Proteas don’t have a batting blueprint, just read conditions really well: Markram

For all that South Africa’s batting looks like being founded on strict adherence to a specific game plan, stand-in captain Aiden Markram said it was more a case of reading and assessing conditions.

“We haven’t spoken about a blueprint as a batting unit. It’s been quite strange. In the past few months, there’s been no definitive roles given, it’s just that everyone knows what they need to do to help this batting unit be at its best,” Markram said.

The natural evolution with the bat for this Proteas team now has its own rhythm. Due care is taken in the first 10 overs, the increase in the scoring rate between overs 11 and 35 is followed by a brief period of assessment, and then, to borrow from Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, it’s a case of heavy metal batting.

South Africa have regularly scored at a rate well in excess of 10 runs an over in the last 10 overs of their innings'.

Twice in this World Cup they’ve scored at 14 an over, including Tuesday’s victory over Bangladesh at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai when they scored 144 runs. South Africa put on 382/5 against Bangladesh, bowling them out for 233 for a 149-run victory.

Last Saturday against England it was 143 runs in the last 10, against Sri Lanka it was 139.

“Guys understand how to approach it. There is a big focus on playing conditions and not situations too much,” Markram said.

It helps having a top six as powerful as the one South Africa possesses. Temba Bavuma, who has missed the last two matches with gastric illness, was the Proteas’ leading run-scorer this year coming into the tournament, and has been intrinsic to this style of play.

When he couldn’t face England, Reeza Hendricks stepped to the fore perfectly and despite not scoring off his first 13 balls, there was confidence for him individually and from his teammates that his circumspect approach would be beneficial later. Not only did he share a crucial 121-run partnership with Rassie van der Dussen in that match, he made 85 off 75 balls.

It was a similar method on Tuesday where despite the dismissals of Hendricks and Van der Dussen in the first power play, Quinton de Kock and Markram with a stand of 131 off 137 balls kept the innings on course.

There was little risk in their approach, but the scoreboard kept ticking and as they grew more accustomed to conditions — on a pitch that was slightly slower than was the case against England — they were able to thrive.

“We keep saying to look down at the surface and not up at the scoreboard, and that’s how we play what’s in front of us,” said Markram.

De Kock is the World Cup's leading run-scorer with an aggregate of 407, and in the midst of a stunning run of form in his last set of matches in the ODI format.

“We all know he is a free spirit, but he has a fantastic cricket brain and he assesses conditions really well. He communicates that to us off the field even before we go out to bat.”

De Kock’s 174 off 140 balls against Bangladesh is this tournament’s highest individual score and his teammates are careful not to put too many hurdles in front of him.

“You never want to clip his wings, you want to let him fly. He structures it the way he feels he needs to,” Markram said.

The Proteas head to Chennai on Wednesday ahead of their sixth match of the tournament against Pakistan on Friday.