Times Media
TELFORD VICE, Cape Town
SA would be forgiven for taking their eye off the ball in the third one-day international against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo on Thursday. In fact, it would be irresponsible to stay focused on a mission that is already accomplished.
With the rubber won, SA’s thoughts must turn to bigger things like the triangular series in Harare that starts on Monday with a game between the home side and Australia.
AB de Villiers’ team will take on the Aussies on Wednesday in what should prove a better measure of their progress towards readiness for next year’s World Cup than anything the Zimbabweans have lobbed gently at them.
SA were almost embarrassingly superior in winning the first match by 93 runs on Sunday, but even sub-par batting on Tuesday - De Villiers termed it “a bit of a bailout batting performance” - was enough to realise a total of 257 and set up a 61-run victory.
“You’ve got to find a way to be competitive even if you’re having an off-day,” De Villiers said.
Quite. But the other side of the equation is that Zimbabwe have shown neither the playing nor the mental strength required to threaten the South Africans, much less beat them. Should they find it on Thursday, world cricket’s biggest shock in recent years will be upon us.
But Zimbabwe may have a sliver of a chance to pull it off, what with De Villiers talking about “possibly two or three” changes to the XI that has done duty unchanged in the first two games.
Rilee Rossouw, Mthokozisi Shezi and Marchant de Lange have been on the bench. Rossouw, at least, looks likely to get a game on Thursday. But he will have the biggest shoes to fill.
Hashim Amla, De Villiers said, had “played a lot of cricket and scored a lot of runs, and his boy is sick at home. So it’s time for him to just take a game off. Then we can get him back in for the tri-series nice and fresh.”
Who of Kyle Abbott, Wayne Parnell or Ryan McLaren might be replaced by De Lange or Shezi - or by both - is less straightforward considering the incumbents are all competent batsmen. That said, what does it matter if the batting is weakened against an attack that would struggle to knock over a bowl of sadza? Another option would be to dispense with Imran Tahir and Aaron Phangiso and make JP Duminy the first-choice spinner.
“We’d like to get the new players to buy in to the plans and play a really good game of cricket,” De Villiers said.
Exactly. So the first priority has to be to give them all of them a chance to show what they can do.
The Australians have good reason to do that, what with oft-injured Shane Watson ruled out by an ankle problem, Shaun Marsh in recovery from elbow surgery, and David Warner staying home to become a father.
Plenty of attention will be focused on Phillip Hughes, who is the first Australian to score a double century in a List A match having clubbed an undefeated 202 off 151 balls for Australia A in Darwin last month.
The opponents? South Africa A, whose attack comprised Kagiso Rabada, Beuran Hendricks, Shezi, Hardus Viljoen, Phangiso and Justin Ontong.
What wouldn't Zimbabwe give to have any of those players in their ranks.
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