More woe for Proteas as bowlers continue to deliver poorly

Five heavy defeats on the trot against Australia has left the Proteas looking ragged with the World Cup less than a month away. 

It’s not as if the Australians have played dazzling cricket either and the fact that they are missing five starters in this ODI series puts South Africa ’s failures in a starker context. The closest the Proteas have come to beating Australia was in the opening ODI last Thursday, which the tourists won by three wickets but as for the rest there have been defeats by 111 runs in the first T20 International while in Saturday’s second ODI, the difference was 123 runs. 

“We have to be accountable for the performances we are producing,” said Tabraiz Shamsi.

He was the Proteas’ best performer with the ball at the Mangaung Oval, taking 4/61, briefly giving them hope when he took two wickets off consecutive deliveries in his first over. 

But there was no support from the seamers, who produced another poor performance that lacked control while the execution, again, was missing.

“It was a tough day for the bowlers. We are lacking a bit with our execution. The plans are in place, but it is up to us to work even harder. It is up to us, in the next couple of games, to hit our straps and execute ... we are accountable for our actions,” Shamsi reiterated.

Australia scored 392/8, with their opener David Warner, who scored 109, admitting they should have made over 400. They were happy to take advantage of another ill-disciplined showing from the South African seamers. “We got a couple of free shots outside the off stump,” said Warner.

With the Proteas having picked six seam bowlers in the World Cup squad, and wanting to use four of them in the starting team at the tournament, those players know a lot of hard work awaits in the next few weeks. 

“It’s not from a lack of work ethic. We have to live with this. Previously when Australia have been on our shores, we have beaten them 5-0, we have beaten them 3-0, this time around the shoe is on the other foot. We haven’t been good enough, we have lacked that execution. Upon reflection, the way I see it, that is all it is.”

The poor execution was first mentioned by T20 captain Aiden Markram after the second match of that series in Durban last week, with ODI skipper Temba Bavuma repeating it after the loss in the opening match of the current series. 

They know what the problem is, but seem incapable of resolving it. The new bowling coach Eric Simons is still getting to know the attack, and feels that time is on their side ahead of the World Cup. 

“I need time with the guys. We have an execution problem, my job is to find a solution,” Simons told The Sunday Times. 

As for Shamsi, who has struggled with his confidence in the last year, he felt that he had turned a corner. “I don’t think I have felt that I’d had a dip (in form) since joining the Proteas. I’ve done a lot of thinking and there is no cricketer that hasn’t gone through a dip, it was for me to ride out the tough times, because I know when the good times come I will be flying.”

The teams head to Potchefstroom for the third ODI on Tuesday. “The results have not gone our way, we are disappointed, but the series is still alive. There’s no-one saying we can’t win this series 3-2,” said Shamsi.