If you had asked me my prediction prior to the start of the ODI series, I would have said that England would have won the series 2-1.

Throughout the course of the series, the standout performers were Rassie van der Dussen for his memorable hundred in the first match, and Sisanda Magala for his memorable three wickets in the first match.

David Miller stood out for his vital half-centuries in the first two matches, and Anrich Nortje for his excellent bowling in the first two ODI (he claimed four wickets for 62 runs in the first ODI and two wickets for 64 runs in the second).

Other important contributions came from Klaasen’s 80 runs off 62 balls on Wednesday and Reeza’s 52 runs off 61 balls.

Although Jos Buttler was named Player of the Series, I personally felt that there were two South Africans who could have won the award instead. The first candidate was Temba Bavuma, who scored a crucial 109 runs off 102 balls to help his side chase down 343 runs in the second ODI.

Temba also captained the side brilliantly throughout the three games and I felt that his field placings and rotation of bowlers have once again proved his outstanding leadership qualities. It is very refreshing to see his hard work with Justin Sammons being rewarded with an SA20 contract with Sunirsers Eastern Cape.

The second candidate that also deserved to be named Player of the Series was Lungi Ngidi. His ability to move the ball in the second and third ODI on relatively flat wickets has highlighted his ability as an opening bowler in white-ball cricket. The only area that Ngidi should work on in his One Day game is that he is leaking too many runs in the middle overs and at the death.

I personally feel that Lungi should bowl the bulk of his 10-over spell by the 13th over at the latest so that we can mitigate the risk of him conceding too many runs in the middle overs. I am extremely overjoyed for him as he silenced a few critics after a hard Australian Test series.

Although there are a lot of positives to take from the three-match series, there is one area of concern that needs to be highlighted: our spin bowlers (Shamsi and Maharaj), are out of form going into a World Cup on the sub-continent where the ball is likely to turn square. There is a valid argument that the conditions were not always conducive to spin bowling, I felt that these bowlers leaked way too many runs.

Shamsi struggled to bowl against right-handers specifically and this shows in his bowling figures (one wicket for 52 runs in the first ODI off 5.2 overs and 61 runs for no wickets off eight overs). Keshav Maharaj also struggled in the second ODI where he obtained figures of 1-51 off his eight overs.

Some fans also feel that Markram has also not been bowling well enough to be warranted as a “part-time spinner”.

A few fans have expressed their desire to try the following spinners for the Netherlands series (and possibly the qualifiers if we are required to play them): Bjorn Fortuin, George Linde, Wihan Lubbe, Prenelan Subrayen and Senuran Muthusammy.

I believe that in order for the Proteas to go far in this World Cup, the selection panel has to select three spin bowlers and I would go for the following combination: Wihan Lubbe, Bjorn Fortuin and Tabraiz Shamsi. My reason for this would be based on the following reasons listed below:

Wihan Lubbe bowls right arm off spin (which adds another dynamic) and he is a good top-order batter.

Although some may argue that Linde is ahead of Bjorn Fortuin, I feel that Bjorn is an attacking spinner who could take wickets and it would also be a waste to select Linde if he will only bat at eight or nine. Bjorn Fortuin has also got a good T20 bowling record on the sub-continent, and I am confident he can transfer this to the One Day Format.

Even though Shamsi is going through a rough patch, he is extremely talented and has a good record on the sub-continent. South Africa does not have a lot of wrist spinners, and Shamsi has proven his quality over the past few months.

I also would like to highlight that even if we have to play the qualifiers for the World Cup, it may benefit the team in the long run as there is not a lot of One Day Cricket being played this year and it also gives us another chance to give some experience to younger players going into the World Cup.

This sentiment has been shared by ex-England international Kevin Pietersen and the current Proteas Test coach Shukri Conrad.

I hope you enjoyed reading the piece and I hope you all enjoy the remainder of the SA20 competition.