Proteas search for batting depth from lower order for World Cup

The Proteas lower order batters have been put through specific scenario training in hopes of solidifying a part of the team that, despite the players’ boisterous self-belief and in some cases potential, still looks fragile. 

There isn’t a bowler in the world who doesn’t enjoy his batting, but rather than just swing lustily as is so often the case, Proteas head coach Rob Walter wants the likes of Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi to be more astute with the willow. 

“It’s been a strong part of the preparation which involves a tactical and technical perspective,” said Proteas bowling coach for the World Cup Eric Simons before their opener against Sri Lanka at Arun Jaitley Cricket Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday. 

“There are various conversations about what their role is [at a specific time in the innings]. Are they batting together or are they with a top order batter? What can they do to eke out as many runs as they can?

“The role is different for them if they are batting with a David Miller compared with a KG.”

South Africa’s top six is packed with experience and power, but should they not fire there needs to be a semblance of a safety net from those occupying the bottom spots in the batting order. 

The Proteas were presented with such a scenario in the series against Australia, when they slumped to 100/5 halfway through their innings in the first ODI. Temba Bavuma was the sole surviving top order batter and, starting with Marco Jansen, the South African bowlers scraped together another 112 runs in that match.

It proved insufficient, but in addition to the runs scored was also that they lengthened the innings by 24 overs that proved encouraging. 

“Rob has a specific focus on that and those players have been allocated to someone to look after and work with them,” said Simons, whose own playing career saw him transform from a seamer whose batting contributions became increasingly more valuable as he got older. 

He said much of the team’s preparation at training, during the Australian series and in the warm-up match against New Zealand on Monday centred on scenario planning, which included Heinrich Klaasen bowling three overs of very slow medium pace. “It is important to have options; you want to understand what you can do in certain situations — if someone gets injured, for example.”

And while that flexibility is important, Simons also said a clearly outlined strategy and having the means to implement it relieved much of the pressure that accompanied a World Cup.

“If we have a clear plan, all you have to worry about is execution. If the plan is not clear you have stress about what to do plus the execution. So the better prepared we are, the better we are.”

While that sounds obvious, the Proteas are walking a fine line with strategies that rely so heavily on the top six for runs, while with the ball, the fast bowling plan will have to be implemented without one of its most potent weapons in Anrich Nortjé. 

“This is a World Cup and the more you break it down into, ‘This is a match tomorrow, there’ll be 300 balls and 10 overs for each bowler’, and to ‘this moment’, rather than what happened in the past and what might happen in the future, the better it is.”

The short-term future for the Proteas sees them start their campaign against Sri Lanka.

After being bowled out for 50 the last time they played — in the Asia Cup final by India two weeks ago — Simons said there might be some mental wounds for the Sri Lankan batters to deal with.

“That Sri Lanka were bowled out for 50 is not something we will be unhappy about because psychologically it is going to be tough for them. We understand the way we bowl and the way they bat and hopefully the way we bowl does not suit the way they bat.”