Both the nations had a forgettable year. South Africa went from the sublime to the ridiculous. Whereas New Zealand were not even close to their performance leading upto the 1st WTC finals. Of the two, it will be South Africa who will be much more sad because here is a team, who was once a powerhouse, completely out of depths. Having said that, they do have some mentionable performances during the year. New Zealand on the otherhand, will have to introspect what went wrong for them. This is New Zealand and South Africa performance review of 2022 .
South Africa started the year quite brightly. Against a much more confident India, they were expected to lose the series for the first time in South Africa. India cantered to an easy win in the first test and they were expected to walk all over South Africa in the remaining games and take the series. What happened instead beggars belief. South Africa found their innerstrength to overcome an Indian that just did not have the confidence that they can win. The scorecard in the 2nd and 3rd Test indicates the ease with which they chased stiff 4th innings targets. A few years ago, India failed to chase similar targets in another series loss but that was a much better Proteas side than the current one.
Dean Elgar, perhaps played the best innings of his career in the 2nd Test chase with a fighting 93. Afterwards, the captain revealed his pep-talk to Rabadda which changed the course of the series.
They further extended their run with an easy series win against Bangladesh.
The away tours
All these wins were achieved at home and against Asian teams who are generally suspect against high quality fast bowling. South Africa had 4 of them. The real test awaits them at New Zealand, England and Australia. Will South Africa be able to standup to scrutiny? Do they have the skills to win games and series against these teams in their own backyard?
New Zealand remains the one team that have not won a series against the Proteas either at home or away since their readmission. This time around, Elgar’s men did not disappoint. They kept that record intact with a drawn series. However, the litmus test awaited them at England. The rejuvenated English side led by the indomitable Ben Stokes was on a roll. Johnny Bairstow, Joe Root and Stokes himself were at their blistering best having despatched off New Zealand and India quite easily. Will South Africa’s quicks be able to stop them? Will they be able to contain Bazball?
South Africa, against much expectation won the 1st test but normal service resumed in the 2nd and 3rd where they were easily swept away.
The disappointing Australian summer
First up was the World T20 in which they were bumped off before the knock-out. On pitches that were extremely helpful for fast bowlers, South Africa were atleast expected to make it to the semis but a shock defeat to Netherlands in the last game was absolutely shattering. They were never expected to win the tournament but to lose to Netherlands was not acceptable.
If the loss to Netherlands was humiliating, what followed in Australia was even more embarrassing. The batsmen were absolutely listless and where unable to cross 250 even once. All Australia had to do was to handover the ball to anyone to run through South Africa. For a neutral, it was disheartening to watch South Africa. Unless and until South Africa does drastically, they will cease to become a force against tougher opponents at home and away and poor tourists.
Onto New Zealand
After the high of WTC win, New Zealand were expected to go on further to enhance their credentials but what followed was quite disappointing. Bangladesh did the unthinkable of defeating New Zealand in their own country. If that wasn’t enough, New Zealand continued their downward spiral with a drawn series against South Africa. How long will they take to defeat SA in a series remains to be seen but it is hell of a longtime. 30 years since their readmission and with South Africa just a semblance of their best side, New Zealand must have won the series but astonishingly, they didn’t.
Trent Boult’s decision of not seeking an extension to his contract certainly has dented their bowling. Towards the end of the year, Williamson relinquished his captaincy to Southee have changed New Zealand cricket drastically. Have New Zealand already achieved the heights that they can? Do they have talents coming along? We will know the answer in the new year.