Baartman dances all over Capitals to seal Royals’ playoff place

Ottneil Baartman fired another shot - five actually - at the national selectors, who deemed him surplus to the Proteas T20 World Cup requirements on Thursday and in the process secured a play-off spot for the Paarl Royals in the SA20.

Baartman punched holes in the Pretoria Capitals batting order, claiming 5/16, which included a hat-trick - the second in this year’s tournament. The 32-year-old surged to the top of the tournament’s wicket-taking charts as well, his tally now at 16, and with each one has raised questions about the selectors’ judgement.

The Proteas will take a pace heavy group to the World Cup in India next month, but Baartman, despite his prowess over the four years of the SA20, was not among the six fast bowlers chosen for the global showpiece.

He has masked his disappointment superbly, and after spending three seasons with Sunrisers Eastern Cape - twice helping that franchise to win the title - Baartman has poured himself into the Royals campaign.

As he has done often, Baartman bowled in the toughest periods of the innings; the power play and at the death, but his consistency and discipline have stood him in good stead. The plans to the Capitals - in front of another sold crowd at SuperSport Park - were simple - pitch the ball up and target the stumps.

Capitals opener Conor Esterhuizen was bowled a beautiful delivery that zipped into him off the pitch and knocked back middle stump. A similar ball defeated Jordan Cox although his left leg got in the way and he was adjudged lbw.

Although the surface was somewhat two-paced, that is not enough of an excuse for several bad options taken by the home team’s batters. The most notable being Dewald Brevis.

An tournament aggregate of 141 runs in nine innings, is not the kind of return the Capitals management would have envisaged after bidding R16.4-million for him at the auction in September.

From a Proteas perspective, it is also concerning that Brevis is getting out in ways that suggest his match awareness is lacking.

Brevis made 21 at a run-a-ball on Thursday, but with nine overs left in his team’s innings he had sufficient time to make a more substantial score. Instead, he swung hard at the first ball he faced from Sikander Raza - a low arm slinger - which skidded off the surface, and watched as the ball hit half way up the middle stump. It was the kind of dismissal that will do little to quiet Brevis’ critics, who feel that for all the razzle-dazzle, his development as a batter is being stunted by an inability to think clearly.

Brevis is young, but Thursday’s was his 121st T20 match - encompassing tournaments in India, the USA, Caribbean and England, where he has worked and played alongside many great coaches and players - and despite those experiences he continues to make rookie errors.

His dismissal opened the door for the Royals, and Baartman charged through, dismissing Andre Russell - who’d scorched the air with a six over square leg against Raza - caught in the deep, bowling Lizaad Williams and then holding a return catch to end Lungi Ngidi’s stay at the crease.

His figures are the fourth best in the competition’s history and left the Capitals with a woefully inadequate target of 128 to defend.

Paarl needed just 15.1 overs to seal victory by six wickets, earning a bonus point in the process. Rubin Hermann, another who’d been on the Proteas radar this year, but wasn’t deemed good enough for the World Cup, backed up his unbeaten 65 in the thrilling win against Durban Super Giants on Tuesday night, with a stroke-laden 46 that included five fours and three sixes.