PUNE: "I was speaking to Heinrich Klaasen just now in the change room and we probably left a few runs out there still." This is how Rassie van der Dussen, Player of the Match, explained South Africa's mentality after scoring 357 runs against New Zealand and winning the clash by 190 runs at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium. While Proteas top-order soaked all the pressure early in the innings, it was their bowlers who never gave any sniffing chance to the Kiwis to get anywhere close to the total with Marco Jansen going after the top order and Keshav Maharaj doing his job in the middle overs.
Except for their loss against Netherlands, where they had a collective brain freeze while chasing the modest total, South Africa seem to have a blueprint of sorts with bat and ball. Weather the storm in the opening overs to set the foundation. Change gears at around mid-way point and cash as much as they can in the last ten overs. And this plan has been perfected by the presence of Quinton de Kock who has scored 545 runs in this edition of the World Cup, 100 runs clear of the next top scorer in Virat Kohli. He has been doing the 'dirty work' alongside the other top order batters to help the middle order reap rewards.
The scary part is South Africa are not even dependent on the opener who is playing his last WC. Van der Dussen, Klaasen, Aiden Markram, David Miller and even Marco Jansen. The only player who has not performed compared to the others is their captain Temba Bavuma as his highest score of the tournament is 35 against Australia. Captain's loss of form could be one of those missing pieces of the puzzle for South Africa as they move closer to the semi-final spot after missing out in 2019.
If the batting is oozing confidence and doing the job, the bowling has been nothing less than sensational. South Africa are the only team to have bowled out their opposition on every single occasion. As many as four South African bowlers have taken 10+ wickets in the tournament. With Jensen, Gerald Coetzee and Kagiso Rabada doing the damage with their pace, Keshav Maharaj, with his 11 wickets in seven fixtures, has gone under the radar. It is the old cliche that "Batters win you games, bowlers win you tournaments," and if this attack is any indication they have been close to perfection in India.
After seeing Proteas bat first, post a mammoth score and defend it well, many doubted if they can chase down the total under lights when necessary. Even when their chase against Pakistan was not ideal and they lost wickets in clumps after starting well in Chennai, they did win a close match to gain two important points. Winning the close moments can certainly make or break teams in the long tournaments like WCs, especially when the team is playing away from home. And that performance at Chepauk has kept South Africa in the hunt for the bigger prize.
As a cricketing nation, South Africa has been on the receiving end of some of the most heartbreaking results in the World Cups, dating back to their first hurrah in the tournament. With the Rugby World Cup in their possession already, is this 'Time for (South) Africa?'.
