Proteas want a World Cup breakthrough but need their stars to fire

The Warriors’ Tristan Stubbs is included in the Proteas middle-order batting lineup for the T20 World Cup. (Photo: Michael Sheehan / Gallo Images)

By Keanan Hemmonsbey

2 Jun 2024

The batting power is not in question, but all the bowlers must come to the party when it really matters.

The T20 Men’s World Cup, co-hosted by the West Indies and the US, starts on Sunday, 2 June – and with it, another opportunity for the Proteas to capture their first World Cup trophy. South Africa last reached the knockout stage in 2014, losing at the semifinal stage, as they did 2009.

The other seven major cricket-playing nations have each at least reached the final, and New Zealand are the only side not to have gone on to lift the trophy.

It’s a rather embarrassing statistic for South Africa, whose World Cup blunders and underachievements are well documented. But with another T20 tournament – the third since 2021 – there is an additional chance for the Proteas to right the wrongs of the past.

South Africa are in a group in which they should, in theory, comfortably advance, as their opponents are Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Netherlands and Nepal. But the Netherlands have beaten South Africa the last two times the sides met at a World Cup, and the nature of the shortest format of the game also lends itself to unpredictable results.

Their matches against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will be played in favourable conditions at the newly built Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in Long Island, New York, where drop-in pitches created in Australia have been flown in. The wickets are expected to be hard and fast, playing nicely into South Africa’s strength.

Batting power

T20 World Cup,Proteas, Heinrich Klaasen Middle-order batter Heinrich Klaasen celebrates his 150 runs during a match against Australia in Centurion in 2023. (Photo: Lee Warren / Gallo Images)

T20 World Cup, Proteas, Tristan The Warriors’ Tristan Stubbs is included in a strong Proteas middle-order batting lineup for the T20 World Cup. (Photo: Michael Sheehan / Gallo Images)

South Africa have arguably the strongest middle order in the tournament and will be looking to them to lead their title charge.

Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller are all match winners in their own right, but lined up on one team sheet, they look unstoppable. There is also the long-levered Marco Jansen to follow the feared quartet.

“As far as the middle order goes, who wouldn’t be excited by Markram, Klaasen, Miller, Stubbs and Jansen,” white-ball head coach Rob Walter asked rhetorically.

“We just need to keep those guys hungry, keep them fresh and climb on the back of the momentum they have built up with their games. Their performances are not by luck. They’ve spent a lot of hard work developing their games in order to play that way.

“We’re just looking forward to them doing it in green and gold now. They’ve been doing it for a bunch of different colours [franchise teams], but now it’s green and gold’s time, so that’s exciting.”

Walter also acknowledged how difficult it is to bat in the middle order, having to assess conditions and respond to them quickly. Luckily, the foursome have proven their ability to excel in those positions.

“The top of the order, I wouldn’t say it’s easy, but it’s easier in terms of its requirements because you know exactly what is needed and it’s pretty consistent in terms of how you have to play,” Walter said.

“Numbers four and five, and even three at times, have to really respond well to where the game is at, the conditions and what’s needed in the game from a positional point of view. The game from start to finish requires a high level of skill now, but those guys, in terms of their adaptability, are critical.”

Injury concerns

South Africa’s big concern heading into the World Cup is the bowling department and how many runs they continue to leak, especially at the death. South Africa’s spearhead and go-to man in tricky situations, Kagiso Rabada, left the Indian Premier League (IPL) early to nurse a “lower limb soft-tissue injury”.

Ottniel Baartman also didn’t feature in the last two matches against West Indies in South Africa’s three-match tour of the country owing to a “lower limb strain”. Tabraiz Shamsi, South Africa’s go-to wrist spinner, had the same injury as Rabada and played no part against the Windies. All three will be vital in South Africa’s quest for World Cup silverware.

“Those with niggles should be good to go,” Walter said assuredly.

The trio might be able to take to the field when South Africa play their first match against Sri Lanka on 3 June, but there’s a good chance that they will be undercooked. Among them, they have only played one official cricket match in the past three weeks.

Anrich Nortje and Gerald Coetzee, South Africa’s other two fast bowlers in the squad, apart from all-rounder Jansen, have both been hit to all parts in their recent outings.

In the IPL, Nortje went for more than 13 to the over and Coetzee a smidge over 10. In the three-match T20 series against West Indies, Nortje had more than 12 an over and Coetzee just under 10.

Walter, contrary to what the recent statistics say, believes Nortje is getting close to his best again.

“It’s a strange one. This is a funny old game,” he said. “I spent the week with him and I genuinely don’t feel he’s too far away [from his best], to be honest.

“The conditions have been tough for a fast bowler, and coming up against [West Indies], that was pretty brutal if you were slightly off the mark.

“He would have experienced the exact same thing having come off the break into his first four games of the IPL. He probably landed himself in the perfect storm, which in many ways can harden you and get you even more ready. I still don’t believe he’s very far away. A world-class performer finds a way and I don’t doubt that he will as well.”

Baartman, meanwhile, has seen his value rise in the national ranks almost out of nowhere, despite having played only one match for the country so far.

“He continues to perform excellently,” Walter said.

“I’m very excited by what Ottniel has brought to this side. He’s a very simple and highly talented and skilled individual who slides under the radar in terms of the job that he’s doing. He bowls in the toughest parts of the game and finds a way to get it done well. I’m very excited about what he does and the skill set that he has.”

A fit and firing bowling line-up to complement the explosive batting would make South Africa a serious threat at the T20 World Cup and stand them in good stead to obtain their first World Cup title – or at least to reach a final. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35

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