SA solve 'death overs' issue
2009-06-22 14:40
Johannesburg - The Proteas may have fallen two hurdles short of their ultimate goal of winning the ICC World Twenty20 but there were still important positives to be taken out of their campaign.
The most important was undoubtedly the fact they finally seem to be getting to grips with 'death bowling' which has been an ongoing problem in both the 20 overs and 50 overs format for some time now.
"This is particularly relevant looking ahead to the Proteas' next challenge, the ICC Champions' Trophy, to be played in South Africa in September.
"This was one of the biggest positives to come out of our campaign," commented coach Mickey Arthur.
"The way Dale Steyn and Wayne Parnell closed both the West Indies and Pakistan down in the last four overs of what were very tight matches was very encouraging.
"Looking ahead to the Champions' Trophy these two look to have solved one of our few problem areas."
The 19-year-old Parnell was probably the South African standout of the Twenty20 tournament with his ability to fire in Yorkers almost at will and his ability to adapt to changing match circumstances.
This was in spite of the fact the opposition nearly always tried to target him up front.
What is particularly exciting for the Proteas is he has not been used as a batsman in an international match as yet, so the world has so far only seen half the package of this talented all-rounder.
He clearly learned a lot from his spell at Kent ahead of the tournament in adapting to local conditions.
"I quickly learned at Kent that the white ball does not swing much, so I learned to alter my length accordingly," he commented.
Two of the other star performers for South Africa were Jacques Kallis, who finished second leading runs scorer at the tournament and also finished second in the category of leading boundary hitter, in both cases being edged out by the man of the tournament, Sri Lanka's Tillekeratne Dilshan, and Roelof van der Merwe.
Van der Merwe finished among the top six wicket takers and was also a 'go to' man for Graeme Smith when the Proteas' captain needed to put a break on the scoring.
Few people will forget the stunning catch he took at Trent Bridge to remove England danger man Kevin Pietersen and he has joined the Proteas' front line of fielders alongside AB de Villiers, Herschelle Gibbs and JP Duminy.
De Villiers played one of the innings of the tournament on a difficult 'Asian-type' wicket against India at Trent Bridge and he has continued to build his burgeoning reputation as one of the outstanding batsmen in world cricket.
Looking ahead to the biggest limited overs picture of all, the 2011 World Cup, the Proteas have certainly got their strategy heading in the right direction.
It was unanimously accepted by the international media the Proteas' spin attack of Van der Merwe, Johan Botha and Duminy is one of the best around while the current tactical balance of taking 10 batsmen and seven bowlers into any match is also the right one.
The Proteas finished the year from July 1, 2008, to June 30, 2009, with a record of 26 wins (one draw) against 13 defeats in the 40 matches that reached a conclusion.
There were three no results. So even allowing for the disappointment of the Trent Bridge defeat against Pakistan, they still managed to finish with a winning percentage of 66 percent in a year in which they had tough away tours to England and Australia.
- SAPA