Proteas use familiar conditions to kick-start Champions Trophy challenge

Intel gathered from last week’s triangular series and the opening game in the Champion Trophy involving the host nation and New Zealand, proved crucial to South Africa’s success against Afghanistan on Friday, said Ryan Rickelton. 

The Proteas got their Champions Trophy campaign off to a perfect start with a 107-run victory over the Afghans, who many believed had the tools to effectively use conditions in Karachi, along with the backing of a rowdy crowd. 

However the Proteas already knew that spin wasn’t going to be effective, but what they didn’t expect was the surface to be quite as familiar to them as it turned out. Rassie van der Dussen compared the Karachi pitch to the Wanderers, Temba Bavuma said it was lot like surfaces in SA and player of the match, Rickelton was pleasantly surprised too.

“I felt it was quite quick,” said Rickelton, who grew up playing at the ‘Bullring.’

Those conditions, turned the South African seamers into game breakers, with Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada and even Wiaan Mulder, thriving, sharing seven of the 10 Afghan wickets between them. 

Our fast bowlers really got it through, even Wiaan was getting it through nicely. It had pace, but variability of bounce made it challenging for the batters. We just had the bowlers with the extra height and pace who could exploit it,” said Rickelton.

They took heed of lessons learnt last week in defeats to New Zealand (albeit that match was in Lahore) and Pakistan, but also paid close attention to the Black Caps’ defeat of the host nation in the tournament opener on Wednesday.

“We chatted to the New Zealanders after their match and our decision to bat first was based on what we’d heard from them, that the pitch got tacky under lights and it spun a little bit.”

Meanwhile Rickelton’s ludicrous summer form, continued in his first ICC match, in which he made a maiden ODI hundred. The left hander spoke about how clear he was thinking presently, and that the foundation he was creating through that was enabling him to thrive across all three formats. 

He's made two Test centuries and was the fourth highest run-scorer in the SA20 this season, highlighting his ability to adapt to conditions, when at home. But Friday showed he was carrying that confidence on the road as well. 

“To dumb it down for myself, it's about mindset and approach,” said Rickelton. “If you look at the guys like Travis Head and Shubman Gill, they all play in a similar way across all three formats.”

Obvious comparisons with Quinton de Kock were being drawn, especially by overseas viewers who’ve not seen much of Rickelton this summer.

The Champions trophy is SA’s first ICC event, since De Kock announced his retirement from ODIs after the 2023 World Cup and who would be able to replace him was always going to be a hot topic. 

But while there are similarities; both bat at the top of the order, they’re left-handers and keep wicket, Rickelton showed on Friday that where De Kock was heavily reliant on his strength square of the wicket, Rickelton was able to adapt and score effectively down the ground, particularly early in his innings. 

Only 15 of his 103 runs in Karachi were scored behind square. “The wickets here can be quite skiddy, so as a group we emphasised trying to hit a lot straighter for longer. If it skids you get bowled or lbw quite easily,” he said.

The effective analysis of conditions will be a bit more challenging for Rawalpindi where SA face Australia on Tuesday. It’s been two years since that venue hosted an ODI, although it was a high-scoring affair in which Pakistan chased down 337 to beat New Zealand.