After it was Afghanistan, now it is the turn of the Netherlands to provide the next shock in the ODI World Cup. This time, it was South Africa who suffered the shock defeat. Twice in two World Cups, including T20, the Netherlands has toppled South Africa though, this time, they have not sent them out of the World Cup itself but have delivered a crucial blow that will awake the South African team. This World Cup is turning out to be a good tournament in that most of the pitches have not been belters and there is something for the spinners atleast. More than anyone, England and Australia will be thrilled at this result because it opens the tournament for them. More so for England who must be smarting after their shock defeat to Afghanistan. Let me analyse their captain is the problem.
The small matter of a paper
From pictures of the game, it seems that the Dutch relied on a piece of paper that they pulled out everytime a South African batsman walked to the wicket. It seems that they have a plan and a strategy for every batsman and want to follow that plan. Hence, they revisited the paper just to ensure that they implemented the preconceived plan.
“We do a fair bit of research,” said Edwards, the Dutch skipper who claimed player of the match honours.
“We come up with a few match-ups. Some days it works and some days it doesn’t.”
This goes to show that the Dutch are serious about the game. They are not here to just fill the numbers. They mean business. Whether they will be able to reach the final 4, well, that is not possible but this small matter clearly shows that they make up with strategy for what they lack in terms of skill and exposure. If they keep at this, they can become a decent cricketing nation, in another 15 years provided they are given constant exposure.
About the game itself
At one stage, it looked like South Africa would wrap up the game quickly and would be at their hotel for a proper dinner. At 82 for 5, the Netherlands were nothing but struggling. It would have been a miracle for them to post even 150. It seemed a long way away. Scott Edwards happened for the Dutch. The counterattacking 78 not only propelled them to a respectable score but it gave them the hope that if they could pick up quite a few wickets, they could give the Proteas a run for their money. It transpired exactly as they hoped it would. Credit must also be given to the an ex-South African, Roelof van der Merwe for the impetus with which Edwards grew wings to fly away.
“Proud of the group. Putting in that performance and being able to play my part is nice,” said Edwards, who was named player of the match. “In the last couple of games, our issue has been too many of our middle order being out before the end of the game. So I wanted to take it deep and hope a couple of guys around me would chip in.”
When Quinton was out for 20, shoulders were shrugged. This is part and parcel of the game. Afterall, you don’t get to score 100 in every game but quick wickets with the space of 40 runs pushed South Africa on the backfoot and as a result, they forgot that scoring runs are important to win the game. They actually froze and played dot ball after dot balls with the score moving nowhere. If not for Keshav Maharaj’s last ditch effort, the margin of defeat would have been even worse that the NRR would have been below 1.
Temba Bavuma, the captain
The issue with South Africa starts right at the top. Their captain Temba Bavuma. I wonder on what basis has Cricket South Africa appointed him as the captain? His record is below average. He does not belong at the highest level. After years of not performing in Test cricket, he was dropped from the squad and for some reason, he was brought back into the team. He scored only the 2nd hundred in Test cricket after the selection. Anyone, who has played close to 50 Tests, is bound to score atleast a couple of hundreds. It is he who is the problem.
Other than the fact that he is a black cricketer, he does not have any other quality to be playing at the highest level. If he had been an Indian cricketer, he would have been playing for a team in the Chennai first division league. For someone like Bavuma to captain the South African team, defies logic.
He is also too slow while batting. As a result, he puts enormous pressure on Quinton and the rest of the batsmen to score quickly. It might work in a few games but will falter in crucial games. If I am the opposition captain, I will make sure that Bavuma bats the majority of the overs. He may score a hundred but he would have taken more than 30 overs to do so. The result, I would have restricted South Africa to less than 250.
Wrapping up their captain is the problem
It is not curtains for South Africa. It is a mere blip. They have enough number of games against weaker opposition to be able to proceed to the next round. However, their captain is the problem.
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