Chasing is SA’s lost art

Times Media

TELFORD VICE, Wellington

SATURDAY’S debacle against Pakistan in Auckland was the latest example of a worrying truth: SA have lost the art of chasing down targets.

Their 2011 World Cup ended in shambolic fashion in the quarter-final in Dhaka when they failed to reel in New Zealand’s mediocre 221. That soft serve performance echoed around Eden Park on Saturday, when SA were dismissed 29 runs short of the 232 they needed to beat Pakistan.

SA’s sorry performance snared the attention of Graeme Smith, who wrote in his column on the International Cricket Council website that, “One of the most glaring issues to come out of (the) loss was the continued struggle that the Proteas have with regard to chasing.

“The only lesson that came from this batting rehearsal was that (SA) have a lot more work to do in very little time. Even with one pool game to go (against the United Arab Emirates in Wellington on Thursday) their attention would have shifted to the likely quarter-final opponents of Sri Lanka or Australia, who would definitely have noted that their chasing travails continued.”

And that by a team who in the space of five days at this tournament became the first side to post consecutive totals of at least 400 in one-day internationals.

SA batted first in those matches, against West Indies and Ireland, as they did in their opening game of the World Cup against Zimbabwe. AB de Villiers’ men won all of those matches.

Saturday’s defeat was SA’s second of the tournament. They suffered their first against India in Melbourne on February 22 - when they crashed and burned for 177 chasing 308 to win.

Which means SA have been victorious in all of the matches in which they have batted first at the World Cup, and lost both times they have been asked to hunt down a target.

Even accounting for the fact that SA have batted first against their weaker opposition and second when they have taken on stronger sides, those results are part of a trend.

Overall, SA have won 167 ODIs batting first and 162 when they have fielded first. In fact, until the end of their involvement in the 2011 World Cup, they were a more successful team when they chased - earning 147 wins compared to 140 when they set the target.

But it has proved a slippery spiral since then. Twenty-seven of SA’s victories have been achieved when they have batted first and only 15 the other way around.

And to think De Villiers chose to chase when he won the toss on Saturday. He did so no doubt on the strength of the fact that seven of the previous 10 ODIs that were decided at Eden Park had been won by the team batting second.

Indeed, SA celebrated one of those successes themselves when they scored 208/5 to beat New Zealand in March, 2012.

However, that is a rarity whose ghost may yet haunt SA at this World Cup.