Since 1992 the Proteas have had a litany of failed attempts at World Cups – Test cricket is another story – but this time around feels different and the decoy thanks to Temba Bavuma seems to be working a treat, writes Alasdair Fraser.

Never before have we seen such an outpouring of utter disgust for a batsman in South African colours, but the only difference here is that it’s about ‘our’ national captain whose role is much more important than just what goes on in the batting crease…

Some may say he has done nothing. I strongly disagree because Bavuma has attracted all the attention and thus taken, in his stride, all the immense pressure that the Proteas always feel at World Cups. Bavuma has afforded his teammates the luxury to fly perilously low under the radar.

The first match was rained out, and as a collective, all South Africans held their breath as Quinton de Kock did his utmost best to valiantly take us home in true ‘Quinny’ fashion. 

Rain washed out the Proteas’ hunt to secure a vital two points for a win and a few days later they took out their frustration by brutalising Bangladesh – thanks to a champion World Cup partnership record effort that never got the post-match plaudits it deserved due to the relentless Bavuma bashing.  

The fact of the matter is that Bavuma will be there right to the end. It may be a hard pill to swallow but can I plead with all the anti-Bavuma ninjas to please, please, carry on with your vitriol till the bitter end as it seems to be doing the trick?

The match against India was the textbook World Cup fixture for the Proteas to fail. But no, not this crop. Wayne Parnell has come full circle and displayed the prodigious talent we all know he possesses in abundance and showed the world as a 19-year-old for the Junior Proteas in the 2000s.

Kagiso Rabada was a man possessed in the field as he channelled his Superman outfit for Halloween by taking three beautiful catches – remember they win matches – and although he can leak runs at times, he remains a world-class strike bowler.

Lungi Ngidi cops a fair amount of flak, but he tends to take wickets (every 12 balls as his stats suggest) and is the perfect foil to the relentless raw pace of Anrich Nortje. Aiden Markram and David Miller showed composure befitting a championship-winning outfit.

Australia is a happy hunting ground for South African cricket. We were only denied in 1992 by the Rain Gods and Richie Benaud’s odd “Duckworth/Lewis” method that was heavily influenced by TV broadcast schedules. And in 2015, we met our Waterloo at Eden Park in New Zealand – not somewhere in OZ.

But here’s the kicker, Bavuma’s opener role was always a lottery. Facing the new ball in any format is never going to be easy and it’s a common occurrence in the T20 format. The Proteas have enough depth with the bat to see out their 20 overs. Losing two quick wickets early is collateral damage.

Our batting lineup has at least four match-winners. The narrative should be about those successes, but Bavuma is the post-match focal point. Never before have we seen such clean hitters in abundance. De Kock, Rilee Rossouw, Markram and Miller (the latter now fronting an Eoin Morgan role for South Africa) can take any match away in a matter of overs. This team picks itself and all the pressure is on one Temba Bavuma.

If you’ve never heard of him, Google Mike Brearley. Probably one of England’s most useless top-order Test batsmen with an average of 22. But he led England to 18 wins out of 31 (losing only four) and is widely considered by his countrymen as one of England’s greatest skippers ever with two Ashes Series wins.

And although he is regarded as one of England’s luckiest captains, he had the uncanny knack to get the very best out of his matchwinners. The Miracle of 1981 (Botham’s Ashes) is a strong case in point with an already dropped Brearley taking over the skipper role from a dejected Ian Botham.

The man known as having a degree in people once again did nothing with the bat, but Brearley managed to literally pull Botham and several other teammates out of the ashes to record a famous series win that is strongly rooted in Ashes folklore.

Will there be a Miracle of 2022 for the Proteas? Keep those insults coming.