SA no longer in a spin over NZ conditions

Times Media

TELFORD VICE, Cape Town

IF Imran Tahir is a more attacking spinner than Aaron Phangiso, how come they took the same number of wickets and had identical strike rates in the triangular series in Zimbabwe in August and September?

Phangiso will aim to keep asking those kinds of questions in SA’s one-day series in New Zealand, which starts in Mount Maunganui late on Monday night (SA time).

“We understand that we are two different spinners and we offer different expertise,” Phangiso said on Saturday.

“A lot of people say ‘Imi’ is an attacking bowler and I’m more of a container. It seems like that, but on the day it might different - he might be doing the containing and I might be taking wickets.”

Lusty leg spinner Tahir took five wickets at an average of 31.8 in the triseries against Zimbabwe and Australia while languid left-armer Phangiso claimed five at 29.2. Phangiso was the more miserly bowler - his economy rate was 3.84 and Tahir’s 4.18 - but both had a strike rate of 45.6.

Phangiso hoped to continue that trend. If, that is, he is given the chance on Monday night in a team in which Tahir remains the first-choice spinner: they are separated by 41 places in the ODI bowling rankings.

But they were both in the XI for three of those four games in Harare - and SA won two of them.

“If we play two spinners again, our role will be similar to what it was in Zimbabwe,” Phangiso said.

The chances of that happening are good. In fact, three spinners bowled for SA in their last ODI in New Zealand - Robin Peterson, JP Duminy and Johan Botha.

That was the last match of the 2011-12 series, which SA won 3-0. Botha played in the third match only, and Duminy bowled just seven overs out of his possible 30. But spin was a bigger factor in SA’s gameplan than it is in other conditions.

Better yet, the lessons of SA’s previous series in New Zealand, in 2003-04, had been learnt. Peterson and Nicky Boje were both in the squad, but they did not bowl in the same attack in any of the six matches - Graeme Smith sent down 4.1 overs of occasional off-spin in the third match in Wellington after Shaun Pollock broke down - and SA lost the rubber 5-1.

All that said, the spin spotlight will be hogged by Daniel Vettori, who is set to play his first ODI in 16 months because of the wear and tear on his body that has built up in an international career that started more than 17 years ago. However, the lure of playing in next year’s World Cup has brought Vettori out of hibernation.

The return of Vettori, a veteran of 275 ODIs, will be welcomed in a New Zealand dressingroom that will be without the injured Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson.

On the upside, Tim Southee has recovered from a shoulder problem in time to be named in the squad, to which Dean Brownlie and Tom Latham have been added.