Ongama picks Janneman Malan

I’m going with Janneman Malan because he is a man for all occasions.

If you bat him up the order with Quinton de Kock, he can play the more explosive-partner role when Quinny doesn’t get going early on in the innings.

When Quinny gets going very well at the top then Janneman can just pick the gaps and rotate the strike to allow De Kock to have most of the strike.

In the middle stages of a T20 game, he’s shown already that he understands his game and that he has the ability to keep knocking it around with an odd boundary in an over, keeping the run-rate around 10 to 11 runs an over and ride the wave of the first power play.

The more busy and explosive Janneman comes to life again when the game reaches the third powerplay stage. At this stage, he takes more of the outside-the-box mentality or thinking about his batting, negating the different skills of death bowlers.

He doesn’t swing the bat around, he plays smart, proper cricket shots.

This young man keeps performing this way in different conditions. Be it a coastal or inland wicket we know Malan can still go over the ropes with ease.

I must say, the flare of the youngster is hard to not to admire. The sense of urgency when required or the grit in high-pressure situations against tougher bowling attacks is a testament to the man’s character.

He and Quinny know each other very well because they batted together for two consecutive seasons for the Cape Town Blitz.

In both editions of the MSL, they dominated bowling attacks more often than not. They are a successful opening pair.

Alasdair picks Temba Bavuma

Temba Bavuma must open the batting with Quinton de Kock in the T20s format.

Firstly let’s congratulate Janneman Malan. He is pure class but he hasn’t been in the Proteas T20 mix.

Rassie van der Dussen and Reeza Hendricks opened with De Kock in the T20s.

Let’s not confuse ourselves with Malan’s ODI form. Bavuma and De Kock combined well during the T20s against England. The latter never shared a decent partnership with Malan in the Aussie ODIs.

Bavuma and De Kock’s running between the wickets, coupled with a few lusty blows, was the perfect foil to England’s powerful bowling attack.

A lot of cricket has gone down in South Africa over the past few months and our white-ball batting stocks are on the up.

Injuries can often be cruel. Bavuma was beginning to assert himself as a likely candidate to partner his skipper at the top of the innings before his hamstring sidelined his progress.

The Proteas posted big totals in the series against England thanks to De Kock and Bavuma.

It’s fitting that De Kock and Bavuma’s international careers have followed a similar trajectory in the Test arena.

Their Lions connection goes back and during the England series, their synergy at the top of the innings shone through.

Gone were the shackles of the stress in the Test middle order as the duo played with great freedom and understanding.

Long may it continue.