Gloves off for AB

Times Media

TELFORD VICE, Wellington

AB de Villiers does not want to keep wicket. Keeping wicket is not for AB de Villiers. Wicketkeeping and AB de Villiers are not at all compatible. Got it?

De Villiers left no-one in any doubt of the above in Wellington on Thursday after SA wrapped up their pool matches with a 146-run win over the United Arab Emirates.

The question that got the gloves off was about Quinton de Kock’s struggles with the bat - he has scored 53 runs in six innings at the World Cup.

Dropping De Kock would mean De Villiers would have to keep. Ain’t going to happen ...

“I don’t want to keep,” De Villiers said unequivocally. But there was more. “It really puts a lot of pressure on me as a captain. I’ve got more time without the gloves in hand and I feel I can get to my bowlers - communication is much better. So it will be a last resort for us to move in that direction.”

Also, De Villiers has carved a niche for himself as a handy medium pacer, taking four wickets at 16.25 and with an economy rate of 5.9 in the tournament. If he is behind the stumps, that element of his game would disappear.

“Whenever I bowl, the over-rate’s fine,” he joked to emphasise the point - which was worth making considering he would be banned for one match if he irritated the over-rate police again.

But De Kock is a shadow of the player he was before an ankle injury in December. He recovered rapidly physically but his game is not where it was.

De Kock’s 26 on Thursday was his highest score of the World Cup, and it was one run fewer than his other efforts in the tournament combined. The upside was that he batted for 73 minutes and faced 45 balls. The downside was that he edged, mistimed or was beaten by 11 of those deliveries and almost ran out Rilee Rossouw three times.

However, De Kock’s monumental talent seems to matter more than form to De Villiers: “He’s a matchwinner. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s going to play a big part in us winning this World Cup.

“When push comes to shove and when the heat is on, I truly believe he is going to play a big knock for us.”

And then there was Aaron Phangiso. Why didn’t he play on Thursday in what was, barring injury, his last chance to step across the boundary at the World Cup?

“We were very tempted to get ‘Phangi’ into the team,” De Villiers said. “It’s been a long tour for him but his attitude’s been superb. He works really hard in the nets.

“I know what he’s capable of, so I won’t be worried when something does happen and we’ll have to play him in one of the knockout games.

“He’s a big-match player; he always has been. He’s the kind of guy who wins you a match when it matters most.

“I face him in the nets and I’m assessing his performance. If his opportunity comes I know he will grab it with both hands.”