Preview: The Proteas must learn the art of winning

The smash and grab antics of T20 cricket takes a backseat for now, as the Proteas require patience in the 50-over format for them to get that much-needed win under their belt, writes Alasdair Fraser.

Setting the Stage:

First things first, Dawid Malan isn’t ranked the No 1 batsman in T20 cricket for nothing. The London-born Malan was superb in a series that England completely dominated. An average of 53.4 and a strike rate 149.5 are stats that belong in the freak column.

This England side is a formidable one in the white-ball arena – almost comparable to the Australian teams that won three back-to-back World Cups from 1999 to 2007. If Man of the Series Malan wasn’t firing, Jason Roy, Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes and Eoin Morgan were. And Stokes on his own is worth three players.

England are packed with match-winners and have played several series before coming to our shores.

The Proteas on the other hand have not seen action in the green and gold since March. They struggled in the T20 series last season and Quinton de Kock’s men haven’t won a series in that format since March 2019.

But there are plenty of positives to take – the only real negative being Kagiso Rabada’s injury. The Proteas spearhead will be out for a few weeks, which will dent the Proteas hopes against the world champions.

However, Rabada did not feature in the ODI series that the Proteas last played in – a 3-0 whitewash over Australia. That drubbing was preceded by the Aussies claiming a comfortable 2-1 T20 series win over the hosts.

Players to Watch:

We saw the likes of Lungi Ngidi claiming a six-wicket haul, Heinrich Klaasen scoring big runs to earn the Man of the Series award and Janneman Malan cracking on after a first-ball duck on debut to earn a well-deserved maiden ton in his second ODI in Proteas colours. Young Kyle Verreynne was a shining light in his debut series, looking comfortable in the middle and years ahead of age.

All this against a full-strength Australian outfit. The Proteas top six in that series will once again have an opportunity to establish themselves as a strong batting unit needed to combat the powerful England batting lineup.

The tourists have made several changes to their ODI squad, which has a hint of youth and experimentation and It would be foolish to believe the Proteas don’t have capabilities to inflict the same damage seen against the Aussies.

England are in that space where winning has become a habit. We saw it throughout the T20s, and often Morgan’s men were behind the run rate before accelerating the run-scoring with an ease that took the Proteas bowling attack off their rhythm.

De Kock’s men need to learn that art of winning. It is unfair to criticise the Proteas skipper so soon and it would be better reserve judgement at the end of the summer, for it is unfair to lay the blame on his shoulders. It is a team effort after all.

Let’s rather enjoy the fact that we have more international cricket to look forward to and celebrate the England cricket side for coming to our shores and bringing some much-needed light to what has been a long, dark tunnel for cricket in South Africa.

The first ODI between South Africa and England at Six Gun Grill Newlands, which was scheduled for Friday, has been postponed until Sunday after a Proteas player tested positive for Covid after the teams’ last round of scheduled tests on Thursday.

UPDATED FIXTURES:

Sunday, 06 December 2020 – 1^st Betway ODI, Eurolux Boland Park, Paarl (Day Match), 10:00.

Monday, 07 December 2020 – 2^nd Betway ODI, Six Gun Grill Newlands, Cape Town (Day-night Match),14:00.

Wednesday, 09 December 2020 – 3^rd Betway ODI, Six Gun Grill Newlands, Cape Town (Day-night Match), 13:00.