in South Africa’s favour.

“There are a lot of South Africans in London so we are grateful to them for coming out. The English crowd is a hostile crowd but a respectable crowd. They give credit where credit is due and that’s something nice,” Van der Dussen said.

South Africa will be back at The Oval on Sunday, when they play Bangladesh and only have two days to tune up. Van der Dussen said it will only require minor tweaks to get them match ready.

He added: “Everybody’s games are in a good space at the moment. We worked really hard over the last few weeks and everybody knows where they are. It will be a situation of just topping up on some of the batting and bowling skills, no drastic changes. We know if we are at our best or close to it, we can beat any side.”
 
Experience is everything at a World Cup and Quinton de Kock insists South Africa will only get better when they return to The Oval against Bangladesh on Sunday.

The Proteas suffered in Thursday’s ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup opener, going down by 104 runs to hosts England on a pitch they struggled to fathom.

Having won the toss, South Africa elected to bowl and restricted England’s powerful batsman to 311-8 – with leg-spinner Imran Tahir striking in the very first over.

But England extracted more pace and bounce with the ball, dismissing South Africa for just 207 in reply.

Now the Proteas face a hungry Bangladesh – playing their first game of the tournament – and De Kock is confident knowledge will mean power on The Oval’s surface.

“We know what is happening with the wicket now, so we should improve,” he said.

“But, saying that, we are against Bangladesh and we know how well they can play. They are a good team also. We will go back and assess from there.

“This is just the beginning. It is not how you start a tournament, it is how you finish it. We started a long time ago.

“We will go back to the drawing board and talk about what we can do better and what we did well.

“England had us under the pump from the start with bowling and batting. They are a good team. Now we must get ready and get back for Bangladesh.”

De Kock top-scored for South Africa, his 74-ball 68 the highlight of their innings.

However, they were on the back foot from the off, with England’s express paceman Jofra Archer hitting De Kock’s opening partner Hashim Amla on the head with a sharp delivery, forcing him to retire.

Amla later returned but South Africa lost regular wickets, with only De Kock and Rassie van der Dussen (50) offering any resistance.

“When Hash retired, it is almost like losing a wicket even though he was not out. That was tough and then we lost Aiden [Markram] quite early,” he said.

“We knew it would be tough for us and then Faf [Du Plessis] also went early. Jofra bowled outstandingly, with good wheels and then at the other end Chris Woakes hit a good length.

“He [Archer] is the type of guy who is always looking to get wickets up front so we were trying to nullify that. Rassie and I were trying to bat through it, we were not worried about the score – we knew we could catch up.

“It is a good wicket and the outfield is fast. We wanted to see how far we can go. We lost wickets at the wrong time and that did not help us.

“We had a good partnership but we just kept losing wickets.”
 
Jacques Kallis: South Africa can still challenge despite opening loss From ICC Media.


It was never going to be easy playing England in the very first game but I’ve seen nothing to change my mind that South Africa can go deep in this tournament.

They will be hard on themselves when they look back on the game, there were too many soft dismissals for my liking, but there was nothing wrong with their performance that cannot be rectified.

This format allows you to make a slower start, it’s a long tournament and playing everyone evens things out in the end.

Having three games in six days has pros and cons – with the Dale Steyn injury they’d have probably wanted a bit more space between them.

But it also gives them the chance to establish some early momentum. When you’ve lost, you want to get straight back out there as soon as possible and it’s great they’ve got Bangladesh on Sunday.

Get a win there, and they will rightly go in as big favourites, and they will go into the match with India with their confidence up and then they’ve got a good few days to recover.

They didn’t let England have it all their own way. It was obviously a massive toss to win and throwing the spinner the ball was the perfect start.

This England side doesn’t fold easily and after Jonny Bairstow went, they never panicked, dug in and played some really good cricket.

In the past, you might have seen England struggle but they are a powerful unit and that performance was a very good sign for them.

Obviously, Ben Stokes’s catch will get the headlines and rightly so, it was absolutely magnificent, one that will certainly live long in the memory.

I thought Faf du Plessis made some really good bowling choices and the variations they bowled were pretty good, I think England would have considered themselves 20 short in a perfect world, which is a positive for us.

South Africa were well in the game for the first 20 overs of their response but losing Hashim Amla was a big blow. They’ll be pretty hard on themselves with some of those soft wickets they gave away after that.

England’s progress since the last ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup has been unbelievable – where they have come from to now is incredible and down to the hard work they’ve put in.

They’ve won here but the pressure of being favourites will only increase with every match.

They are a pretty fearless team but it will be interesting to see if they carry on playing the way they have been with that freedom, especially as the tournament gets more tense.

I think they will they believe in their abilities but it will be interesting to see how they adapt if things don’t go their way – and that can always happen in a World Cup.
 
It was a tactic that put England into an early spin in their ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 opener - and Imran Tahir hopes his heroics with the new ball have convinced South Africa captain Faf du Plessis he is capable of the job on a more regular basis.

The first spinner to bowl the opening ball of a Cricket World Cup, Tahir, 40, responded in emphatic style, removing Jonny Bairstow with only his second delivery as South Africa made a flying start to the competition.

Coming in a 104-run defeat, the shock tactic’s success was the one major high point of an otherwise disappointing curtain-raiser for the third-ranked side in the world.

A raft of changes may well follow as Du Plessis looks to redress the balance, but even with pace bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi waiting in the wings, Tahir hopes he will now be the man his skipper turns to when he is looking for inspiration.

“It was a plan which I had been working on for the last year or so, so I think we knew that it was going to be pretty much a shock for everybody,” he said.

“But it was great challenge bowling against two top players in world cricket. I was just really pleased the way I came out and I got a wicket for the team and that was our plan which worked.

“Whenever I get an opportunity again like that, you know, I won't be the guy who is saying, no to my captain, because I like challenges.

“I like to think that my captain can give me a ball in any situation and I will be the first guy to say yes.

“I’m not so not sure what's going to happen in the next one, but I’m fully prepared, and I'm going to be ready to be given the ball in any situation.”

A veteran of the international game, Tahir is in line to make his 100th ODI appearance for South Africa in Sunday’s clash against Bangladesh at the Oval.

The milestone affords the 40-year-old the opportunity to look back on eight years of service for his country, especially with Tahir due to retire from ODI cricket at the end of this summer’s competition.

He said: “It feels really special. I played my first game at the 2011 World Cup and it's been an amazing journey.

“I always dreamt that, but I never thought I will be here one day playing my 100th game for South Africa, so it's an absolute honour and a privilege being given the opportunity.

“I'm just really grateful to everybody, and I hope that I gave everything that I could for the country.”

Roundly defeated in their opener against England, attention turns to setting the record straight on the same ground against a talented Bangladesh side on Sunday.

Pressure abounds - particularly from an expectant public back home - but Tahir believes his teammates are in perfect shape to shoulder that considerable burden at the Oval.

“Look, there is always a pressure when you are representing your country, he added.

“We have been beaten by the very good England team who have been dominating world cricket for a year or so.

“We are going to learn from our mistakes. There will be a pressure, but we will look forward to the challenge and the pressure.”
 
Special feeling to play 100 ODI’s – Tahir


Saturday, 01 June 2019

Standard Bank Proteas leg-spinner, Imran Tahir, is set to become only the second specialist spinner after Nicky Boje to play in 100 One-Day Internationals (ODI) for South Africa when he takes the field in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup match against Bangladesh at The Oval on Sunday. Tahir has been a spearhead of the Proteas’ attack since making his debut at the 2011 Cricket World Cup on the sub-continent, with a career tally of 164 wickets at a strike-rate of 31.

“It feels really special,” he said ahead of the occasion. “If I look back I played my first game at the 2011 World Cup, it has been an amazing journey. I always dreamt about it but I never thought I would be here one day playing in my 100th game for South Africa. It is an absolute honour to have been given the opportunity by Cricket South Africa and the lovely people from South Africa, I am grateful to everybody

“This means a lot to me, I could never express this in words,” he added. “I am a guy who has come through a lot of hardships, I lost my parents without them seeing me play international cricket. This is special to me, especially for my family. I haven’t seen my brother and sister for the last two years but they understand that this game I am playing is important to me. If I look back I am proud. I dreamt of this but never thought I would play with the legends and youngsters in this team.”

Tahir became the oldest South African (40 years 64 days) to play in a World Cup match during the Proteas’ opening match against England on Thursday, but admits he is ‘proud’ to be the oldest member of the squad.

He has re-written the records books on a number of occasions throughout his eight-year career. He holds the record for the best ODI bowling figures for South Africa (7/45), is the fastest South African bowler to 100 wickets, and more recently, become the first spinner to bowl the first over of a World Cup match.

“I am the kind of guy who likes challenges,” he said. “I like to think that my captain can give me the ball in any situation and I will be the first guy to say yes. That was the plan against the team we played in the first game, I’m not sure what is going to happen in the next game. I am fully prepared and will be ready to bowl in any situation.”

The match against Bangladesh is the Proteas’ second league match, and Tahir has stressed the importance of dusting off the opening loss to England and focusing on the next challenge of a long league format tournament.

“It’s a competition where we have to play a lot of games,” he explained. “We have only played one game so we can’t go and have ten meetings and blame the batsmen or the bowlers. We are a team that believes in each other and enjoys each other’s success. We will look back and realise the mistakes we have made but we need to look forward to the next games we are going to play.

“No team can give you a guarantee that they are going to win the World Cup. One thing we can promise is that we will give everything that we have got for the country and the culture of our team. That is the promise that I can give. Results are not in our hands, we have been working hard, we will learn from the mistakes we will make and which we did make. We will come back stronger,” he concluded.
 
Media Advisory: Hashim Amla injury update

Sunday, 2 June 2019

Standard Bank Proteas batsman, Hashim Amla, is unavailable for selection for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup match against Bangladesh at The Oval after failing to make a satisfactory recovery following a blow to the head in Thursday’s match against England.

Proteas team manager, Dr Mohammed Moosajee explained: “Hashim hasn’t fully recovered from the blow sustained to the helmet during the match against England on Thursday and is not available for selection for the match today. With the quick turnaround between the two matches, he is being rested as a precaution, based on our post-match re-assessment. We are hopeful that he will make a full recovery to be available for selection for our next match against India.”
 
Not looking good for Proteas - once again!
 
BANGLADESH scored their highest ever One-Day International total after being put into bat to set them on the way to a 21-run victory over the Standard Bank Proteas in match 5 of the ICC Men’s World Cup at The Oval in London on Sunday.

It was Bangladesh’s opening match of the tournament while the Proteas are without a victory after two matches.

The Proteas were set to score what would have been a tournament record chase total of 331 for victory. The current record stands behind the name of Ireland who beat England by chasing down a total of 329 in the 2011 edition.

There were many reasons behind the Proteas defeat, the most important probably being a poor bowling performance in the first half of the innings that saw them concede a huge number of boundaries while they were unable to make significant breakthroughs.

Bangladesh were given a strong start by Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar who put on 60 for the first wicket inside 9 overs and then consolidated by the run-a-ball third wicket stand of 132 by their two senior batsman, Man of the Match Shakib-ul-Hasan (75 off 84 balls, 8 fours and a six) and Mushfiqur Rahim (78 off 80 balls, 8 fours).

Finally, Bangladesh put on 54 in the last four overs to strike a decisive blow and give Bangladesh an above par total.

The Proteas situation was not helped by the hamstring injury suffered by Lungi Ngidi who retired from the fray after bowling only four overs. This impacted seriously on the Proteas bowling plans as it meant Imran Tahir, playing his 100th ODI, had to bowl most of his overs later in the innings than normal and Ngidi’s absence left a big hole in the death bowling resources in the critical final 10 overs.

It makes getting Dale Steyn fit for the third match against India at Southampton on Wednesday a matter of urgency.

The Proteas batsmen had to work far harder for their runs than their opponents and they needed at least one of their top order to go bigger than Faf du Plessis’ top score of 62 (53 balls, 5 fours and a six) for them to get close.

They went into the final 10 overs needing 103 runs and continued to lose wickets against disciplined bowling.
 
Faf du Plessis admits South Africa must rip up their existing blueprint if they are to get their ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup campaign back on track.

Soundly beaten by favourites England in the tournament opener, the Proteas’ disappointing start to the World Cup continued on Sunday as they slumped to a 21-run defeat against Bangladesh at The Oval.

Shorn of star bowler Dale Steyn, South Africa saw their usually potent bowling attack blunted by a fine batting display from the Tigers, with Soumya Sarkar particularly destructive at the top of the order.

With Steyn still touch-and-go for Wednesday’s match with India and Lungi Ngidi picking up a hamstring strain, injuries could well force a change in approach.

“I’m extremely disappointed,” said Du Plessis. “Gutted to say that all formats of our game are just not firing at the moment. To blame bad luck is not an option for me.

“Our plan was to try in both the England game and this game, try and make sure that we target them with aggressive bowling.

“Plan A is gone because Plan A was those main bowlers playing together.

“They haven't played a game together on this tour. Initially, Plan B was Anrich Nortje as an extra pace bowler that we had lined up for if we had an injury, to have another X-factor bowler that can bowl 145kmh-plus. He got injured, as well.

“If Anrich was here, you could say, ‘listen Dale, it's getting to that time now where you need to play or we need to substitute you.’ But now we have got two or three down.

“So now you're moving into your all-rounder territory. You have two medium pace all-rounders and then you have Chris Morris that sits in between your fast bowlers and your medium pace bowlers.

“So now we have to really look at what we can do to try to be effective; is it playing all-rounders together, do we play two spinners?

“Now it's reshuffling all our cards and see how best we can deal with it.”

Without a win from their opening two games, South Africa face 1983 and 2011 champions India next up as they look to belatedly get up and running in the competition.

Facing Virat Kohli’s fancied side is a daunting prospect for any team, but Du Plessis insists he will not stop believing that South Africa can turn things around.

“I have to believe that. I wouldn't be South African if I said no,” he added.

“Every single player in our dressing room is not playing to their full potential, and that's why we're not putting the performances in. As soon as that starts happening, then those things will change.

“I'll go back and try and see how we can lift the spirits in the team.

“We're playing a strong team in India, and as a team, we know we're not good enough at the moment and we have to turn it around.

“International cricket is not like ‘here you go, there's a win for you.’

“The World Cup is set up with strong teams. We won't be going back and just falling over, I can promise you that.”
 
DR. MOHAMMED MOOSAJEE: Good evening, everybody. First, we'll talk about Lungi Ngidi. He sustained sharp discomfort in his left hamstring after bowling the fourth over today. He came off. He was assessed and clinically we felt that he had a left hamstring strain. We decided not to let him go out there and bowl any further in this match.

So currently, it probably means that he'll be out for about a week to ten days, but we'll have scans done tomorrow. The plan will be probably to get him ready for the West Indies match.

The other person we need to talk about is Hashim Amla. During the last match, he sustained a blow to the to the helmet. When he came off the field he was assessed. There were concussion assessment tests done as well as various computerised assessments done. Initially the results were what we call inconclusive, or equivocal.

Repeat tests were done about an hour, one and a half hours later, which were much clearer than the ones before, and that's why the decision was made to let him go out there and bat. Subsequent to the match, the next day, he felt some symptoms and there for as a precaution, we decided to rest him from this game.

The plan is to get him ready for the match against India on Wednesday in Southampton.

Q. Dale Steyn, how is he going?
DR. MOHAMMED MOOSAJEE: Dale Steyn, as we said before we left South Africa, that it's very much watching his progress, almost the plan was always to try to get him ready for the India or the West Indies game.

So he's making decent progress and he's out there bowling right now. We'll make a call before the India game as to where he is currently.

Q. If you can try and explain that, hell of a disappointing result for you guys.
FAF DU PLESSIS: Yeah, extremely disappointed. I mean, gutted to say that, you know, all formats of our game at the moment is just not firing. To blame bad luck is not an option for me.

You know, with Hash the previous game and Lungi today, I still think you have to find a way to make sure that you put in performances, and we are just off in most areas.

We are doing some good things during games, but we are not putting it together over 80 per cent of the time. Yeah, so that last five overs, I think was crucial for them. I saw towards the end that we were on the same par score as them at 45, and to go for that many in the last five wasn't great.

And then with the bat, once again, we looked good. We did some good things. But myself included, you know, you need to go through and score 100s. That's what's going to win you matches, not 30s and 40s.

Q. Ahead of the tournament, much was made of the opening attack, opening bowlers, how you're going to look to be aggressive and pepper the guys with bounces. How would you assess the way Lungi and Kagiso went today and do you think perhaps you weren't aggressive enough with your lengths?
FAF DU PLESSIS: Yeah that, was our plan. Our plan was to try in both the England game and this game, try and make sure that we target them with aggressive bowling. But you know, like I said, we weren't at our best, and the opening bowlers would be the first to put their hand up to say that didn't execute on our skills today, and that went right through the innings.

I thought there was a lot of loose shots, especially on the cutting side today. There was a lot of width that was given. It's just at the moment, we're just off, in all facets of it, and it's not good enough. That's why any team in this World Cup can beat any team. It's just the way that it's set up.

Today Bangladesh batted really well. I have to give it to them. They paced their innings very, very good. They showed us how to set up a big score, and we did signs of it, but not full on enough. There was bigger partnerships in their camp, yeah, and that's why they were 30 runs better than us today.

Q. What did you learn about your team today, and what's the one thing you can do to begin to turn these defeats into wins?
FAF DU PLESSIS: Great question. Look, it didn't go according to plan. We spoke a lot about before the game, trying to be aggressive in using that first hour, and there was a lot of talk about the toss, what we wanted to do. Use our four-seamers and pace that we wanted to do, but obviously then Lungi got injured and that changed completely.

Now all of a sudden, as captain, I have to bowl 15 to 20 overs of medium to slow or spin or bowling, and then obviously then it changes completely. So then you need to bowl the team out in order to make sure that you don't have to chase a big score.

But the nature of subcontinent teams is that they do get a big score on the board, they can squeeze you when they have runs on the board, and that's exactly what happened.

When they got 330, you know, they were just a couple of wickets away from bossing the game. I thought it was a really good wicket. I didn't think it changed that much. I just think that we weren't good enough in all three formats. They bowled good yorkers towards the end. They showed how us how to do that over a five-over period, and in the middle, I have got some experience with Shakib. He was really good today, just batting really good areas.

We were close with the bat, but I do think 350 was 20 runs too many.

Q. How difficult it is managing your team with so many injuries building by the day? How difficult does it get in World Cup?
FAF DU PLESSIS: You know, any captain would say that it's not easy, but I mean, I can't complain about it. That's not going to change anything. I have to find a way. The coaching staff, the team, has to find a way. It's not going for us from an injuries point of view.

As I said many times, our Plan A was to have all our fast bowlers bowling at the same time, and then we do have a very good bowling attack. To lose one, then you become an okay bowling attack, and now to lose two, there's pressure on our bowling attacks, so now it changes completely the mix of how we set our team up. It was never part of the plan, but that's life. You've got to roll with the punches.

Q. Today in the middle overs of Bangladesh's innings, you guys looked flat in the field. This whole philosophy and psychological plan to say it's not the end of the world if we don't win the World Cup, can that have a negative effect? Do you guys care at all about how you come across to the fans?
FAF DU PLESSIS: I think that happens naturally when you are in a bad position in the game. I've played a lot of cricket, and every single team that I play for around the world, it's the same effect.

Once a partnership starts developing; once that you find in the field that things are not going your way, the natural thing that happens to players is they fall off a little bit, they push -- their shoulders drop a little bit. Their body language is not as strong.

That's not this team, I promise you that happens in every single team. And there's always conversations around how long and how well you can keep doing that, but that's what happened today. Bangladesh batted and put our bowlers under pressure, and naturally I think the fielders were -- Lungi's injury had an impact psychologically on some of the guys, even though they weren't thinking about it.

So for us, the talking in the middle was still, you know, make sure we stay fighting. We are one wicket away from restricting them to a good total.

But naturally, I can speak as much about it from my point of view as I want, but it naturally happens to fielders, especially when they go towards the boundaries and there's not a lot of balls to go to them. That's the natural thing that happens when you're feeling under the pump as a team.

Q. Again, coming back to that Plan A, Plan A seemed like a really good plan, three fast bowlers. When that doesn't work, do you feel like your side is able to win cricket matches in other ways? Do you think there was an over-reliance on Plan A? Did you have Plan B, C, D, etc.?
FAF DU PLESSIS: Yeah, but Plan A is gone. It's gone because the Plan A was those bowlers playing together. They haven't played a game together on this tour. You know, initially Plan B was Anrich Nortje was an extra pace bowler that we had lined up for if we had an injury, to have another X-factor bowler that can bowl 145 plus. He got injured, as well.

So now you're moving into your all rounder territory. You have two medium pace all-rounders and then you have Chris Morris that like sits in between your fast bowlers and your medium pace bowlers so, now, we have to. We have to really look at what we can do to try to be effective; is it playing all rounders together, do we play two spinners.

Now it's reshuffling all our cards and see how best we can deal with it.

Q. Obviously South Africa hasn't got a great record in World Cups, but you've never started this badly. Do you think you still have a chance at winning it?
FAF DU PLESSIS: I have to believe that. I won't be South African if I said no.

Yeah, I'll go back and try and see how we can lift the spirits in the team. We're playing a strong team in India in their first game, and our third game, so as a team, we know. We know we're not good enough at the moment and we have to turn it around.

It's not like international cricket, there you go, there's a win for you. The World Cup is set up, strong teams, and you know, we have to. We have no other choice. We won't be going back and just falling over, I can promise you that.

Q. You came to this World Cup with a very different philosophy I think from previous South African teams and it made perfect sense because some of the emphatic players are gone. Do you think when you do that, that there's a danger of a team forgetting who they are, and if you are changing the branding or the DNA, do you think your team still know who they are?
FAF DU PLESSIS: Definitely. I don't think it's got anything to do with that. At the moment, it's a skill thing. Our skill is not where it needs to be. It's got absolutely nothing to do with -- as I said, injuries, you can make excuses, as many as you want.

Every single player in our dressing room is not playing to their full potential, and that's why we're not putting the performance on. As soon as that starts happening, then those things will change.

Every player on the team can say that. None of us has been on top of your game yet, so it's just about making sure you look at yourself in the mirror and see how you can find that answer.

Q. Do you think on the mindset, there will be a change in the days leading up to India? Do you think there's a need for harsh words in the dressing room? Also, your message for the guys back home who are watching today.
FAF DU PLESSIS: Well, there's always -- certainly from my style of captaincy, has always been there's a line, and if you don't perform to that line, then there's a lot of harsh words. I'm certainly not Mr. Nice Guy. There's times for strictness and there's times that you see a dressing room needs you to be strong and to motivate them, and that was the previous game when we lost to England the way that we did.

But now, today was not good enough. As I said, there's absolutely no excuses from me. So if the guys think they can make excuses for a performance like today, then they will be challenged. That's a fact.

And your second part was the fans. Yeah, I think the fans understand what I'm saying now that it's not good enough. I'm even going to try to make excuses. We are not playing to our full potential. It was great to see South African fans in the last two games come out to support, because it makes me really proud to come and play; that there's people coming here to support us. They are flying all the way, and it's expensive to come here, so you appreciate that, and you sit there and you think about it.

But for us, the fans know; all I can say is that we'll keep fighting.

Q. I want to go back to your plans A, B and C. When do you start thinking about, like if you get to a point where Dale Steyn isn't ready, when do you have to start thinking about replacing people in the squad?
FAF DU PLESSIS: It's tricky, yeah, because our resources is slim, as I said, if there was an option to straightaway put him in, if Anrich was here, you could say, listen Dale, it's getting to that time now where you need to play or we need to substitute you. But now we have got two or three. So do you send both back to get someone else in? The medical guru here will try and help us out with that.

Dale Steyn is still, if he's fit, he can still make a huge difference to our performance, and we need guys to make differences in this team. So Dale is one of them.

Lungi is also one of them. Lungi will also be the first to say that he has not bowled to his full potential the last two games. He's normally our best line and length bowler.

Yeah, he worked hard on his fitness leading up to this game, but you know, he's also had a lot of injuries over a short period of time now so, that makes -- got to challenge him to work hard and making sure that he gets his fitness up for longer. It's important for a young guy to play cricket over extended period of time, not just to play a couple of games, break down, a couple of games again.

Q. You came into this World Cup, obviously with a lot of reliance on your pace bowlers, and maybe using aggressive bowling, short pitch that, sort of thing. Do you feel today -- obviously you after 45, got yourselves back into a reasonable position, but then the last five, it just seemed like there was a lot of short balls that were disappearing to the boundary. Do you feel you need to rethink that?
FAF DU PLESSIS: No, that wasn't the plan at all. The plan was for the long boundary. The plan for the bowler was to give yourself a lot of different options at the depth. It was certainly not just to bowl short. I think pace off is what the bowlers tried more often than not because of the nature of the size of the square.

But within that, you still need to make sure that you know the yorkers, and today we missed our yorkers. Every time a bowler tried a yorker, it went for six. So I think then naturally what happens is you try and find your other skill, whether that's a short ball or a bounce.

Yeah, because there was a couple of opportunities there on the boundary that we possibly could have taken. I remember one ball going over KG's head that was a catch. That was the in-batter. Once again, it's the small little mistakes that we're making, which is giving the opposition more runs.
 
It’s disappointing and frustrating and there is lots of pressure on the next game, otherwise the tournament could be over before it’s really started for South Africa.

The good news is we have another game in just three days, so South Africa can’t dwell on this, they will just have move on.

It doesn’t get any easier though against India but it’s their first game and our third, so maybe that could give us the edge we need.

They’ve not played for a week and maybe they’ll be some first game nerves, where as we are settled. Strange things happen in this sport and if we can get a win then I think we can go on a streak and we are still good enough to be a contender.

There will be no margin for error though. I think you’ll need six wins, maybe five with a really good run rate, to finish in the top four, so South Africa almost need to win every game they will play.

I think you’ve got to give credit to Bangladesh for the way they performed, it’s amazing how far they’ve come as a team in a very short space of time and the way they batted was particularly impressive.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but I understand what Faf du Plessis was doing with the toss and playing the extra pace bowler. However, the wicket just didn’t allow it and perhaps he stuck with the tactics a bit too long and should have started bowling a little fuller and straighter.

Bangladesh got all their partnerships going and once you get over 300 then it always become a tough chase, letting them score 50 or so runs in the final four overs really didn’t help either and ultimately proved the difference.

It’s great having a game plan but you need to have a back-up when it’s not working, I felt we were one step behind the entire match and just tactically a bit off. We need to be a bit smarter.

Bangladesh took it on and were aggressive and the wicket really suited their bowling too. I was really impressed by Shakib Al Hasan, he’s a seriously talented and clever cricketer.

The injury to Lungi Ngidi certainly didn’t help Faf, he’s a world-class player and a big part of our attack. You’ve got to play Dale Steyn against India now, and hopefully he is close to fitness.

We’ve got to play all our cards and we can’t afford anymore silly mistakes at vital stages - these are the best sides in the world and they’ll always punish you.
 
JP Duminy is confident South Africa are close to claiming a win at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup after their close defeat to Bangladesh at The Oval.

South Africa lost their second match of the tournament but batted better than they did in their opening game against England.

Faf du Plessis’ side were in contention to complete the highest successful chase in a World Cup game, finishing narrowly short of their target of 331.

“I don’t think we are far away. We were 21 runs short and we can identify areas where we could have made that up whether the bat or the ball,” said Duminy.

“We are one good performance away from creating a bit of momentum.”

For Duminy, the key will be forming partnerships, something they started to do in London.

Du Plessis and Aiden Markram shared a 53-run second-wicket stand and David Miller and Rassie van der Dussen put on 55 runs for the fourth wicket.

Duminy would like to see them stay together longer, especially if they are chasing tall targets.

“Partnerships are always going to be crucial particularly when you are chasing a big total,” he added. “You need guys to step up and score hundreds and as a top six we haven’t done that. Pretty much everyone got in but thirties and forties are not going to cut it.

“At the end of the day, it comes down to partnerships and we fell short.

“Honesty has always been one of our pillars. It’s about understanding where we can improve.”

South Africa have also identified their fielding as an area to polish up on ahead of their next game against India on Wednesday.

But ultimately South Africa are simply looking for strong shows of character from their senior core, especially as they face the pressure of starting slowly in this competition.

“Something we thrive on is our body language and creating a presence in the inner ring. That is something we can get better on,” Duminy continued.

“If you are going to win a tournament like the World Cup, you need good strong characters in the group.

“We are up against it so we are going to need each and every individual to be a leader in their own game. We can’t be moping and hanging our lips on the ground until Wednesday.

“We need to understand how we can improve. When you are playing in a tournament like this, there is always going to be external pressure but it's about embracing that.”

Despite the difficulties facing South Africa, Duminy resolved to remain upbeat.

“There is a relaxed calm feeling about it. There’s a lot of pride in performance, individually and as a team,” he said.

“It’s about putting the performances together and understanding how we are going to get better.”
 
So glad I'm travelling all the way for the Pak vs SA game. SA is probably the only team we stand a chance of beating.
 
DR. MOHAMMED MOOSAJEE: Good evening, everybody. First, we'll talk about Lungi Ngidi. He sustained sharp discomfort in his left hamstring after bowling the fourth over today. He came off. He was assessed and clinically we felt that he had a left hamstring strain. We decided not to let him go out there and bowl any further in this match.

So currently, it probably means that he'll be out for about a week to ten days, but we'll have scans done tomorrow. The plan will be probably to get him ready for the West Indies match.

So Ngidi not playing in India game.
 
SOuth AFrica isnt choking this time.

This time, they are genuinely bad.

A choker is someone who is good but still ends up losing due to his own fault. This SA team is weak as they dont have batting dept.

Once you get the top 4, the rest could crumble for 50 runs
 
South Africa may have made an inauspicious start to their World Cup campaign but Andile Phehlukwayo is certain better times are just around the corner.

Beaten by favourites England in their tournament opener, the Proteas fell to a second successive defeat in the competition on Sunday, losing by 21 runs against Bangladesh at The Oval.

Among the pre-competition favourites, the barren start has ramped up the pressure on Faf du Plessis’ side, particularly with a clash against world No. 2 India up next.

But all-rounder Phehlukwayo, 23, is convinced minor tweaks can see the team belatedly get their bid for World Cup glory up and running.

“There have been some bad days in my career,” he said. “I’ve learned, and the team has learned, that it is not the end of the world.

“We can always bounce back, we are a team that bounces back, from situations and we will definitely do it again.

“We haven’t had a good start but this is a big tournament and anyone can beat anyone on any given day.

“If you are smart and clinical and you execute, you’ll win. We’ve been missing that but it’s coming.

“The coach has mentioned winning small battles, breaking partnerships and taking wickets. It’s not far away.”
Chasing a mammoth 331 after Bangladesh posted their highest ever ODI total, hopes of an unlikely Proteas victory were boosted thanks to skipper du Plessis’ half-century and composed knocks from middle-order pair Rassie van der Dussen and JP Duminy.

However, two quick wickets from Mohammad Saifuddin saw Bangladesh assume total control of the game heading into the death overs, with the Proteas ultimately falling 21 runs short in their response.

“It was one of those days,” Phehlukwayo added. “There were patches where we actually had the game and could have put them under pressure.

“Unfortunately, they managed to get a wicket after putting a lot of pressure on us.

“There are a lot of things you can look at: partnerships, not enough pressure put onto them when we were bowling, at the death there were lots of runs scored in the final overs.

“It was definitely a chaseable score though, we just need to learn from it and try and stay more composed.

With star bowler Dale Steyn on the sidelines and Lungi Ngidi struggling with injury, South Africa’s usually deadly pace attack has struggled to make its mark so far on the competition.

After picking up a problem in his left hamstring, Ngidi has already been ruled out of the clash with India, while Steyn, 35, remains touch and go himself despite bowling in the nets in London over the weekend.

In their expected absence, a new bowling blueprint may well have to come to the fore, with Phehlukwayo, a fast-medium, planning to use all of his variations in an attempt to turn things around.

“I try to keep it really basic; present the seam, one or two bouncers and change my pace. Hopefully I can learn from this game and take it into the next match,” he said.

“When you’re not extreme pace like the other guys, aren’t as tall and don’t get as much bounce, you need to come up with different tools that you can use in the game.

“If you’re a 130kph bowler as opposed to a 145kph bowler, it makes a massive difference. Changing up your pace is something you need to be really good at and execution too.

“When you look at it, people like the ball coming onto the bat now. It’s important to have something different in the team, some variations.

“I try to keep the batter guessing and on his toes – that’s how I get my advantage.”
 
Dale Steyn ruled out of the ICC Cricket World Cup with injury

Steyn, South Africa’s fifth highest ODI wicket-taker of all time, withdrew from the Indian Premier League with the same issue and has already missed the first two games of his team’s campaign at the Cricket World Cup.

The South African quick bowler had surgery for this problem in 2016 and has been plagued with issues with his shoulder before and since that procedure. He has had a recurrence of problem and will be unavailable for the foreseeable future.

South Africa have started this tournament with two losses, with defeats to England and Bangladesh in their opening fixtures. They are due to take on India on Wednesday 5 June at the Hampshire Bowl in Southampton. They will now be going into that important fixture, and the rest of this tournament, without Steyn.

Steyn will be replaced in the South African squad by left arm quick Beuran Hendricks who made his ODI debut in January this year against Pakistan. Hendricks' returns in ODI cricket have been limited so far, with just one wicket from two matches, but he has had more success in T20 Internationals where he has 16 wickets at an average of 18.93. Hendricks claimed a career best T20I haul in January, also against Pakistan, when he took 4/14 at Centurion.

Hendricks has the ability to bowl with real pace, reaching 140kph at times, while also swinging the ball late. As a left armer he also offers some variation to the South African attack.

https://www.cricketworldcup.com/news/en/1234992
 
The ICC has confirmed that the Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 has approved Beuran Hendricks as a replacement player for Dale Steyn in the South Africa squad for the remainder of the tournament.

Bowler Steyn has suffered a second shoulder injury which has not responded to treatment and has ruled him out of bowling for the foreseeable future. His replacement Hendricks is a left-arm fast bowler.

The replacement of a player requires the approval of the Event Technical Committee before the replacement player can be officially added to the squad.

The Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 consists of Geoff Allardice (ICC, ETC chairman), Campbell Jamieson (ICC representative), Steve Elworthy (CWC representative), Alan Fordham (host representative), Harsha Bhogle and Kumar Sangakkara (both independent representatives).

From CSA
 
South Africa’s senior core has been encouraged to stay strong as the team faces the challenge of heading into the rest of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 without fast bowler Dale Steyn.

And there was further bad injury news for South Africa with the news that another fast bowler - Lungi Ngidi – has been ruled out of the game with India.

Steyn was ruled out of the tournament after suffering a second shoulder injury after entering the tournament 60 per cent fit and has been replaced by left-arm paceman Beuran Hendricks.

While Ngidi still needs at least another week on the sidelines with a Grade 1 hamstring strain picked up in the defeat by Bangladesh.

There was some good news for South Africa on the injury front as the squad’s most experienced batsman - Hashim Amla - has been cleared to play after being hit on the helmet in the opening game against England.

It will be up to him, captain Faf du Plessis, JP Duminy and the competition’s oldest player Imran Tahir to hold South Africa together.

“I'm the captain of the team right now and players are looking for someone to lead them. So all I can do is try my absolute best to try and do that. Once again, that doesn't mean results. I wish it did. Because then it would be great," du Plessis said.

“For me, I’m trying to make sure I stay positive for the team, I stay strong, encourage other guys in the team, other leaders in the group to also stay strong.

“At no stage in the game can we as a senior player group look like we are down-and-out. It is not an option for us.

“We are a very, very proud cricketing nation. So, no matter how bad it gets, how good it gets, I will keep driving that.”

After two defeats in their opening two games and several injuries impacting on team plans, du Plessis said the most important thing is to keep the younger squad members upbeat.

He added: “The natural thing that happens in a team like that is you find that your confidence goes down and naturally younger guys in the team coming to their first World Cup they will potentially go into their self-pity cycle.”

For that reason, South Africa have focused as much on mental training as their net session, which they managed to complete before the rain came down in Southampton. “We can't control results. We can't control the outcome of the game. What we can control is how strong we are mental, how well we are training and what sort of language are we using in the dressing room,” du Plessis said.

“For me, that was more the main focus, making sure that the guys are still saying the right things in the team, not questioning themselves because then it's a slippery slope. Then you just keep going further and further backwards.”

South Africa will also take inspiration from some of the other results that have been achieved so far, such as Pakistan bouncing back from their seven-wicket defeat by West Indies to beat England by 14 runs.

“The nature of this tournament -- you can see there is a lot of teams that are challenging each other on any different day, so there is still hope for us. We have a lot of cricket left,” du Plessis said.

His target is for South Africa to win six matches in the league phase to qualify for the semi-finals. They have seven matches left.
 
Opening was considered a weakness and it is!
 
Weakest SA ODI outfit since re-admission into the game in 1992, they will be one their way home after this game.
 
David Miller just dropped the easiest catch ever.

They are going home it seems
 
Best batsmen quit a year before the world cup, other players quit for kolpak, plus the "quota" system and this was always going to be a disaster. Just shows how poor pakistan are when they couldnt beat a SA side when they played them in ODI series a while ago.
 
At the moment they look like a team who would rather be at home enjoying the Jo'burg sunshine.

Some very average cricket from them so far.
 
Hashim Amla full of belief despite India defeat

Hashim Amla hopes South Africa’s slow World Cup start will lead to a reversal of fortunes for a team still seeking their first trophy in the competition’s history.

The Proteas have never reached an ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup final and this year they have suffered a disappointing start with three losses from their first three games.

But batsman Amla is searching through history to find a silver lining.

“In the last two World Cups, 2011 and 2015, we started off pretty good and we didn’t win. Maybe this is going the other way around,” he said.

“That’s the belief I have. Maybe this could be the one where we start badly, get a win here and there, get some momentum and change things around. It’s not how you drive, it’s how you arrive.”

In 2011, South Africa topped Group B with five wins from their six matches and went on to lose in the quarter-finals to New Zealand.

In 2015, they won five out of seven first-round matches, won their first-ever World Cup knock-out game when they beat Sri Lanka in the quarter-finals and then lost to New Zealand in the last four.

This year the format is different with a league stage in which every one of the 10 teams play each other, so the Proteas are far from out of it.

And Amla hopes that will give the team the space and time they need to turn things around.

“We’ve got to keep things in perspective and take our time to lament over the result and not doing as well as we want to do and then come into the next practice where everybody is in the right space,” he added.

In taking the measured approach, Amla acknowledged that South Africa have already played the top two teams in the rankings - England are at No.1 and India at No.2 - which has given them clarity over where they stand.

“We’ve played two of the favourites, two very strong teams and unfortunately we have played pretty average cricket,” he said. “We need to turn it around and play our best cricket.”

“We kind of lost our way a little bit in the middle. Faf [du Plessis] and Rassie [van der Dussen] had a decent partnership building and then we lost our way.”

As a result, South Africa finished on 227, 20 to 30 runs short of what Amla thought would have been a good total on the Hampshire Bowl pitch.

South Africa took the match deep and kept India batting until the 48th over to reach the target, with Rohit Sharma's 122 not out steering them home.

“Everybody wants to perform," Amla added.

"We are out there, we practice, we do everything to make sure we put some numbers on the board and the bowlers are doing their thing. We are all disappointed."
 
Saj said:
At the moment they look like a team who would rather be at home enjoying the Jo'burg sunshine.

Some very average cricket from them so far.
Click to expand...

Dekock is there only real batting star now, Amla flattering to deceive. SA strength use to be its endless list of all-rounders giving the team balance with bat and ball.

Current SA side is here just to make up the numbers.
 
Jacques Kallis: South Africa can have no complaints about defeat by India – every game now is must win

South Africa have made this spectacularly hard on themselves - they’ve six league matches left and every one of them is effectively a knockout game now.

They can have absolutely no complaints with the result against India, they were totally outclassed in every department, with the bat, ball and in the field. They really didn’t win much after the toss I’m afraid.

That dressing room will be a tough place to be, but they have to all take responsibility and work hard to correct the errors they are making.

They came into this ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup as a side that, on paper, should have been making the knockout stages but things can turn very quickly against you in cricket.

However, I’d tell them it can also go the other way, beat the West Indies and Afghanistan in their next two games and suddenly the table won’t look so bad and they’ll have some momentum back for what could be a huge game against New Zealand.

This is a big moment for Faf du Plessis but not everything can be put on the captain’s shoulders. Each individual needs to look in the mirror, there cannot be any finger pointing, they have to have an honest conversation with each other about what they can do better.

Before they talk about the team, they need to think hard about themselves. It’s a collective effort, from senior players to the new guys. And they have to be positive, they need to feed off each other’s energy more than ever.

I don’t think it’s any surprise we lost to England and India, they are the two best teams in the world right now. The really worrying thing is that defeat by Bangladesh.

They’ve got the West Indies next and they proved against Pakistan how talented they are.

It’s a tough game but we know how to beat them. You have to get on top of them early and strangle the game, you can’t be letting them play with that freedom.

Right now the best thing the South Africa players can do is take a couple of days off and destress, three games in six games will be as mentally exhausting as it is physically.

They can play golf, go to the movies, read a book, whatever works for them. They just need to take their minds off cricket because it’s a long tournament and you need that time. Then it’s back to work because they can’t afford one more mistake.

Away from South Africa I thought India looked world-class and real contenders. They’ve obviously been waiting for their first game and I didn’t know how that would work for them, whether they’d be fresh or they’d be some nerves. I think we got the answer, they were very impressive.

ICC Media Release
 
Beuran Hendricks aiming to keep South Africa in contention at the World Cup after late call up

Beuran Hendricks, South Africa’s left-arm seamer, is under no illusions of what’s expected of him at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup: to help his country start to win.

Hendricks was added to the squad after Dale Steyn was ruled out of the tournament with a shoulder injury and joined up with his team-mates in time to see them lose a third successive group match.

To stay in contention for the knockout stages, that has to change and Hendricks hopes he can contribute, albeit not in the same way Steyn would have done.

“I am not going to say I can fill his shoes because its Dale. I come here with my own set of skills and my own ambition in this competition.

“It’s just about making sure I can fight the good fight and contribute with the set of skills that I have,” Hendricks said, mere hours after arriving in Southampton from South Africa.

Hendricks, 28, was on his country’s list of standby players but his selection still came as a shock to him, especially when he realised the reputation of the man he was replacing. “I was just on my couch, watching TV, when I got the call. I didn’t know who I was replacing but then I saw in the media that it was Dale, which is a massive blow.”

Steyn’s departure has denied South Africa the services of their most experienced seamer and has added to an injury list which includes Lungi Ngidi, who has a hamstring strain. Ngidi needs another week to recover which means Hendricks has every chance of earning his third ODI cap when South Africa play West Indies on Monday.

Though his international career is only beginning, Hendricks has a wealth of experience and success on the domestic scene, where he has lifted trophies with many teams.

In the 2018-19 summer, Hendricks was part of the winning Jozi Stars team in South Africa’s new T20 competition, the Mzansi Super League.

He also helped the Lions claim South Africa’s franchise first-class and twenty-over cups and was a late call-up to the Mumbai Indians, who won this year’s IPL. Hendricks hopes some of his good fortunes can rub off on South Africa.

“I am hoping to be the good luck the team needs,” Hendricks joked. “It’s been a good year for me personally and for the teams I have been with this year so let’s hope I can make it five (trophies) out of five.”

Not only does Hendricks bring a fresh mindset to the South African camp but he also adds a different dimension to their attack. Hendricks is a left-armer which South Africa have not had since Wayne Parnell in 2017.

As New Zealand’s Trent Boult, the leading wicket-taker in ODI cricket this year, has proved, the change of angle from his style of bowling can be an advantage and Hendricks agrees. “Variety is good in any side,” Hendricks said. “The best teams in the world have a different set of skill in each department.”

Hendricks knows that he will have a lot of responsibility on his shoulders, especially given the position South Africa are in. But, he also wants to enjoy the occasion of playing in the World Cup.

“I am excited to be here. We are three matches down so it's probably sitting deep with the guys. I only just arrived this morning, so I am feeling the hurt as well but the tournament is not over,” Hendricks said. “It is a dream come true, even under the circumstances. It’s the biggest stage for me. I’m looking to win."
 
9 June - Southampton - South Africa player Kagiso Rabada pre-match press conference

Q. Kagiso, obviously the plan for South Africa coming into this World Cup was to have a full fully-fit pace attack. You are kind of the last man standing in that and you will face a West Indies team that I guess is a fully-fit pace attack. Is there a bit of jealousy that they are coming in looking so fit and firing when that could have been your plan?
KAGISO RABADA: I wouldn't say it's jealousy. I think that we have to deal with what we have. There's no point in complaining about it. Unfortunately, you know, we've had quite a few problems in this tournament regarding injury.

So we've had to work our way around it and we're going to have to work our way around it for the next game. There's no point in complaining.

Q. Kagiso, in that last game against India you, at the start, seemed to discover some fire and real passion. Where did that come from? And do you feel that that is sustainable, that you can reproduce that same sort of form tomorrow?
KAGISO RABADA: Well, the World Cup is a big stage. Playing against India is a big stage. And we'd just lost two games on the bounce and there was a lot of emphasis on that game, you know.

It's a game that I really hoped that we would win. There was a lot on that, on that game. It was going to give us some breathing space. So now we've just got a stiff challenge ahead of us, but we're ready to stand up, rise up to it.

Q. Kagiso, still with that game. I'm sure the result didn't go South Africa's way. There were signs there that the team was awakening, if you like. Did you get that feeling as well, that that could still be the turnaround game at this World Cup?
KAGISO RABADA: I hope so. We are very hopeful. I think we've played two of the best teams in the world. Bangladesh, we felt that we might have been a bit complacent, we talked about it, but we played England where actually we felt we really could have won that game.

India, we took it right to the death, but I think that's just in our DNA as South Africans. The way we play our cricket, you know, we are always there. If you look at how we play our cricket, we never give up.

So, we need a few things to click and we are working our way around it. And so we are looking to turn it around tomorrow.

Q. A few of us have been checking the weather report for Monday every hour. Is that something you guys have paid any attention to? It is not looking too great. Does that play on your mind in the preparation?
KAGISO RABADA: Yes and there's been small talk, not big talk, about the weather. Again, it's an uncontrollable. Whatever God decides to do, He'll do. But we're going to control what we can control.

Q. You are playing against a West Indian side that looks like the way their batters, they go and attack and attack. How do you approach a batting line-up like that in terms of your plans? Do you stay patient? Or do you go full tilt as well?
KAGISO RABADA: We have done our analysis already. We've put our plans in place. So today is about executing it or practicing it to make sure that we execute our plans.

The West Indies are a dangerous team. When they get going, they can really hurt the opposition, so we are aware of their threat. But we believe that we can beat them.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about the World Cup experience for you personally? And it must have been really exciting to come to a big tournament but obviously things haven't gone according to plan. What has that been like for you?
KAGISO RABADA: It's been very interesting (smiling). There's a lot been happening off the field. So it's a bit of a weird stage in terms of, you know, for the Proteas and cricket in South Africa. You've got youngsters that are coming in. You've got guys that don't have much experience coming in. And you've got guys who are towards... or nearing... they're approaching the end of their careers.

So it is a bit of a mix in that regard. We've been playing good cricket so, hopefully, in this tournament, we can do more of the same. There's been a lot happening off the field and we're just looking to clear that out of our heads. But it's been enjoyable.

I think the tournament has been well-run. Travelling from venue to venue, playing against the world's best. It's exciting. This is what you want.

So, it has been enjoyable and it has come with its challenges in terms of our team. But the journey continues.

Q. When you initially heard at camp in Cape Town that AB expressed his desire to come and play in the World Cup, what were your initial thoughts? And what were your emotions like in the team hearing that?
KAGISO RABADA: To be honest, I don't know much about what's happening, so I don't want to talk about things that I don't know, yeah (smiling).

Q. In the tournament so far, we've had Jofra Archer, Mitchell Starc, Jasprit Bumrah, they have all produced really dramatic spells of bowling. Has that put any pressure on you? Has that given you extra motivation? With a bit more luck maybe your spell against India in the morning could have reaped similar results?
KAGISO RABADA: I think they are all phenomenal bowlers. I admire watching other bowlers bowl. I think it's nice to see other people do well, not against us though (smiling).

So, I mean, at the end of the day, I focus on what I need to do. Everyone as cricketers, we have our aspirations. We want to achieve certain goals and I don't think it's put any pressure on me, no. Because I know exactly what I want to get out of the game, so it shouldn't put any pressure on me what they do.

I guess when you do admire another sportsman, it does inspire you. So it's nice to see people do well because it can inspire you. But I don't think it puts pressure on me. And I think I've played this game long enough to know that when things happen for you, they happen for you.

Sometimes you bowl like rubbish and then you pick up a 5-fer and it's... I know it's a cliché, but I have experienced that. And sometimes you bowl well and you don't get as many wickets as you're hoping for, or, you know, you're just out of luck, catches are being dropped. It happens. And that's really frustrating (smiling).

Q. You said about needing a few things to click. In that regard, how important is it for Hashim Amla to kind of rediscover his form? And how is he going through this phase, possibly at the twilight of his career?
KAGISO RABADA: It's important for a lot of us in the team to click into things and Hash is an important figure. Everybody knows that. He knows that. So we do rely on him, just as we rely on everyone in the team. But I guess you could say we rely on him more.

I don't think it's extra pressure for him. I think he copes with it. I think he's a really, really sound. He's got a sound mind. Yeah, he's a balanced individual. So, I think he knows what he has to do.

As a teammate, we are there to support him. We know that he can, you know, produce magic out there on the field and he's been showing signs of it in the warm-up games and we are really hopeful that he can come off.

We are working hard. We are working in the nets. We are planning. We are doing everything that we can in our power and he's doing everything he can, so God willing, hopefully.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about Beuran and how he's slotted into the camp since he's arrived. He is a guy that looks like he could have a big role to play, certainly on Monday given the injury situation?
KAGISO RABADA: Beuran is a really good bowler. I rate him a lot. Coming in as a lefty as well, it's variety. And I think he's got a lot of skill and he's played international cricket before, so he knows what it is about.

I've played with him, ever since I started playing professional cricket and against him as well. So I have seen enough for me to say that I'm really confident with him being in the team. And he always gives it his all.

Q. Before the start of the tournament, you said how fast bowlers are really competitive and you look at other bowlers, Bumrah and Archer. Do you pick yourself up more when you are coming against a team like the West Indies who have such a big cluster of tall, scary fast bowlers? Do you pick yourself up for that?
KAGISO RABADA: Mmm... Am I focussed on their fast bowlers? The batsmen should be focussed on their fast bowlers. I'm focussed on their batters because my job is to get their batters out (smiling). I don't know what must I think about their bowlers going into the game. I'm not thinking too much about their bowlers. It's not my job to think about their bowlers. It's not... Yeah, I'm a bowler (laughter).

I guess it's nice to watch when they play, you know. They've got some good pace. Youngsters. The West Indies have always had fast bowlers. Everyone knows about the Marshalls, the Holdings. So it's a culture, a culture of fast bowling in the West Indies and, yeah, it is nice to see. It is good for cricket.

It is good to see fast bowlers still around and especially for West Indies cricket.

===



South Africa block out the outside noise ahead of Windies clash

South Africa are searching for their first win of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup with fresh minds after a tough opening week in the tournament.

As well as losing their first three matches, their most senior bowler Dale Steyn was ruled out due to injury.

With sideshows aplenty, the team have focused their preparation for their match against West Indies on shutting out the noise and reigniting their feel-good-factor.

“There’s just been a lot happening off the field and we are just looking to clear that out of our heads,” fast bowler Kagiso Rabada said.

“But it has been enjoyable. It’s exciting. This is what you want. It has been enjoyable but it has come with its challenges in terms of our team.”

In Steyn’s absence, and with Lungi Ngidi also a doubt for the West Indies game, Rabada will lead the attack as he looks to make his own mark on the tournament. He has taken four wickets in three matches so far and has begun to look threatening but unlike Jofra Archer, Oshane Thomas and Mitchell Starc, Rabada has yet to rip through an opposition line-up. He said there is no envy towards his counterparts but hopes he can emulate them.

“They are all phenomenal bowlers. I enjoy watching other bowlers bowl. It’s nice to see other people do well, but not against us,” Rabada joked. “We all have our aspirations. We want to achieve certain goals. I don’t think it puts any pressure on me (to perform). I know exactly what I want to get out of the game. When you admire other sportsmen, it can inspire you.”

One of those inspirations is in his own changing room. Left-arm seamer Beuran Hendricks, who replaced Steyn, could share the new ball with Rabada, who only had praise for his new teammate. “Beuran is a really good bowler. I rate him a lot. He brings variety. He has got a lot of skill and he has played international cricket before. I’ve played with him and against him. I am really confident with him being in the team and he always gives it his all,” Rabada said.

Rabada, Hendricks and two out of Chris Morris, Andile Phehlukwayo and Dwaine Pretorius will take care of South Africa’s seam bowling job but that still leaves the batsmen with a lot to do to change their team’s fortunes. In all three defeats so far, South Africa have not scored enough runs and they will now have to do it against one of the best pace attacks in the tournament.

Rabada noted that the West Indian attack has real pace and that it is a good thing for cricket to see fast bowlers around, which will not put South Africa’s batsmen at ease. But Rabada hopes they approach the game calmly, led by Hashim Amla.

“It's important for a lot of us in the team to click into things and Hash is an important figure. Everybody knows that. He knows that. So we do rely on him, just as we rely on everyone in the team. But I guess you could say we rely on him more,” Rabada said.

“We know that he can produce magic out there on the field and he's been showing signs of it in the warm-up games and we are really hopeful that he can come off.”
 
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Is South Africa undergoing the same thing that happened to Pakistan in 2003?

This WC could definitely be the end of many SA superstars like FAF,Steyn,Amla and Duminy

Their demotivated performance reminds me of what happened with PAK in 2003 WC when they went with a full strength squad at the end of their careers and as a team failed miserably.

Your thoughts?
 
Ronaldo7 said:
Just end the quota system and it should be all fine.
Click to expand...

To be honest, the quota system is not as big a problem. Its the lack of money in South African Cricket. For players like ABD, Morne Morkel, Steyn given all that they have achieved in international cricket, for them to be paid only $100,000 max per year by Cricket South Africa is ludicrous. English and Australian Cricketers make around $1-2 million a year from Cricket Australia excluding match fees, endorsements and IPL and T-20 leagues. Heck i am sure Pakistani players make a lot more.

No wonder so many South African players are opting for the Kolpak route to secure their financial future.
 
I am not sure quota system is a problem. Far lesser teams have won world cups. Last world cup they should just have bossed NZ in the semi final. Instead they lost being unable to defend a reasonably big total with guys like Steyn, Morkel. It is beyond that. They implode. In 2007 world T20. SA was playing India. They didn't even have to win that match to get through to semis. They just had to lose gracefully. India made 153 in 20 overs. SA just had to reach 126 runs to get qualified. WHat did they do? They collapsed so badly against RP singh and ended up reaching 116/9 in 20 overs.
 
*10 June - Southampton - South Africa Captain Faf du Plessis post-match press conference*

Q. Is that one point gained or one point lost?

FAF DU PLESSIS: The horse is out the shed if that's the right wording (smiling). We wanted to play a full game today. I think it's pretty obvious that when you play a team like the West Indies you want to play a full 100-over game. Just the make-up of their side. So it's disappointing the fact we didn't get a game.

It is important for us to get cricket and start ticking over, but we can't control the weather so, as a team, taking one point. Now we move forward to the next week.

Q. Could you tell us your thoughts on Hashim Amla going forward and how is he handling it?

FAF DU PLESSIS: He is back there (points to Amla doing shuttle runs in the indoor nets) so maybe we should call him in (smiling). Hash is a class player. It is tough on a wicket like that starting, opening up the innings. You need a bit of luck to go your way. And if you get through that first 10, 15 overs, that is when the scores come.

We have seen over the last game and today that the first ten overs can be a little bit tricky, there is more pace and bounce in the wicket and the nature of it. You do lose wickets.

So, yeah, he will be disappointed he got out today, but he has been hitting the ball really well in the nets so we just are hoping it's around the corner for him. He played a really good innings leading up to the two games, leading up to the World Cup, against the West Indies when they were bowling quick pace.

So like most of our batters, it's a case of getting in and getting the starts converted into runs. There's two phases of what's been disappointing in the batting; a lot of starts and also a few guys looking to get started.

Q. You obviously wanted a full game then, but at 20-odd for two and with having to stay off the field for that long, the longer you were off the field the situation works more in their favour. So as the rain keeps falling, do you find yourself getting in a situation where you would rather stay off and take the point?

FAF DU PLESSIS: Yeah, I think the nature of... generally when you are chasing it always favours the team batting second, you know, the nature of... We batted seven overs, they are not expecting a shortened game so the pace that you go at and then losing two wickets, so then...

Even with, around in my mind, when I was looking at 30, 35 overs, I was still feeling like if you get a score of 200, you know, 200 plus, I do feel there was enough in that wicket with our bowling attack, especially playing Beuran today as well, an extra seamer.

You are right, the further the game goes, the closer to a T20 game, being two down already, the odds are heavily in their favour. So as it got a bit later in the day, then you'd rather get the point and go.

Q. Can you give us an update on the state of your hand, please? What exactly is wrong with it and how bad is it?

FAF DU PLESSIS: No, no, it's fine. Just got hit on the dodgy finger, the crooked one. It's fine. I batted yesterday. Got peppered in the nets. Got hit on the shoulder. Got hit on the knee. So I was ready for all the West Indian pace-men today.

Q. How do you feel, now you have got five cup finals to play in before the end of this tournament?

FAF DU PLESSIS: Yeah, it's as simple as. We are in this position because we haven't played our best cricket so we don't deserve to be anywhere close to the top of the log. It is very clear for us as a team we need to be at our best and we need to play well in the next five games.

We have got Afghanistan next which are also a dangerous team. We need to start playing better cricket, more consistent and more solid cricket. If we do that, and the results start one by one happening, then this team will get a lot of confidence from that for the later stages.

Q. How do you get that confidence? How do you pick a team up that's started so poorly?

FAF DU PLESSIS: It's performance. You need individuals within your side to stand up and step up and pull the team up, you know. One guy getting a great hundred. You know KG did that against India as a small part of a role in a game. He picked the bowling unit up by just being the X-factor player that he is, so right now, we need individuals to stand up and step up to lift the team's morale. If you get that going, then other players can feed off their confidence.

Q. KG spoke yesterday about all the stuff that's been going on around the team and saying how it's important to clear the heads a bit. Do you think that that was the case today? Were there clear heads going in? If so, how will you sustain that? If not, what do you still need to clear out?

FAF DU PLESSIS: No, there's nothing else to be cleared out. I do honestly feel as a team we are... The feeling in the camp is still very strong, you know. The guys are still enjoying being on tour, enjoying being here. The guys are having fun. It is just performance-wise we haven't put in the performances we need and, generally, I find that when a team starts losing two or three games, it can happen that there's a few cracks that can appear in a team and the blame game can start.

And I do honestly believe that we have been very far away from that. That is a strong sign of us as a team, as a culture, and that is one aspect of performance. You get culture and then you get the actual performance on the field.

So, yeah, a very good, positive sign that everything seems in tact when it comes to that. But now it is just the performance and the skill side of cricket that needs to take over.

Q. Lungi seemed to be bowling nearly at full tilt ahead of the toss today. You have another four or five days to go until the next game. Will he be ready for that one? If so, how big a factor will that be?

FAF DU PLESSIS: We wanted him to be ready for today purely from the fact it feels every game is a must-win game for us at the moment. With Lungi, the amount of bowling that he's been doing this tournament, he hasn't bowled a lot and then he picks up an injury and it is probably on the verge of can he and can't he play? So the pure fact that he hasn't really bowled a lot of overs. We just feel like it is more important for him to just have another three or four days to build-up his loads again so he can bowl eight, nine, ten overs.

And luckily for us today there wasn't a lot of cricket so we can throw him straight into the game the next game.

Q. You mentioned the culture of the team and that you are still feeling all very unified and strong in that. How much did the news over the weekend about AB, did that shake the team at all, or do you feel that maybe it's the sort of thing that can actually unite the team?

FAF DU PLESSIS: I think a little bit of both. I think to say no, it didn't, or to say yes, it did, unites us as a team. We do feel like the news came in and like went through the team. It didn't have a huge impact. There was just a discussion on clarity and on making sure everyone knows what's going on and then it was moving on.

The team was happy to get on with business. But it is stuff like that generally you feel like it can make you, give you direction in your team and give you purpose to focus on what lies ahead.

Q. When AB came to you in the IPL and he expressed his desire to still be part of the team, or maybe go to the World Cup, what was your initial reactions? What did you tell him and what did you discuss with Ottis?

FAF DU PLESSIS: He didn't come to me. It was just a conversation, a phone call the night before the team got announced. It was just a "This is what I'm feeling." I said to him, "I think it is too late but I will check in with the coach and the selectors the next morning to get their opinion on it as the squad was already announced or picked." But that day there was the announcement. When I spoke to the coach and the selectors the next day, they all agreed that it was way, way too late to change the team on 99.99.

Q. Sorry, to follow up on that. AB spoke to you in the IPL about that?

FAF DU PLESSIS: Yeah, a phone call.

Q. The log table will start to look a lot clearer over the next couple of games in terms of who are the front-runners in terms of those semifinal spots. Is that on the minds of players, administrators, calculations, permutations?

FAF DU PLESSIS: It is too far away. Right now for us we need to focus on our performance. If we can get our performance sorted out, our skills, our confidence back up where it needs to be and you can start getting on a roll of two or three games, you can only really look at those things when it comes to the last week of the tournament.

Naturally, when you are in a tournament like this I suppose you, us as the team at the bottom part of the log, you want the top team to keep winning to make sure there is a little bit of a breathing room for the other two or three teams, so you keep an eye on other results maybe in that aspect. But it's obviously really out of their control.

====



Du Plessis: South Africa’s spirit remains undampened despite West Indies washout

South Africa have got their first point of this ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup and are ready to rack up some more after their washout against West Indies in Southampton on Monday.

Although 7.3 overs of play were possible and South Africa had lost two wickets in that time, captain Faf du Plessis confirmed the team feel confident about their ability to start winning matches at this tournament - a must, if they are to maintain any hope of making the semi-finals.

“The feeling in the camp is still very strong,” said the skipper.

“The guys are still enjoying being on tour, enjoying being here. The guys are having fun. It is just performance-wise, we haven't put in the performances we need.

“Generally, I find that when a team starts losing two or three games, it can happen that there are a few cracks that can appear in a team and the blame game can start.

“And I do honestly believe that we have been very far away from that.

“That is a strong sign of us as a team, as a culture, and that is one aspect of performance. You get culture and then you get the actual performance on the field.

“Now it is just the performance and the skill side of cricket that needs to take over.”

For that to happen, South Africa are looking for individual players to put their hands up with their next game against Afghanistan in Cardiff on Saturday.

Du Plessis added: “You need individuals within your side to stand up and step up and pull the team up. You need one guy getting a great hundred.

“KG (Kagiso Rabada) did that against India as a small part of a role in a game. He picked the bowling unit up by just being the X-factor player that he is, so right now, we need individuals to stand up and step up to lift the team's morale. If you get that going, then other players can feed off their confidence.”

Rabada delivered a threatening opening spell on Wednesday against India, in which he generated good bounce and beat the bat several times.

He was unable to repeat that on Monday, where conditions could have been similarly favourable.

Had Rabada had the opportunity, du Plessis thinks this his strike bowler and new-comer Beuran Hendricks could have helped defend a small total.

“In my mind, when I was looking at 30 or 35 overs, I was still feeling like if you get a score of 200, there was enough in that wicket with our bowling attack, especially playing Beuran today as well, an extra seamer,” he added.

But in the end, du Plessis was pleased he did not have to play in a shortened game, which would have favoured West Indies.

He added: “The further the game goes, the closer to a t20 game, being two down already, the odds are heavily in their favour. So as it got a bit later in the day, then you'd rather get the point and go.”

“We need to start playing better cricket, more consistent and more solid cricket. If we do that, and the results start happening one by one, then this team will get a lot of confidence from that for the later stages.”
 
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With five matches left to play at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, South Africa aim to be more flexible in their approach as they search for their first win.

Given the format of the tournament, in which each team plays the other nine once, batting coach Dale Benkenstein believes the ability to strategise more spontaneously could be the key to success.

And with a clash with Afghanistan in Cardiff up next, the Proteas coach know it is now or never for his side.

“The difference in tournaments to international cricket is that in regular series you play the same opposition four or five times so you have an opportunity to start slow, to sum them up and then you can take them down,” he said.

“Here, you are playing one-off games. You are playing on different wickets and against different teams in every match.”

South Africa have never played an ODI against Afghanistan before, and must claim victory in the Welsh capital on Saturday to keep their hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals alive.

And Benkenstein wants to see the batting line-up score more runs and spend more time at the crease in that match especially as no South African batsmen has scored a century in the tournament so far and they have not had any century stands.

He added: “The message is that the batters have got to step up and we haven’t.

“I feel like we are batting well but we just haven’t done it long enough. Everyone has got in. We’ve had opportunities to have hundred partnerships and win matches but we haven’t done it.

“We try and play quite an aggressive form of cricket. Scores are much higher than they used to be. Teams are scoring big totals so when you are in and you are dominating, you’ve got to try and make the most of it.

“Sometimes we don't get that balance right. We try and accelerate maybe a bit too fast rather than getting our heads down and ticking it over and the batters getting us more to the end of the game.”

Benkenstein also assured supporters that South Africa have left no stone unturned as they bid to turn their form around, both in the nets and with their mental conditioning.

“We are practicing as hard as we can and trying to give the batters as much confidence as we can. “We’re making them remember when they played well and that you can’t just become bad players in a week.

And, like so many in the South African camp, Benkenstein believes a change in fortunes is not far away.

“I really feel we are one game away from getting all those things right. If we get that right, the confidence levels will be up there and then we may peak at the right time,” he added.

“At previous World Cups, we have done very well and then when it came to the end of the tournaments, we’ve been feeling the pressure there whereas now, we’ve been feeling it from the start, from everybody. Maybe the story has just got a bit of a different script.”

ICC Media Release
 
Team like SA must have their openers doing their job. SA goes into shell after each wicket. They need a start like 100/0 in 20 overs without worrying about end score. Then they have to accelerate after that.
 
14 June - Cardiff - South Africa Captain Faf du Plessis pre-match press conference

Q. (Question about Lungi).
FAF DU PLESSIS: He's got to do some work today and possibly tomorrow as well to make sure that he's 100 percent. I think with all sides trying, especially with fast bowlers, it's a tricky one, too, when they're all ready to come back. So that decision will get made probably tomorrow morning.

Q. Is this a game where, given the dimensions of the field and the weather, that sort of thing, is this a game where you might consider (indiscernible)?
FAF DU PLESSIS: You mean if Lungi is available, fully available?

Q. Even if he's not, you've still got the ability to place (indiscernible)?
FAF DU PLESSIS: Yeah, it is something you can think about. I think especially weather, a lot of rain around, as you rightly say, small, straight, big square. The pitch has been under covers.

It's a discussion myself and the coaches briefly entertained a little bit. But I think a full game of 50-overs, I think, both our thinking was that Imran is still such a world-class bowler that even with the white ball and even on the small field he's still got the tricks, especially against a team who hasn't faced him before. So probably a full game we would stick to having a spinner on our side.

Q. I want to go back to Lungi. If there's a doubt that maybe he's not 100 percent fit, is your thinking maybe you'd rather keep him, especially if this is rain-affected, for later on in the tournament? Or just how conservative do you have to be with him?
FAF DU PLESSIS: Tricky one, because we're in a position now where we need to win five games out of five. So you want to have your best guys available for selection.

But, yeah, what you're saying is what we thought as well, trying to make sure that if he's not 100 percent or even 90 percent ready for the game, and even if it's going to shorten game or a bit rain around, is it worth the risk. So that is the conversation that we have spoken about.

Yes, so probably the right call to make would be to say that if he's not ready, you just give him a little bit more time to see if he can play the next four games, which is going to be big. Obviously playing against bigger nations where Ben is batting nicely, looks like he batted very well, but that decision will be made tomorrow morning.

Q. Given the first week you had where you have three games within a week and now obviously you kind of, 7-overs or one game in 10 days, how frustrating has it been sitting on the sidelines for this time? And then also how the weather over the last week has hampered your preparations?
FAF DU PLESSIS: Like we said, week one was not our ideal start. It was a bad start to the tournament. But that's done now. We have to make sure that we try and put all of our energy and focus into the now and what's coming up next. I truly believe if we stay, if we carry those ghosts of the last week with us, then it's going to be tough to get out of the hole.

So the conversations the last couple days and especially with all the rain around, it gives me more time to check in with players to make sure that guys are on the right path more than anything else, that they've put that week behind them because you can't be looking back now. If you're looking back, then we're just going to almost like float through this tournament, win maybe one, maybe two, three games, but we're not going to achieve what we want.

The fact there's been a bit of rain has given me clarity on the discussions we need to have on the team, and I feel that's been really good off the field.

In an ideal world, yes, you'd like more practise. But also a one-night session is not going to make the team play better. I believe it's more the conversations we're having behind just getting, making sure we're strong and knowing exactly what we need to do. The start-off cricket that we need to play, the intensity that we need to play. I felt in that first week our intensity and the way we played was down. And that's not good enough. And that's why our results weren't the way we wanted.

Q. Just a word on your opposition, obviously you guys haven't played them in a 50-over game before. How much are you drawing on your experience from the IPL and facing their spinners in particular?
FAF DU PLESSIS: Very true. Afghanistan -- I think what's clear in the world of cricket now is that you can't call teams minors anymore. You can't call them weaker sides because they have the ability and the players in their dressing room to change a game.

You need two or three guys in any game to stand up and win you a game. And they've got those players. Obviously Rashid Khan is probably the standout for them in the fact that he's proven in T20 cricket that he's certainly, probably the best leg spinner in the world in T20 cricket.

In 50-over cricket, it gives him a bit more time but you also don't have to attack him as much as you do in one-day cricket. So it's really important for us to make sure that the learnings there is from the players that's played against him in the IPL, that we share that knowledge in the dressing room and just make sure we annihilate that threat. If he bowls and he's not getting wickets, then it gives us an opportunity to make sure that we can get some players towards other bowlers.

When they come into the game is when he gets on a roll and he gets two or three, or four or five in quick succession, which he has the skills to do. So, it's just about making sure you know when he comes on to bowl what his job is. His job is to get a few wickets and put some pressure on our batting lineup.

Q. How different is it to prepare and also play a day/night game?
FAF DU PLESSIS: We've played a lot of day/night cricket. You just try to alter your preparation, just get used to the lights, because every place you play day/night cricket the lights feel different.

This ground looks like there's a few pockets that are not as bright as the middle. So it goes a little bit darker towards the end of the -- so it was good to have a night practise yesterday to see what was going on.

You have to make those quick decisions in the middle as well, because sometimes at night it can be more difficult picking risk. You've got to give yourself a little bit of time making sure you assess what's happening in the bowler's hand. And from there you make your plans and you try and counter as best as possible.

Q. You touched on it then, but are you clear in your own mind and the squad as well that you have to win all the remaining games to have a chance to making the last four?
FAF DU PLESSIS: That's super clear for us. I think the clarity -- that's what we're trying to achieve is to give the guys real purpose in the next five games that this is -- actually, the opportunity we had where there was a bit of spice for us to make a mistake here and there. Now everyone has written the team off. So there's our backs against the wall as a team.

So hopefully that will allow the guys to come out and play the way we want them to play and the way we can play. And I believe if we truly do that play, start of play, we'll be a dangerous team. But we haven't fully unlocked the potential that we do have in our side.

Q. You talked about discussions with players this week and while the rain's been around. Are there any specific examples or sporting stories you've been calling on for, like, inspiration? I think a couple IPL teams have won having lost five in a row. Is there anything you've been focusing the guys?
FAF DU PLESSIS: No, I keep my secrets to myself. No, honestly it's just been checking in with every guy individually, see where he or she is, and then just making sure that I make it clear to them that there needs to be purpose in what's coming up. You can't just hope for things to change.

Hope's a very dangerous thing for me; you either make it happen, the fact that you need to get yourself out of that space as quick as possible. And just finding different keys and different players where I feel that they can lead better in different departments, where they can take more responsibility, where they can take more ownership.

So it's about trying to unlock players' best that is lying somewhere underneath them. Hopefully we can see a little bit of that coming out in the next few games.

Q. Could you explain what changes from a batting and a bowling point of view when you have such short, straight boundaries? In my very amateur analysis, hit straight, but it's got to be a bit more complicated from bowling and batting?
FAF DU PLESSIS: Yeah, I think from a spinning point of view, guys would generally want to attack straight. That sounds obvious. But that tells you that spinners will probably drag their length, try to drag their length and make you hit square. So if bowlers do bowl like that they actually take a little bit of their weaponry away because they're just short of that perfect length. And then you can score naturally off any spinner.

So, there is a pro to it, but there's also a negative to that. And hopefully we can take it to our advantage. And from a seamless point of view, yeah, you want to be making sure that you are making the guys play square. But also there's no point in just bowling short all the time.

It's a green surface. The ball might move around. So, with the skill that we have in our seam attack, it's important that we target both, that you use your skill and your consistency almost like a test match and then use the smartness of the field in when you're trying to defend. And that's obviously when square boundaries come into play.

Q. Just tagging on to the earlier question about where the team's drawing inspiration from, not many South African captains have dealt with the kinds of situations that you've got now on your team. Is there somewhere that you personally draw inspiration from, captains you've played under or you've seen who have dealt with various tough issues that maybe you take as an example?
FAF DU PLESSIS: I try and look at myself first and I try and find ways which is my (indiscernible), my keys to get strong -- and that's my family, my faith, my positive talking, my visualization. Those are things that I draw energy from.

And it's important that you spend as much time into things that raises your tank and not spend too much time on things that drain you even more.

I start that with myself and then try and find, speak to the guys about what is it that keeps you in that real place where you feel like you're at your best when you're playing cricket, and then trying to unlock that with players.

So whether it's a working recipe, I can only relate to myself and try and tap into the other players and see if I can get them where they need to be before they go.

Q. Getting back to this ground, this is the venue where you guys lost (indiscernible) cricket match. How much are you drawing on that experience, and does that play into your hands? What experience are you taking from that last game?
FAF DU PLESSIS: We did -- the nice thing is we played, we've batted on this wicket. I suppose a positive from playing under the conditions like this is the last time we played here the ball didn't spin much. So that is a weapon that Afghanistan has or have. They've got a very good spin attack.

And if you get them on a surface that is a bit slow it does spin a bit. They just as dangerous as West Indies, England, Australia with their bowling attacks because they've got guys that can get wickets all the time. Hopefully that's the same tomorrow. Hopefully the spin doesn't assist too much.

And the last time we batted here there were clear things we could take away. The first 10 overs the ball does nip around a bit. And even right through the innings there is elements of that. But if you get in, you can score quickly. As the guys said the boundaries are quite straight.

If you have a few options and you do feel like you can counter really well on this ground as well.

Q. Your first World Cup as a captain, you've spoken about having to go to players and have conversations over the last two weeks. Would you say that in just your time as a leadership, in the leadership group and the leader of this team, this World Cup has probably pushed you as far you've ever been before? Have you had to go to a place as a leader that you've never been before?
FAF DU PLESSIS: Yeah, that's fair. And I think naturally with everyone, when you speak to the team before coming to a World Cup, you are preparing them for the fact that World Cups, as much as you try to make it just another game of cricket, unfortunately there is a little bit more expectation. There is a little bit more on you as the player. And the same thing is for a captain or a coach.

So definitely the start that we've had has made that really, really challenging. And that is something -- it's probably been the biggest challenge. If you look over a career, we haven't had a run of three games on the balance we lose where you feel like it's do or die now.

As I said, in series you always have another opportunity to come back. The one series that we find really tough was against India, but I was injured for that series against India in South Africa.

So from a challenge, myself as a leader, this has been right up there. But I suppose that's what the last two, three years of captaining this side has prepared me for. Whether it's good situations or bad situations, you try to mature as much as you can as a captain to try and be ready for when it's really, really tough because then the team looks to the leaders in the side.

So it's a hard time, but it's also a time that I'm really owning up to the fact that I need to step up and make sure that I lead the team in a time when they need me.

Q. I think it was you who said, when discussing selection for the India game, that who your best batsmen were against spin was a large factor in that. Are you thinking the same way here, another side's weapons is mainly the spin?
FAF DU PLESSIS: Yeah, we're trying to find consistency in our personnel that we're trying to -- trying to pick players to give them a run of form where they can score runs and get some consistency.

The unfortunate thing of that is no one's really put their hand up to say, here's consistent performances, make sure you pick me. So if we've got seven or eight batters, you try and look at guys that you feel are a little bit in form.

That's probably why we've pushed for Aiden more than some of the experience in JP or Dave in some of the games. Aiden has been on really good form himself in one-day cricket the last year.

You try to find that little balance of setting up your batting lineup. Hash, as I said after the previous game, he came in and batted really well in those two warm-up games. We found he's got some really good form. And the fact that we haven't had consistent performances from us as a whole batting unit makes it tough to find out who exactly is your best batters on the tournament.

So that makes selection a little bit trickier. So I'm hoping that guys can start putting up hands now because in a perfect world you want consistency. You want consistency in your selection and consistency in the guys at your back.

But that Indian series was, as you say, was a case for us where we felt pick the guys that have played a lot of IPL cricket, that have faced the spinners in the IPL a lot. And obviously Aiden was left out of that game. And he hasn't faced any of those spinners.

But it showed on the same day that even the guys we played them a lot still struggled to play them well. So that's not always a guarantee. Just trying to go with what your gut's telling you is the right thing to do.
 
Du Plessis tells South Africa’s players to focus on the future and not dwell on the past

South Africa have put the first two weeks of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup behind them and head into their remaining five league matches with their focus firmly fixed on giving themselves a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals.

After three matches in the opening week, all defeats, skipper Faf du Plessis is keen for his players to look forward and not focus on what has happened in the opening weeks of the tournament.

He said: “We have to make sure we put all our energy and focus into what’s coming up next. If we carry the ghosts of the last week with us, it’s going to be tough to get out of the hole.

“We can’t be looking back. If we are looking back, we are almost going to float through this tournament and then we might win one or two or three games and we won’t achieve what we want. We have been having conversations an making sure we are strong and we know what we need to do.”

The most pressing task for South Africa is to start winning so they begin to catch up with teams higher up on the points table.

Du Plessis knows there is a long way to go but believes the current situation could bring out the best of his team.

He added: “We have real purpose in the next five games. Everyone has written the team off. Our backs are against the wall as a team.

“Maybe that lets the guys play the way they can play the way we want to play. We know we haven’t fully unlocked the potential we have in the side.”

For that to happen, South Africa want their batsmen, in particular, to put in a strong performance against Afghanistan at the Cardiff Wales Stadium.

It was at this venue that South Africa last scored substantially, albeit only in a warm-up match. They posted 338/7 against Sri Lanka, an opposition they are familiar with.

Now, they are looking to do similar against Afghanistan, who they have never played in an ODI.

Du Plessis is wary of an unknown opposition and their spinners and will draw on his and others’ IPL experience to try and nullify the turning threat.

He added: “You can’t call teams minnows anymore. You can’t call them weaker sides. They have the ability and the players to change the game.

“Rashid Khan was the standout for them. He has proven in T20 cricket that he is probably the best legspinner in the world.

“In fifty-over cricket, you have a bit of time, so you don’t have to attack him as much. We will share knowledge from the IPL in the dressing room.

“We know that where Afghanistan come into the game is when Rashid Khan gets on a roll and takes wickets in quick succession.”

South Africa have a fully fit batting line-up to choose from and will likely opt for two of Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller or JP Duminy but have an injury concern in the bowling department.

Seamer Lungi Ngidi is still recovering from a hamstring strain and a late call will be taken on his availability, with South Africa’s likely to err on the side of the caution given how many matches they have left.

“We need to make sure that if he is not 100 per cent or even 90 per cent, we ask is it worth the risk?” Du Plessis said. “The right call to make is that if he is not ready, he will play the next match.”

ICC media release
 
Faf du Plessis felt a weight lift off his shoulders as South Africa earned their first win of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup with a nine-wicket victory over Afghanistan in Cardiff.

The match was South Africa’s fifth of the tournament and the result means they remain in contention for the knockout stages.

Du Plessis was particularly pleased with the way his attack performed and praised Andile Phehlulwayo and Chris Morris as being really good while singling out Imran Tahir as the standout.

He said: “I feel a little bit lighter. Our cricket today was much better and more competitive. We spoke about having more energy in the field and you could really see a big difference in the team.

“Imran as always is special, especially on a wicket like that which is not suited to spin.

Tahir was a key figure in sparking the collapse South Africa instigated after the second rain delay that saw Afghanistan tumble from 69/2 to 77/7 - a loss of five wickets in 29 balls.

The interruption allowed the bowlers to regroup after a middling start and they returned after 65 minutes off the field in the mood for wickets.

“Maybe the break came at a nice time,” du Plessis said. “It was just a case of reminding the guys not to get frustrated with doing the things we need to do and not to feel we need to change our plans or panic.”

Similarly, South Africa were measured in their chase and lost only one wicket in pursuit of 127. Quinton de Kock top-scored wuth 68 off 84 balls and shared in a 104-run opening partnership with Hashim Amla, South Africa’s highest of the tournament so far.

“Initially, it was just making sure we get a good foundation. Quinton batted really well. He transfered the pressure and took the attack on,” du Plessis said.

Amla batted through the innings and finished on 41 not out off 83 balls, which was a perhaps a little slower than South Africa would have wanted but perfect for finding his touch.

“In a perfect world, Hashim would have scored 40 off 40 or 50 balls but specifically with him it’s about the bigger picture of getting runs, finishing a game off and getting his confidence back,” du Plessus added. “He is a big player for us and we need him for the next four games.”

South Africa are approaching their remaining matches as must-win games, as they continue to target a spot in the semi-finals and Du Plesiss hopes this result will mark the turning point for their campaign.

“If we play like we did today, we will be a better team. The first three games, we didn’t play like we did today. Hopefully this is a real confidence boost for everyone in the team. We know what lies ahead - we need to win every game. Today a really good step in the right direction,” he said.
 
Chris Morris credited coach Ottis Gibson for helping him establish his place in South Africa’s bowling attack.

The Proteas finally banked their first victory of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup with a nine wicket win over Afghanistan in Cardiff.

And Morris played his role, with 3/13 his best figures of the tournament.

The 32-year old all-rounder was a late addition to Faf du Plessis’s team, replacing Anrich Nortje, who was ruled out with a hand injury.

And Gibson has worked hard to establish his place in a squad that have been hit with injuries to their frontline bowling attack, Dale Steyn flying home with a shoulder injury and Lungi Ngidi still on the sidelines with a hamstring problem.

“There are a lot less worms in my head on the cricket field these days. The job I was given by Ottis was quite a clear-cut one. If I stick to that, it’s a job I think I can do,” said Morris.

“I have worked quite nicely with Ottis in the last two weeks. We have found something in the run-up that we’ve changed. That’s given me a lot more rhythm and more balance at the crease. It’s coming on nicely for now.

“I try not to bowl as fast as I can because that’s when I tend to break. It’s just about finding rhythm, hitting the wicket and not trying to do too many things.”

Though Morris opened the bowling against India, he usually comes in at first or second change where has the dual task of containing the opposition’s run-rate and taking wickets. In the past, Morris understood that to mean he needed to bowl quickly but now he is working on more subtle skills to ensure he stays injury-free.

Morris’ new approach has brought him consistency, something that South Africa’s attack as a whole have been striving for and may have found in their win over Afghanistan.

After Afghanistan scored 33 runs in the first 5.5 overs before the first rain delay in Cardiff, Gibson scolded his bowlers for being a little too wayward. They returned with more focus.

“At the first rain break, the bowlers got a bit of a slap on the wrist. We were told we need to be more consistent in what we are doing and that we don’t need to try too much,” added Morris.

“After that rain break, we came on and we were a lot more consistent, a lot more at the batters and everything in the field just clicked for us. We needed a little bit of a pep talk from the coach and that was quite good.”

South Africa then took two Afghan wickets before another rain delay, after which they forced a collapse of five wickets for eight runs in 29 balls, taking advantage of Afghanistan’s penchant for playing their shots.

“That’s just the nature of the way they play,” Morris said. “We knew we needed to be patient with them, that if they get one away or two away, they were going to give an opportunity. The boys stuck to their guns well.”

Knowing that their plans paid off, South Africa now have a morale-boosting victory to their name, much needed after a difficult start to the tournament that saw three defeats followed by a rained out match.

“It’s a good changing room and a good vibe,” added Morris. “We know we’ve lost a few and we haven’t played our best cricket but the vibe has never changed. The vibe has been good. It’s a World Cup so what aren’t you happy about?”
 
Jason Behrendorff played his first-ever World Cup game on Saturday and took his first-ever World Cup wicket.

But the 29-year-old Australian seamer knows this summer he will often have to sacrifice personal glory for the greater good.

The left-hander finished with figures of 1/59 from nine overs in Australia’s 87-run win over Sri Lanka at the Oval that puts the defending champions top of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup standings as we approach the halfway point.

But the glory more often than not in Australia’s bowling attack goes to Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins who are the two top wicket takers in the competition.

And with Kane Richardson and Nathan Coulter-Nile preferred in previous group games, Behrendorff is happy to take whatever role he gets.

“It is always tough waiting because you want to be playing cricket,” said Behrendorff – who only made his ODI debut for his country at the start of this year.

“I guess his (Starc’s) role is more of an attacking one so mine is more defensive one at times, to really try and strangle the batters a bit which I felt I was able to do throughout the middle overs which was really good.

“Selection is something that is ultimately up to the selectors but if I can keep my economy rate pretty good and take some wickets along the way that will go a long way to playing more games which is definitely what I want.”

Often a new-ball bowler in T20 cricket for Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash and Mumbai Indians in the IPL, again for his country in the 50-over format Behrendorff has to take a backseat.

Cummins and Starc get the new balls from each end, leaving the left-armer to pick up the slack in the middle overs.

“Mitch and Paddy have both opened up in all the other games and done a really good job so to not break that was the
thinking," he added.

“That’s the blueprint that we have gone with and that’s OK, whatever my role is for the team, that is what I will take on.”

Starc and Cummins struggled in the first powerplay against Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Perera.

And with only four specialist bowlers in their side at the moment – Marcus Stoinis’ side strain remains a worry – Glenn Maxwell, Richardson and Behrendorff played a big role in halting the slide.

And it was Behrendorff who got rid of Lahiru Thirimanne in the middle overs to help turn the tide.

“It is always tough, because if they do get off to a good start and you are handed the ball a few overs in you know they are going and you have to be on your game straight away,” he added.

“But that is nothing new, it is about backing yourself and with two new balls as well it is always going to fly if they go hard.

“It is about trying to minimise the damage at times and try and get away with is as best you can.

"We have full confidence in Maxy to bowl ten and bowl well as you saw today. He did a really good job reigning the Sri Lankans back in after they got off to a really good start.

“That is something we know we are going to have to deal with the with the all-rounder situation at the minute. And I thought everyone did a good job in the end.”
 
Andile Phehlukwayo does not bowl particularly fast, he does not generate steep bounce or swing the ball much and he expects batsmen to attack him.

But with an economy rate of 4.46 - the best among South African bowlers at the tournament so far and the fourth-best of all bowlers who have delivered more than 20 overs in this tournament - it’s fair to say Phehlukwayo is the one pulling the strings.

He has emerged as South Africa’s most versatile seamer at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019, with skills that include an array of cutters and slower-balls, something Phehlukwayo worked on in the absence of speed.

“I used to be quicker when I was younger, even if no-one believes me,” Phehlukwayo joked, after South Africa’s win over Afghanistan.

“But then I had to try adjust because if you don’t have express pace, you need to have another type of armour or use the surface to deceive the batter in another way.

“When you look at the dynamic of our bowling line-up, the guys are world-class so most teams will try and target me. It’s a matter of putting pressure on myself, trying to execute, present the seam and hopefully if the wicket assists me, I can pick up wickets for nothing,”

In Cardiff, Phehlukwayo’s 2/18 in eight overs was an example of how he can both strangle and slice through a line-up. A highlight of that performance was the intensity Phehlukwayo showed, which he put down to smart preparation.

He added: “I am trying to bend the back a little bit, trying to hit the deck on a fuller length. It comes from my action and putting in a bigger effort to try to bowl the ball in a good area and on a fuller length. It’s both an attitude and a technical thing. I am trying not to be lazy with every ball and hitting the deck nice and hard.”

With all the focus on his bowling, it's easy to forget that Phehlukwayo is also a genuine all-rounder, who wants to contribute with runs as well.

He was promoted to No.3 against Afghanistan, to finish off a small chase, and hopes he will have more opportunities to show what he can do.

“I have been hitting the ball nicely. In the nets, it’s been really good. It’s now more of a mental thing. I just need to try to connect a little bit more and try put more responsibility and own my wicket,” Phehlukwayo said.

And if that’s not enough, Phehlukwayo has also taken on the role of the squad’s social media motivator and uses the platform to spread optimism especially after South Africa’s poor start to the tournament.

They lost their opening three games and Phehlukwayo’s tweets served as reminders that bad times don’t last and there are lessons in defeat and he has promised to keep posting as the competition goes on.

“Social media can go a lot of ways. I try not to look at the negative stuff and try to wipe that type of stuff out of my head. Even though our backs are against the wall in certain ways and we weren’t playing that well, to bring it back, I had tried portraying positivity,” he said.

“I think sending a message to people telling them that we are still doing our best and a big performance is around the corner is really important. It’s good to be on social media, and I will continue to be there, to interact with people, supporters and fans.”
 
Jacques Kallis: South Africa’s emphatic win will give all the players confidence they can still progress

It was important for South Africa not only to win but to do so emphatically and they did just that against Afghanistan.

There will be a lot of happiness and above all relief from that nine-wicket victory and hopefully it can kickstart their ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.

There is still a chance they can make the semi-finals if they win all their remaining games, so the camp should be a little more upbeat.

It was a good bowling performance, and a lot of players will have taken confidence from getting some wickets. It was good to see the guys take the opportunity they had and not just go through the motions against a team that was slightly weaker than them.

I was also really pleased to see Hashim Amla get some runs. It wasn’t a case of scoring quickly, but instead getting some time out in the middle. The run-rate did not really matter, it was about getting some form and Hashim did just that.

I still think he will be really important for South Africa over the course of this tournament given his experience.

That will be especially true in the next game against New Zealand at Edgbaston. The Kiwis always play well in these tournaments and they are always contenders. They also find ways to do something different and be unpredictable.

It will be a big test for South Africa who will have to be at their very best if they are going to win.

For me, the key is to get off to a good start, with bat or ball. That is where Hashim’s runs will help. We’ve seen throughout this World Cup that if you keep wickets in hand, you can really post some big totals. If you lose wickets early, then it can be tough for the players coming in to get in.

South Africa will have to be aggressive with the ball as well. They have to be the ones to throw the first punch in the game. They cannot let New Zealand dictate, they have to try to smother them from the off. That will not be easy though.

Edgbaston is a good wicket so it should make for a competitive game. South Africa will need a complete performance and that means getting their discipline right with the ball and bowling in the right areas.

We have seen at this World Cup that it is harder to bowl slightly fuller and usually you get more reward if you bang it in back of a length.

So it will be important to summarise the conditions and adjust accordingly. The other thing that will be crucial is that if South Africa do get the upper hand early on, then they cannot take their foot off the pedal and give New Zealand a way back into it.

Overall though, it was great to see South Africa up and running and hopefully we can see them really carry that momentum into the rest of the competition and particularly the next game on Wednesday.

© ICC Business Corporation FZ LLC 2019. All rights reserved
 
18 June - Birmingham - South Africa player Quinton de Kock pre-match press conference


Q. Quinton, I know it's still pretty early in the tournament, but are you guys feeling like this is one of the biggest games that you guys are playing in the last sort of four or five years?
QUINTON DE KOCK: No, not really. I think, obviously, it's a big game for us, but in saying that, our next three or four games that we have, they're all going to be big games anyway for us for the rest of the tournament. We're just going to have to go out there, keep our heads steady, and play freely.

Yeah, obviously, playing against New Zealand is going to be a tough competition, but I'm sure it will be a good game.

Q. Quinton, you say there are big games after tomorrow and a couple of more, but if you lose tomorrow, there are no more big games. Isn't that situation? You said that you're taking it as one because there are big games still to come, but if you lose tomorrow, there are no more big games. It's done, isn't it?
QUINTON DE KOCK: I guess so. Tomorrow is a quarterfinal, I guess you could say it, but if we do win it, it's another big game again. Could be -- obviously, it is a big game, but there's a lot more that we are focusing on also. We have to win all the games, not just focus on tomorrow. But in saying that, we know how good New Zealand are playing at the moment. They are a big team in World Cups. They always seem to step up. Yeah, so it's going to be a tough one anyway.

Q. Do you think that the New Zealand team is complacent coming into this game?
QUINTON DE KOCK: I don't know. I haven't been focused on them, to be honest, but highly doubt it. I know them pretty well, a lot of the players. They're pretty mild people. They're very athletic people. They're always competitive to whoever they play against.

Yeah, I don't see them as being complacent no matter who they play against. I'm sure they're going to come out firing tomorrow and with a lot of confidence.

Q. Quinny, after coming off a win, with a fully fit squad of 15 guys, yourself and Hash got a few runs in the previous game, do you feel like this is the best place that you guys as a team has been in before a game?
QUINTON DE KOCK: I think it's -- I think, before our first game that we played against England, we were in a pretty good space also then, mentally and with preparation. Then obviously, during the course of the tournament, obviously after losing all the time, obviously, there's always a bit of a slump in being mentally strong. Obviously, it's a long tournament, it's a tough tournament, and obviously getting a win again has given us high hopes.

So, yeah, we are pretty confident at the moment. It's just about taking it out there and giving the guys a good show.

Q. Quinny, you spoke about playing freely. Would you say there were some glimpses of that against Afghanistan? What will it take to play freely against a very good New Zealand base attack?
QUINTON DE KOCK: I think for every guy it works differently. They will obviously prepare by themselves today, and they'll figure it out. For me, it's just about playing my natural game. Nothing different, I guess. Just going out there, playing it as I see it. That's just about it, I guess.

Q. Quinny, just on that, these are two sides that rely on taking wickets with the new ball and relying on the top order. Does that kind of put the battle between yourself and Hashim and the Kiwi openers? Does that place more emphasis on it? Do you feel more responsibility going into this game than you do any other game?
QUINTON DE KOCK: No, not really, or not at all actually. We've played against them so many times. We played against the opening bowlers numerous amount of times, so we know what we're going to get. It's not like we don't know what we're up against. We know exactly what we're up against. So the emphasis is on the whole game, not just about bat and ball up front.

It's about being well prepared up front and dominating in the middle and obviously with a good finish with bat and ball. So no, I don't think it's all down just to the start of their bowlers and us up front.

Q. Given the last time you played New Zealand you won, does that give you more confidence going into that game, or do you sort of see it as a clean slate?
QUINTON DE KOCK: Yeah, it's a clean slate. It was such a long time ago anyway. I would say it's long forgotten anyway. So come in with a fresh mind tomorrow. Yeah, just come out with clear heads and just try to play the best cricket we can.

Q. Your opening partnership with Hash is one that's been successful for a long time. Can you tell us how it's progressed over the years, if it's changed at all, that relationship between the two of you, as you've gotten more experienced and accomplished over the years and he's where he is now?
QUINTON DE KOCK: I don't think it's changed that much, to be honest. Obviously, well, we didn't have much of a chance to bat too much together in the beginning of the year. So we obviously had a relationship break for a little while. No, it's good to be batting with him again. We rely on each other a lot out there. I think we complement each other really well, the way we go about things. Yeah, it's just good to be batting with him again.

Q. Quinton, yourself and Faf and Rassie have been South Africa's most consistent batsmen so far. What do you think you guys are doing that some of the other players aren't?
QUINTON DE KOCK: I'm not too sure, to be honest. Just I think -- I don't know. I'm not too sure, to be honest. I think, just for me, I'm just trying to keep things simple.

Obviously, Faf, he does his different things -- or he does things differently to the way I do things and the way I prepare myself mentally, and just being prepared with the bat and the gloves.

Rassie, I mean, he's been on the circuit for so long. Yes, he hasn't played a lot of international cricket, but he's been playing franchise cricket for so long that he understands this game pretty well.

I'm not too sure how they're doing it. I haven't decided to ask them ever. But, yeah, whatever they're doing, just keep on doing it.

Q. There's a lot of importance given to the momentum. You guys didn't have the best start in the tournament. Is there any strategical different approach you're going to take plus any changes expected for tomorrow's match?
QUINTON DE KOCK: I think the only thing that's changing is just the way we come into the game mentally. We just need to be mentally strong, I think. I think that's the only thing that's going to change. I think we're a pretty successful ODI team anyway going over the years. So we don't need to change anything. Obviously, it just becomes a mental game at World Cup, trying to deal with all the pressures and stuff.

Team changes, I'm not too sure yet. I don't know anything. I'm not the captain or selector, so I can't tell you anything. We'll only find out later.

Q. Quinny, how would you compare your experience at the 2015 World Cup and dealing with the pressures there to your experience this time, obviously being a bit older and a different set of pressures?
QUINTON DE KOCK: I think, obviously, 2015 I was young -- well, I'm still a youngster now, but back then I was really a baby. I was playing my first ever World Cup. I think I put too much pressure on myself. I really wanted to do well.

And now that I see it a second time, I understand what I did wrong in the first one, and I understand what needs to get done now. So, yeah, just being mentally free. Yeah, and just trying to enjoy my cricket as much as I can, not like last time in the World Cup. There was too many pressures on myself, or I was putting too much pressure on myself. This year I'm trying to take it as easy as I can and just try and do my best.

Q. What's the mood like within the South African team? Are you deflated, or are you pumped up and ready to ruin the Kiwis?
QUINTON DE KOCK: We're pretty chilled at the moment. Obviously, our practices have been quite hectic. We've put a lot of emphasis on our energy going into the games. Obviously, the situation we're in right now, our energy needs to be better than ever. So, yeah, obviously, we are ready to go out there and give it our best shot tomorrow and for the rest of the other games.

Q. Quinton, you mentioned New Zealand being a big team at World Cups. South Africa haven't beaten them the last four times at a World Cup, and yet normally in bilateral series you guys do beat them. Can you put your finger on why there's that difference between World Cups and normal bilateral play?
QUINTON DE KOCK: I think, if I knew, I would tell you. To be honest, I don't know. I think I haven't been part of all those other World Cups, just the one. So the way I see it, I've only been part of a team where they've beaten us once. Obviously, going into tomorrow, it's a clean slate. We're not worried how many times they've beaten us at a World Cup or how many times we've beaten them in a bilateral series. It just comes down to tomorrow, I guess.

Q. Quinny, you were there in 2015. Was that the most emotional atmosphere you played in at Eden Park that day, and has it come up at all this week?
QUINTON DE KOCK: The second most at the moment. Obviously, this IPL final this year, that was up there. But then Eden Park, obviously, Auckland, that was pretty intense, especially experienced it from a first time ever, that vibe that was going through the stadium. It was just so noisy. You're just trying to concentrate, but it was tough to deal with it. Yeah, hopefully tomorrow we get a nice crowd in, and we can actually get some South African supporters in tomorrow.
 
If South Africans consider their match against New Zealand as quarter finals, then then they will choke and lose the match.
 
Not in their Qismet!

Done everything to not win this tournament and results are showing....
 
South Africa were in full Choke mode in their must win match against New Zealand.

With this defeat, their fourth in five match, they go out of the world cup, and almost sealed the fate of Pakistan as well.
 
SOU better play Pretorious over Phehlukwayo.

Don't think SOU was in a position to show principle & ego to AB De Villiers. Really no intent with the bat against NZ. At least with AB, SOU would have been a bit stronger.

Also no idea why some folks said VD Dussen would have missed out if AB was picked. I would have picked AB in place of Markram.
 
didnt even need a semi final to show the chokers tag. did it well in the preliminary round lol. Gotta feel for these guys
 
Faf du Plessis claims he couldn’t have asked for any more from his South Africa side after they slipped to a narrow defeat against New Zealand.

South Africa went down by four wickets, with just three balls remaining, at Edgbaston to suffer a fourth defeat and significantly reduce their chances of reaching the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup semi-finals

Despite being extremely disappointed with the outcome of the match, Du Plessis recognised that his men did as much as they could against a team they haven’t beaten at a World Cup for 20 years.

“It’s tough. You can feel it in the dressing room – the guys are hurting,” said the skipper. “We left everything out there. That’s all I can ask for as a captain.

“We’ve just not been as good as the opposition we’ve played against.”

And none of South Africa’s batsmen were able to emulate Kane Williamson, whose unbeaten century anchored New Zealand’s successful chase of 242 and particularly impressed Du Plessis.

“Kane played a great knock. It’s probably the difference between the two sides, just one guy taking it through,” he added.

“I thought it was a really good knock, showing how to put innings together on a pitch that you need to decide when to push and when to hold back, and he picked his battles.

“He targeted a few overs in the game, and the rest he just ticked it off. So really good from him.”

Williamson did not win the match alone and had the support of Colin de Grandhomme who scored 60 off 47 balls and shared in a 91-run sixth-wicket stand.

South Africa’s highest partnership was 72 runs and none of their batsmen have scored a hundred at the tournament so far, something which du Plessis put down to the transition period the squad finds itself in.

“If you compare our line-up, especially our batting line-up, to other line-ups around the world, purely on a numbers point of view, that doesn't stack up with the rest of the world,” he said.

“We're not as experienced perhaps as other teams when it comes to that. The reason why I say not as good as other teams is we're just not producing scores or innings that can win you games.

“We’ve got some young players, so there's a future there. I've really backed them this tournament and I think they've got a great future ahead of them.

“Rassie (van der Dussen) has shown that he's the real deal. I think he's got leadership capabilities as well. He's standing up to be a strong man in a big tournament for us.

“Andile (Phehlukwayo) has done well as a young guy. Aiden (Markram), we know the kind of player he is. He showed signs here that he can do it.”

South Africa will go into the remainder of the tournament with those positives.

They are scheduled to play against Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Australia, and Du Plessis has promised to keep fighting, even if a semi-final spot eludes his team.

He added: “If you put everything out there and the better teams beat you, then life will go on.

“Obviously, I'm extremely disappointed. Cricket means a lot to me, and the performance of this team means a lot to me but I certainly can't, if results don't go our way, start running in the other direction.

“That's not my character. So I'll keep pushing forward and facing north, and hopefully that will be good for the team, and it will be good for myself as well.”
 
Rassie van der Dussen provided a silver lining for South Africa in their defeat to New Zealand and insists the experience was a brilliant learning curve for him.

Van Der Dussen scored his second half-century of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 that helped the Proteas post a competitive target of 241/6 on a tricky Edgbaston pitch.

The talented 30-year-old scored an unbeaten 67 off 64 balls, although South Africa were unable to defend their score, as New Zealand dramatically edged home by four wickets with three balls remaining.

The Edgbaston surface was slower than expected and Van Der Dussen believes South Africa’s total could have been enough to seal a narrow win had a little bit of luck gone their way.

“We knew 240 was a good score,” he said. “It’s tough when you play well and you leave it all out there and it doesn’t go your way. That’s what we did.

“Every game, I go out there and I try and perform, learn and adapt. Every game is an experience, especially here.

“A lot of the guys have never played on these fields and for me, I’ve never played against a lot of these guys so coming up against them and doing okay, I will definitely draw on that going forward.”

New Zealand’s final-over victory leaves South Africa with only one win from six matches at the tournament, as their semi-final hopes hang by a thread.

Still, in Van Der Dussen they have found their biggest positive. He is their second highest run-scorer behind Quinton de Kock and has shown a hunger to contribute in tough situations – prompting skipper Faf Du Plessis to extol his leadership capabilities.

He only made his one-day debut for South Africa in January this year and had only played nine ODIs before being included in their World Cup squad.

Although he is 30 years old, his international career is only beginning and he’s excited at the opportunities this tournament has presented.

“It’s the national team, it’s the best batters in the country,” added Van Der Dussen. “When you get to this level, you’ve got to know what you’re about and I’ve been lucky that it has come off for me.

“If that shows leadership, then so be it. Every game, every time you represent your country, the Proteas, is a good day and it’s an honour.

“It’s a game for your country and why we play this game. We won’t let up on the intensity at all. Our character will be shown in these remaining three games.”
 
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