Taskin Ahmed – Bulletproof Truth

Kingsmead returns to green glory days

“I’ve never seen the colour of the grass at Kingsmead like it is right now.” – Keshav Maharaj

Telford Vice | Durban

OLD-TIMERS joke that the only way to tell the pitch from the outfield at Kingsmead used to be by locating the stumps and the creases. Then you took guard to face Neil Adcock, Mike Procter, Vince van der Bijl, or other fine fast bowlers on a surface that rivalled a snooker table for greenness.

But Kingsmead’s emerald fire has dwindled. Tests here have become attritional struggles against spin and the elements. This is where, in August 2012, South Africa and New Zealand bowled and faced only 99.4 overs in a game ruined by a sodden outfield. It’s also where Rangana Herath took match figures of 9/128 in December 2011 to seal Sri Lanka’s first win in the country. Almost eight years later, the Lankans returned to Durban to spark what would be a 2-0 series triumph — the only Test rubber won by an Asian team in South Africa. Indeed, conditions at Kingsmead have become un-South African enough for the home side to have won only one of their last nine Tests here.

This time, it seems, things might be different. Dean Elgar and Keshav Maharaj, a local, mind, have both spoken of the unusual amount of grass, and its colour, they have seen on the pitch being prepared for the match.

Thereby hangs a theory. Kingsmead hasn’t hosted a Test since Sri Lanka’s win in February 2019, and South Africa have since played 10 matches in the format at home. The ground staff can’t do anything about rain and bad light, which are both frequent factors in matches here and seem set to feature again, but they can try to ensure the surface gives the home side’s fast bowlers something to work with and that it lasts five days. Not doing so, on both counts, would seem detrimental to the ground’s future as a Test venue. It seems they have taken that possibility seriously enough to relay the table.

Even so, Elgar might grimace at the unfair irony of Kingsmead finally delivering a seamer’s pitch when most of his first-choice fast bowlers are not around. Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen, Anrich Nortjé and Lungi Ngidi, along with Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram, have all high-tailed it to the IPL. The unfortunates among us who don’t somehow consider professional cricket a profession could see this as betrayal of national duty. The rest of us accept it as a business decision made by people whose primary motivation for playing cricket is to be paid. Would any of them turn out for South Africa for free?

Of course, that’s not Bangladesh’s problem. They have to find a way to maintain the momentum generated by their stunning 2-1 win in the ODI series, their first in any format in South Africa. It will help that seven of the players who helped achieve that famous success are in the Test squad, and that Tamim Iqbal, Taskin Ahmed and Mehidy Hasan — who starred in the ODIs — are among them. It will also help that, with Herath and Allan Donald in their coaching staff, they have both bowling bases covered. And that Russell Domingo knows Kingsmead as well as any coach. And that, thanks to the IPL, which has taken 128 Test caps out of South Africa’s squad, the visitors are the more experienced side.

But the temporary return home for family reasons of Shakib al Hasan, as iconic a player for Bangladesh as anyone is for any other team, is a setback. Happily, he is due back for the second Test at St George’s Park, which starts on April 7.

Bangladesh have lost all six Tests they have played in South Africa, five of them by an innings. But they have also never played a match in the format at Kingsmead, where India and Sri Lanka have won all three Tests they’ve played since December 2010. Conditions this time may mitigate against a fourth victory for Asian side in five matches in Durban, but that doesn’t mean South Africa will anticipate a lesser challenge.

With the calamity of the ODI series still fresh, and considering South Africa have lost the first Test seven times in their last 11 series — and in both of their most recent rubbers, at home to India in December and in Christchurch in February — the visitors will know their time is now.

When: Thursday, 10am Local Time

Where: Kingsmead, Durban

What to expect: More green grass than has become the norm for a Test here. Even if that is the case, the primary challenge for batters early in the match will likely by swing rather than seam. Then, as the surface slows, spin will come into the equation.

Team news

South Africa: Stand by for changes galore, what with the IPL defections. Keegan Petersen’s return from Covid-19 was always likely, and we could see an overdue debut for Ryan Rickelton

Possible XI: Dean Elgar (capt), Sarel Erwee, Keegan Petersen, Temba Bavuma, Ryan Rickelton, Kyle Verreynne, Wiaan Mulder, Keshav Maharaj, Glenton Stuurman, Lutho Sipamla, Duanne Olivier

Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal is set to come in for Shadman Ismail, who scored 53 runs in four innings in New Zealand in January.

Possible XI: Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Nazmul Hossain, Mominul Haque (capt), Mushfiqur Rahim, Yasir Ali, Liton Kumar, Mehedy Hasan, Shoriful Islam, Ebadat Hossain, Taskin Ahmed

What they said:

“I’ve never seen the colour of the grass at Kingsmead like it is right now. Traditionally Kingsmead spins, and I would hope it does from my personal point of view. But I think it will be a decent, traditional pitch.” – Keshav Maharaj on Kingsmead’s return to greenness.

“Experience-wise we are ahead but they are playing at home, so they will get some advantage. Both teams will have advantages but whoever plays good cricket for five days will win.” – Mominul Haque walks a diplomatic tightrope.

First published by Cricbuzz.

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South Africa’s suddenly serious series

“I’m comfortable where I sit with the players who aren’t here.” – Dean Elgar on South Africa’s IPL absentees.

Telford Vice | Cape Town

DEAN Elgar joked in December that South Africa’s players didn’t know who their administrators were, a comment on cricket’s chronic instability in the country. Now he might have to admit to something similar about the attack he will take into the Test series against Bangladesh.

The defection to the IPL of Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortjé, Lungi Ngidi and Marco Jansen takes 82 Test caps out of the mix. It also removes some of the game’s finest quicks from the equation. For instance, no-one has taken more Test wickets this year than the 23 claimed by Rabada, Jansen and Pat Cummins. Add the omission of Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram, who are also IPL-bound, and the excised experience grows to 128 caps.

Suddenly, Duanne Olivier and Lutho Sipamla are South Africa’s senior fast bowlers. Also in the squad are Lizaad Williams, Glenton Stuurman and Daryn Dupavillon, as well as Ryan Rickelton and Khaya Zondo. Olivier, Sipamla and Stuurman have played 17 Tests between them. Dupavillon, Williams, Rickelton and Zondo are uncapped.

Elgar is in the same sorry situation as the head chef at a top class restaurant who arrives in the kitchen to discover their best knives have been stolen and their sous and pastry chefs have eloped. Except that he has known for weeks that this might happen, and had his fears confirmed before the squad was announced on March 17.

“A lot of events have happened since my last interview around this very topic,” Elgar told a press conference on Monday, with reference to the impassioned plea he made on March 4 for his players to choose country over cash. “I’m comfortable where I sit with the players who aren’t here. I’ve had some really good, in detail chats with those players just to find out where they are mentally. I’m very comfortable with the answers that they’ve given me.

“Be that as it may, they’re not here with us and we have to make do with our next best that we have in the country, who I’m still very confident in. Yes, we’ve lost a few Test caps along the way not having the IPL players with us, but it’s a great opportunity for those guys to stand up and put those other players under pressure. I’m confident they can do that.”

Elgar’s tone was significantly more subdued compared to the passion he showed almost four weeks ago, when he said “we’ll see where [the players’] loyalty lies” and implored them not to “forget that Test and one-day cricket got them into the IPL, not the other way around”.

Pholetsi Moseki, CSA’s acting chief executive, expressed surprise at the time that Elgar had told the press the players had been saddled with the choice of going to the IPL or staying on for the Test series. Had Elgar been told to rein himself in?

“I’m pretty confined with regards to what I can and can’t say,” Elgar said on Monday. “The players were put in a bit of a situation with regards to making themselves available. I’m sure they wouldn’t have made a rash decision if it didn’t mean a hell of a lot to them. I’ve had conversations with the players and I know where they stand with regards to the Test side and playing Test cricket. I think they were put in a situation that was unavoidable, bearing in mind that quite a few of the guys have never had IPL experience before. I don’t think they wanted to hurt their opportunity going forward in the competition.”

It was a strange comment considering, of the six absentees, only Van der Dussen has not been to the IPL before; albeit Markram has played only six games in the tournament and Jansen just two. But there is something to be said for players’ not creating doubt over their availability in the minds of IPL franchise owners. The amount of money they could earn in a single edition of cricket’s moneyed monster could change their lives in a way that dutifully turning out for the national team, year in and year out, cannot match.

That alone decides the debate about the choice they made, but damaging misinformation about how they came to be lumped with that decision has muddied the discussion at public level. It is true that, with regard to being given permission to feature in the IPL rather than for South Africa if dates clash, the IPL is the only franchise tournament specified in the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between CSA and the South African Cricketers’ Association. It is not true that the MOU guarantees players clearance to go to the IPL ahead of being picked for South Africa. CSA retain the right to refuse to issue any player an NOC, or no objection certificate, for any tournament including the IPL. But CSA can hardly afford to do so in the case of cricket’s biggest payday. That could prompt retirements from the international game — the savvy thing to do, financially speaking. So compromises are made.

On the plus side for Elgar, South Africa will welcome back Keegan Petersen, the leading runscorer in the home series against India in December and January who missed the tour to New Zealand in January and February after contracting Covid. Petersen’s grit will be important in a team who consider recovering some of the prestige lost in the home side’s shock loss to the Bangladeshis in the one-day series as part of their mission. That’s the case even though Temba Bavuma, Kyle Verreynne and Keshav Maharaj are the only members of the ODI squad who will be in the Test dressing room.

“I think what happened in the ODI series has hurt quite a lot of players,” Elgar said. “I wasn’t involved but I’m pretty hurt about the result. I’d like to think that’s fuelled us. Our hunger is going to be right up there.”

But Elgar recognised that the visitors, who lost all 19 of the completed matches they played against South Africa in South Africa before this tour, were a significantly improved team: “We know this Bangladesh side is not the one of old. They’re a new team with a westernised coaching staff who have changed their mindset with regards to how to play cricket in South Africa.” Russell Domingo, South Africa’s coach from August 2013 to August 2017, heads a Bangladesh coaching cohort that includes compatriot Allan Donald and Australians Jamie Siddons and Shane McDermott.

Given the slant of the one-day series, in which the home side conceded they were outplayed in all departments despite the fact that the matches were staged in Centurion and at the Wanderers — venues where conditions are overtly South African, and so distinctly un-Asian — did Elgar look forward to the Tests unspooling more slowly at Kingsmead and St George’s Park?

He seemed irked by the suggestion: “Not really. I still think our best Test cricket is played on the Highveld. I’ve got no say over scheduling and venues. Hopefully in the future that can change, but I’d still be extremely happy to play against these guys on the Highveld. I don’t think we’ve got any fear about that. We play our best brand of cricket in that area.

“But even though we’re playing in conditions that are lower and slower, we can adapt. I’ll play them anywhere. I’ve played against mighty cricket nations on really tough surfaces on the Highveld, and we’ve had a lot of success out of that. I’m not too fazed about us playing on slower or quicker wickets. I just think we need to nail down our basics again. That doesn’t change from venue to venue.”

It doesn’t, but South Africa’s failure to launch at two of their fortresses and Bangladesh’s stellar performance must prompt a rethink. The visitors’ Test squad includes seven of their ODI heroes, notably Tamim Iqbal, Taskin Ahmed and Mehidy Hasan. And it should sharpen the home side’s focus that the series will be played at the same grounds where Sri Lanka won 2-0 in February 2019 — the only Test series victory by an Asian side in South Africa.

Will Kingsmead, where the rubber starts on Thursday, again prove itself as reasonable a facsimile of a subcontinental pitch as can be found on the sharp tip of Africa? “We want more grass on the pitch, and I think the preparation has been pretty good until now,” Elgar said. “I’m not too familiar with what they’ve done, but it seems like grass has grown a little bit here at Kingsmead. I think it helps if you put water on the pitch because that tends to make grass grow.”

Yes, that was another of Elgar’s jokes. No, he wasn’t laughing. There is too much at stake for that.

First published by Cricbuzz.

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Bewildered, beaten, bumped off World Cup path

“We went to sleep.” – Mark Boucher

Telford Vice | Cape Town

CRICKETMINDED South Africans had reason to celebrate on Tuesday night, when Cyril Ramaphosa, the country’s president, relaxed pandemic restrictions. Just in time for Wednesday’s deciding ODI in Centurion, stadiums could henceforth be filled to half their capacity and alcohol would be permitted. Less than 24 hours later, the party was properly pooped.

Bangladesh thrashed the home side, dismissing them for 154 and taking nine balls more than half their allotment of overs to triumph by nine wickets. Not for nothing are the visitors on top of the World Cup Super League standings, where they have now won 12 out of their 18 matches. The other side of that story is that the South Africans were outplayed in all departments and in their own conditions. Worse, they looked resigned to their fate long before it was sealed.

If you had braved the freeways that surround Centurion, which are some of the unloveliest and busiest of their sorry ilk, to support Temba Bavuma’s team in person, you would have been justified in demanding a refund for your time, money and effort. Good thing, then, that the majority of the crowd were cheering themselves hoarse in the cause of Bangladesh’s famous victory. The time, money and effort they spent on being there was worth it many times over — a small price to pay for the reward of a memory to treasure forever.

South Africa have been dismissed for fewer runs 11 times in the 318 ODIs in which they have batted first. But only thrice have they successfully defended smaller totals, and not since February 2000. They enjoyed a stable start to their innings with Janneman Malan and Quinton de Kock sharing 46 in the first 6.5 overs. But the latter’s dismissal started a slide of all 10 wickets for 108 runs in 30.1 overs. The last five crashed for 47 in 12.3. Only David Miller and Dwaine Pretorius, who put on 24 for the sixth wicket, were able to mount a partnership that was more than half the size of the openers’ effort.

The Bangladeshis bowled with intelligence on a pitch of variable bounce, mixing their lengths to great effect. But the South Africans batted as if the surface held no terrors, and seemed bewildered when they paid the penalty for loose strokes. The contrast was as stark as it was strange.

Taskin Ahmed showed on Friday, when he took 3/36, that he was a threat in these conditions. On Wednesday he dialled the danger up a notch or two, tearing into the crease with increasing enthusiasm to claim 5/35. Then Tamim Iqbal and Litton Das sped Bangladesh homeward with a dominating stand of 127 off 125. Tamim’s 82-ball 87 not out will live long as one of the most assured innings yet seen from a foreign player in South Africa.

That the home side had been discombobulated by their shambling batting was plain in the opening over of Bangladesh’s reply. Eight of the nine South Africa wickets had been taken from the Hennops River End. Yet Kagiso Rabada bowled the first over of the second innings from the Pavilion End. Rabada’s fourth delivery might have offered a reason why — Litton slapped the wide, short ball to backward point, where Keshav Maharaj dropped a catch he should have taken. That was the only significant error Bangladesh made on their march to an emphatic win. As Bavuma said in a television interview, “They really showed us how to play with the bat, the ball and in the field. We just weren’t good enough.” Mark Boucher was blunt in the press conference that followed: “We went to sleep.”

Bangladesh have never known this joy. Of their 28 previous matches in South Africa across the formats before this tour, they had won only one: a 2007 World T20 game against West Indies at the Wanderers. They had rarely been competitive in their nine bilateral series in the country before this rubber. All told, of 71 bilateral series outside of Bangladesh they had won only 10. Just four of those — all against West Indies — had been achieved over heavyweight opponents. And now this. Not only did Bangladesh beat more or less the same personnel who routed India 3-0 in an ODI series in January, they beat them all ends up twice in six days to claim the rubber.

Suddenly, South Africa’s path to the 2023 World Cup looks dangerously cluttered. The top eight sides in the Super League standings will qualify for the tournament, and Bavuma’s side are currently ninth. Their remaining Super League fixtures are three games each against India, England and Australia, and two against the Netherlands. On the evidence of the Bangladesh series, only the points on offer in the Dutch matches can be considered safe.

The Bangladeshis can stop worrying about all that. Their presence at the next World Cup is assured, and deservedly so. You could hear as much in the happy clamour of their supporters, who all but drowned out questions to Bavuma and Boucher from reporters in the open-air pressbox.

Centurion wouldn’t have made money on beer sales to the teetotaller Tigers fans. Here’s hoping having been able to turn off the floodlights early helped even things up.

First published by Cricbuzz.

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Bangladesh on brink of history

“Everyone is aware of the standings and where we are and the importance of getting that automatic qualification.” – Kyle Verreynne on the World Cup Super League standings.

Telford Vice | Cape Town

HOW much would it mean to Bangladesh to win the third ODI against South Africa in Centurion on Wednesday? That’s difficult to say, because it’s impossible to overstate the impact victory would have for the game in their country.

Bangladesh have played 71 bilateral series across the formats away or in neutral countries. They’ve won only 10, and just four of those successes — all against West Indies — can be considered to have been achieved against serious opposition.

The only other teams Bangladesh beaten outside of their own backyard have been Zimbabwe, Kenya and Ireland. So getting over the line on Wednesday could be considered the apex of their history in the game at international level, which started almost 36 years ago.

What are their chances? Minimal, we might have thought before the first match of the rubber in Centurion on Friday — when they twice broke the record for their highest partnership in South Africa, put up 314/7, the only time they have made 250 or more in the country, and won by 38 runs.

The home side levelled matters on a difficult pitch at the Wanderers on Sunday, when they won by seven wickets. So the fact that the series will return to the scene of Bangladesh’s win for the decider can only be good news for the visitors.

That will be tempered by the fact that Quinton de Kock missed Friday’s game because he was recovering from illness but played on Sunday and promptly blitzed 62 off 41 balls. But, just as importantly, Bangladesh have retained the services of ace allrounder Shakib al Hasan — who has remained with the squad despite several members of his family having been admitted to hospital.

Shakib will instead go home after Wednesday’s match, which is also when Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortjé, Marco Jansen, Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram are due to leave to play in the IPL. None of those players will thus feature in the Test series that starts at Kingsmead next Thursday.

But that is another drama for another day. Wednesday’s tussle has its own narrative. It could be cast not only as Bangladesh’s moment of truth — and that of South Africa, who had never lost to the Tigers at home before Wednesday — but as a clash between the team on top of the World Cup Super League standings and the side currently in ninth place. Or one spot below where they need to be to qualify automatically for the 2023 World Cup. That Bangladesh are that No. 1 team and South Africa are, at this stage, frozen out of the direct route into the global showpiece is part of the intrigue of Wednesday’s game.

Bangladesh have proven they can compete with the South Africans in all departments and in their own conditions, and there’s no reason they won’t do so again. Litton Das, Shakib and Yasir Ali all scored half-centuries on Friday, and Shoriful Islam and Taskin Ahmed revelled in the pace and bounce offered by a Highveld pitch and took five wickets at less than a run-a-ball between them. De Kock’s presence will likely equalise matters, and adds to the promise of a keen contest.

The odds nonetheless favour a South African win. They are, after all, at home and they have developed an unhelpful tendency to start series poorly before roaring back. But they will know the Bangladeshis will not go down without a fight. And especially not on the brink of a famous victory.

When: Wednesday, 1pm Local Time

Where: Centurion

What to expect: A better pitch for batting than the roller-coaster we saw at the Wanderers on Friday. The forecast says there’s not much chance of rain, but you can never discount a late afternoon storm on the Highveld in summer. And more support in the ground for Bangladesh than for the home side.

Team news

South Africa: Temba Bavuma’s finger, which he injured trying to take a catch off his own bowling at the Wanderers, won’t keep him out of the decider. But Wayne Parnell, who injured a hamstring in the same match, is not in the reckoning.

Possible XI: Janneman Malan, Quinton de Kock, Kyle Verreynne, Temba Bavuma (capt), Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi.

Bangladesh: Expect the visitors to stick with the side who have taken them to within one win of their first successful series in any format in South Africa.

Possible XI: Tamim Iqbal (capt), Litton Das, Shakib al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Yasir Ali, Mahmudullah, Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman.

What they said:

“I wouldn’t say we’ve had in-depth conversations about it, but everyone is aware of the standings and where we are and the importance of getting that automatic qualification. It’s not something we’ve spent a massive amount of time discussing. For us it’s about taking each game as it comes and making sure we’re in the best space possible for the game that’s ahead of us. We’ve still got a lot of games ahead, and I believe if we do that we’ll get the points we need to qualify. We know what we need to do.” – Kyle Verreynne on the World Cup Super League standings.

“Shakib is fine. Naturally something is on his mind but he is not showing it to anyone. That is a very positive sign. No-one is discussing it and everyone is letting him stay on his own. The good thing is that he is not letting anyone see he is going through a tough period.” – Bangladesh selector Habibul Bashar on Shakib al Hasan.

First published by Cricbuzz.

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Bangladesh bash bumbling bowlers

“Not being able to take wickets was always going to make it tough for us. They always had an in batter who could take the risk when needed.” – Temba Bavuma

Telford Vice | Cape Town

ON Friday’s evidence, South Africa might be able to do without their first-choice pace attack after all. The way they bowled in the first ODI against Bangladesh in Centurion suggested they aren’t all they’ve been cracked up to be. Perhaps, it will be whispered darkly up and down the land, the IPL is welcome to them.

Of course, cricket doesn’t work like that. Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and Marco Jansen are, along with the currently sidelined Anrich Nortjé, South Africa’s best fast bowlers by some distance. That they fell prey to an off day can’t and won’t change that.

But their performance in this match will make their compatriots feel better — and perhaps even allow themselves a spiteful smile — about the sad fact that they will, according to one side of this saga, desert the national cause after this series to chase money in a meaningless jamboree in India, and so miss the coming Tests against Bangladesh. The other side of the story is that CSA will never be able to pay their best players what IPL franchise owners can and do. And who can say international cricket carries more meaning and gravitas than some T20 circus?

Not that you would have thought, early on, that things would pan out the way they did. Ngidi opened with a scoreless over to Tamim Iqbal, and Rabada’s first was going the same way until Litton Das took two off the last delivery. It wasn’t so much that South Africa’s new-ball pair looked threatening as much as Bangladesh’s openers, maybe mindful of facing them on a cracked Highveld pitch, bringing more caution than required to the situation.

But the last ball of Ngidi’s next over hinted at what was to come. Tamim unleashed a meaty cut that sailed over an unusually short square boundary for six. It was the first of 10 overs in which the sixth delivery was hit for four or six. In another five overs, the first ball was hammered for four. All of the seamers used — including Andile Phehlukwayo — were guilty of these lapses in focus and discipline, although Jansen assuaged himself by consistently threatening with short deliveries. Mostly, these errors were the result of faulty length, and on both ends of that equation. Of the 68 runs Bangladesh scored this way, 40 were hit off Ngidi.

And all that after the visitors didn’t reach a runrate of four until they had faced 19 overs. Despite this, they twice broke their record for the highest ODI partnership in South Africa. Tamim and Litton put on 95, Bangladesh’s best in South Africa until Shakib al Hasan and Yasir Ali clipped 115 off 82 balls for the fourth wicket. The first half of the visitors’ innings yielded 112 runs. The second went for 202.

“The first 10 to 15 overs, we had a good sense of control over the game,” Temba Bavuma said afterwards. “In the middle overs, in terms of our plans and adapting to the conditions, I don’t think we were on point. Not being able to take wickets was always going to make it tough for us. They always had an in batter who could take the risk when needed.”

Worse yet, that Bavuma’s team were in the field for 29 minutes longer than they should have been may come back to bite them. “When you’re behind the over-rate, that’s an indicator of your intensity,” he said. “If we are guilty of being behind, that’s also something we’ll need to talk about.”

And a lot more besides. But not as much as Bangladesh’s fans, who will talk about Friday’s game for decades to come, and so they should. If a finely tailored suit could wield the willow, it would bat like Shakib did in his breathtaking 77 — all sharp angles and silky skills, and a level of poise ripped from the runway. Yasir’s 50 was cut from a different cloth, a thing of warmth and comfort; a favourite pair of jeans. Together they ensured Bangladesh went to dinner impeccably dressed with a total of 314/7, the first time in 15 ODIs in South Africa that they have made 250 or more.

Would their bowlers be able to match that kind of style? In a word, yes. Shoriful Islam and Taskin Ahmed handed down a masterclass in how to hit the right length and keep the batters guessing on a surface like this — which was not quick, but primed with bounce that was occasionally variable.

South Africa had their best chance of getting out of jail while Rassie van der Dussen was at the crease. He took guard at 36/3 in the ninth over, and with three slips bristling behind his back. But Van der Dussen is made of stern stuff, and he added 85 with Bavuma and 70 — off 64 — with David Miller. There is a certainty about Van der Dussen’s batting, a rock solid faith that anything can be done, and that could make believers out of even the most atheist among us. If only, South Africans will muse, cricket was as simple as religion.

Hold the miracles. Van der Dussen fell for 86 by way of Yasir’s heart-stopping catch at deep backward squad off Taskin, and Miller was stumped, coming down the pitch to Mehidy Hasan, for 79.

That reduced South Africa to 242/9, sealing their fate. But there were 4.3 overs to bowl at that point, and in the stands and on the grass banks the gathered hundreds of jubilant Bangladeshi supporters — far outnumbering the home side’s — no doubt wished there was exponentially more time left in the match. Their team’s impending first ODI win in South Africa, and only their second success in the country in any format in 29 matches, was too special a moment to be taken from them so soon. There was more weirdness where that came from, what with Russell Domingo and Allan Donald celebrating in the wrong dressing room.

Make that the other dressing room. Because, by any measure and nevermind who is going where after the series, the right team won.

First published by Cricbuzz.

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Short, sharp shock puts SA in semifinals zone

“We want to do well for ourselves more than anyone else wants us to do well.” – Kagiso Rabada

Telford Vice | Cape Town

FIRST Kagiso Rabada took centre stage in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. Then Anrich Nortjé grabbed top billing. Then Taskin Ahmed polished his star. And all the while Mustafizur Rahman could only sit and watch, wondering what might have been.

It isn’t often that a pitch in a T20I anywhere favours fast bowlers, even less so in the UAE, and still less on a platform as grand as a World Cup. So Tuesday’s surface at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium was an exception. It was grassy, quick, offered bounce and seam, and the extra humidity that hung in the air made the ball swing.

Given those conditions, the history between these teams in the format, and the fact that Bangladesh had one-and-a-half feet on the plane after losing all of their first three games, victory for South Africa was always likely.

But for the Bangladeshis to be bundled out for 84 was a shock. It was the eighth time they have been dismissed in double figures in their 119 T20Is, but the first time by South Africa — who won by six wickets with 6.3 overs remaining to retain their unbeaten record in seven T20Is against Bangladesh.

Mission accomplished, as Rabada told a press conference: “There was a clear instruction that we should try finish the game before 15 [overs].” The South Africans knocked off the target smartly enough to boost their net runrate to +0.79. That puts them in second place in Group 1 with Australia third on -0.63. South Africa’s next and last engagement in the group stage is a mega match against leaders England in Sharjah on Saturday. By then, Australia will have completed their programme against Bangladesh and West Indies. So Temba Bavuma’s team will know exactly what they need to do to reach the semifinals — either beat England or make sure they finish with a better runrate than the Aussies.

This was easily South Africa’s most emphatic showing. It followed a narrow loss to Australia and close wins over West Indies and Sri Lanka. Was this evidence of a team hitting its straps ahead of their biggest challenge, or would it have been better to prepare for England with another nail-biter?

“No, I don’t prefer a tight game at all,” Rabada said. “It’s too much stress. We’re glad that we won convincingly today. We knew every game was going to be tough and would require so much intensity. It’s hard work, the amount of focus that you have to show; resilience, thinking on the spot. It takes a lot out of you. We can take confidence out of our performance as a collective heading into the England game. We know it’s going to be tough.”

Bangladesh don’t have such complexities to consider. Their race was pretty much run before Tuesday’s match. All that’s left for them to do now is try and stave of a World Cup whitewash against Australia, then go home and hope their public will show understanding for their poor showing. “Against that type of batting line-up 84 is never good enough,” Taskin told a press conference. “We are trying our best. So hopefully, insha-allah, in future we’ll overcome.”

Rabada offered advice on how to deal with the fans: “You’ll always have critics, and that’s something that we have made peace with. You can’t take the good without the bad.”

Besides, the most virulent critics were in the dressing room: “We put ourselves under more pressure than the public, because we’re the cricketers. We want to do well for ourselves more than anyone else wants us to do well. So we put more pressure on ourselves. Whatever people have to say outside of the game, it’s OK. We can’t control that. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion. In saying that, we see a lot of value in people who genuinely support us.”

It’s cold comfort, but Bangladesh will have earned Rabada’s gratitude. He went into the match with his team’s worst bowling average and economy rate and only two wickets. That started changing in the fourth over on Tuesday, Rabada’s second, when Mohammad Naim smashed a low catch to midwicket. Rabada bent his next delivery through the air and onto the boot of Soumya Sarkar, whose bat descended too late to spare him from being trapped in front. The hattrick ball took the shoulder of Mushfiqur Rahim’s bat and flew past gully — yes, gully! In a T20I! — and bounced before reaching point. Two deliveries later, Mushfiqur fended to gully, where Reeza Hendricks held a sharp, high catch.

Rabada bowled with verve and violence to claim 3/10 in the space of his first 15 balls, taking those wickets across five of his deliveries. He finished with 3/20 — his best figures in his 39 T20Is and his second-best economy rate, and the fourth time that he has struck as many as three times.

Before Tuesday, Rabada had gone through his gears only to not reach peak performance. This time, he did that and more. It wasn’t that he had bowled badly previously. But he wasn’t as good as he would have known he could have been. On Tuesday, he was.

Nortjé has been at or near his rapid, relentless best from the moment he marked out a run-up at this World Cup. But he found an extra touch of something special on Tuesday, allowing just five scoring shots from the 20 balls he bowled and taking 3/8 — his best figures in his 15 T20Is, the first time he has claimed three wickets, and his best economy rate; 2.40 bettering the 3.50 he conceded against the Windies.

Nortjé ended the innings with consecutive deliveries by rushing Mahedi Hasan into a pull that blooped back to the bowler, and forcing Nasum Ahmed to retreat so far backward from the crease that his downswing smashed his stumps. Rather than wanting to criticise Nasum, you felt sorry for him.

Over to you, Bangladeshi quicks. Taskin answered the challenge by nailing Reeza Hendricks’ pad with an inswinger bang in front of the stumps to end the first over. In his third he had Aiden Markram snapped up at slip, where Naim dived and hung on. Temba Bavuma walked out to see a second slip step up, and was immediately cut in half by an inswinger that snuck over the stumps. Taskin’s 2/18 marked the third time in 29 T20Is that he had taken two wickets, and he did so at his fifth-lowest economy rate.

With Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh’s top wicket-taker and key allrounder, out of the tournament with a hamstring injury, you might have thought their second-most successful bowler would have been guaranteed a place in Tuesday’s XI. Instead Mustafizur was rested. There he sat, baleful in his bib, watching others of his ilk revel in conditions he won’t have seen often. Or will again.

It’s unlikely a fast bowler even of Mustafizur’s quality would have been able to help Bangladesh defend 84, but it would have been good to see him strutt his stuff in this saga of seam and swing. Sadly, so it goes.

First published by Cricbuzz.

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