Who’s at No. 3? Wait and see …

“We cannot play a match without a No. 3. We’ll definitely have somebody batting at No. 3.” - Mandla Mashimbyi

Telford Vice / Cape Town

IT’S among the most clichéd questions asked in cricket, up there with “Where does this century rank?”, “What does this win mean?”, and the dreaded “What’s the mood in the camp?”

What is the hackneyed query? This: “Who is going to be your No. (insert batting position here)?” The answer should be: “Wait and see. Next question …”

Mandla Mashimbyi’s manners are too good for him to say that. But he issued a sharp enough retort during a press conference on Thursday.

“I can promise you one thing, we cannot play a match without a No. 3. We’ll definitely have somebody batting at No. 3.”

We’ll know who that will be when South Africa lose their first wicket in a T20 World Cup match against Australia at Old Trafford on Saturday. How long that might take is a more interesting question than who will replace the dismissed opener.

In the first nine of the 13 T20Is South Africa have played this year, their opening stand reached 50 only once and never lasted more than seven overs. Then, in their four most recent games in the format, they reeled off two century stands for the first wicket and another of 75. Their longest opening partnership in those four matches — three of them won, all against India — endured into the 16th over. And that after the openers were separated nine balls in with 15 runs scored in the first of their five T20Is against the visiting Indians.

That’s the view from a distance. Get closer and a single player looms out of the sea of stats. Laura Wolvaardt was South Africa’s No. 3 in the first eight games. She had a best effort of 61 off 38 and was twice not out in the 40s. Then she moved back to the top of the order — where she has batted in 59 of her 92 innings — for the rubber against India, and scored two 50s, 92 not out and 115 at a series strike rate of 168.37.

Clearly, Wolvaardt’s return to an opening berth was the right decision. But the inheritor of her old job, Tazmin Brits, hasn’t settled in. She has lasted 20 or more balls just once in five innings, one of them not out, with a highest score of 30 off 23.

Offer Brits width and watch her power-hit her way to a commanding performance. Bottle her up and she is nowhere near as successful. Bowlers aren’t stupid.

Dané van Niekerk, who rescinded her international retirement in December, could be a candidate to come in at first drop. But that could be complicated. For one thing, she has never batted in that spot in her T20I career of 82 innings. For another, she has scored 81 runs in five trips to the crease in the format since coming back — 19 of them in her three T20I innings this year.

Annerie Dercksen might look like another option. She has after all batted at No. 3 — twice in her 25 T20I innings and not since November 2024.

Even so, Mashimbyi refused to be fussed: “We are blessed, man. We’re sitting with so many options within the squad. It’s not something I stress about. It’s about what we want and what type of brand we want that No. 3 to play. Based on that we’ll make the right call.”

It’s a reasonable argument, and Mashimbyi has shown himself to be a canny coach who doesn’t shy away from embracing creative solutions to challenges.

This is a rare instance of the question of who will bat at No. 3 not being banal. But the answer remains the same as always: wait and see.

Cricbuzz