South Africa superb, but Brevis ...

“The main focus coming into the series was on trying to put in a complete performance.” - Bjorn Fortuin

Telford Vice / Cape Town

SOUTH Africa came, saw and conquered in their men’s ODI series against Namibia in Windhoek, where they completed a 3-0 drubbing on Sunday. Anything less would have raised alarms. What else did a squad without several first-choice players achieve?

There was a century and a half-century for Jordan Hermann, another hundred and an unbeaten half-century for Connor Esterhuizen, a pair of 70s for Tony de Zorzi, and four-wicket hauls for Prenelan Subrayen, Duan Jansen and Bjorn Fortuin.

De Zorzi shared 190 off 167 with Hermann and 183 off 168 with Esterhuizen, who put on 150 off 126 with Hermann.

Eight bowlers conceded less than a run-a-ball in at least one innings. Corbin Bosch did so in all three games, and Jansen, Subrayen, Kwena Maphaka and Nqobani Mokoena each did it twice. Only twice did a Namibia pair stay together long enough to share 50. Their only half-century was Gerhard Erasmus’ 68 off 84 on Friday.

“It was a trouncing; we pride ourselves on being better than that.” Erasmus told the host broadcaster with bracing honesty on Sunday after his team were hammered by nine wickets with all of 28.3 overs unbowled.

He marvelled at the South Africans’ “ball speed that they produce throughout the innings and their quality spinners. They get to the ball quickly, they hit the ball hard and they bowl the ball fast.”

Just as honestly, Fortuin admitted during his press conference that “3-0 is what we were striving for. That’s the standard we set for ourselves, not only as individuals but as a group. The main focus coming into the series was on trying to put in a complete performance. I’m pleased to say that happened” on Sunday.

South Africa’s domination was as absolute as Erasmus and Fortuin made it sound, but how seriously we should take it is a fair question considering their wanting albeit willing opposition. We should, of course, cut the Namibians some slack. By the time they played their first ODI — the famous black armband match against Zimbabwe in Harare during the 2003 World Cup — South Africa had played 278. Sunday’s game was Namibia’s 82nd in the format — and the South Africans’ 701st.

So it will worry cricketminded South Africans that, even against some of the friendliest bowling he will face at international level, Dewald Brevis looked unsettled. The golden child of his generation looked short of rhythm and consequently of runs. He had a hand in both of his dismissals, pulling a catch down deep square leg’s throat and top edging a full toss to short fine leg.

In Brevis’ defence, the situations he walked into wouldn’t have put him under much positive pressure to succeed. South Africa were 217/2 in the 35th when he took guard in the first match, on Wednesday, 231/3 in the 38th two days later, and there were only seven runs required when he faced his first delivery on Sunday.

He sent the second, a short ball from Max Heingo, arching over the square leg boundary and out of the ground to seal victory. The stroke was as lusty as it was handsome, but it seemed laced with the frustration of what might have been had he been able to stay at the crease for longer.

Brevis shimmers with promise. He has at last shaken unhelpful comparisons with AB de Villiers, but the analogy remains valid. Or does it? Brevis has scored a century and six half-centuries — two in the Namibia T20I triseries that preceded the ODIs — in his 51 senior international innings across the formats. After 51 innings De Villiers had eight 50s — two in the 90s — and three centuries.

A mitigating factor is that only one of De Villiers’ first 51 innings was in a T20I, so he had more time to take his opportunities properly. Thirty-three of Brevis’ trips to the international crease — almost two-thirds of his total — have come in the most hurried format.

But if he fails to exploit the chance to impose himself on an attack like Namibia’s, how will he succeed against Australia, England, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka — all of whom South Africa will play in the coming months — and in next year’s World Cup? No doubt Shukri Conrad is alive to that question.

The major concern on the bowling front will be Nqaba Peter. The leg spinner, playing ODIs for the first time since November last year, took two wickets at an economy rate of 7.16 in his 12 overs. Peter will have to do better if he wants to be in the conversation for the World Cup, not least because he is in a queue of high quality slow bowlers.

South Africa will face tougher challenges than they have done in Namibia over the last 17 days, when they won six of the seven games they played against the hosts and Zimbabwe. But they come home satisfied that they proved their superiority over their regional little brothers. Job done. Others await.

Cricbuzz