Quinton de Kock in action for the Proteas FILE - Quinton de Kock in action for the Proteas. Photo: Frikkie Kapp/BackpagePix
Despite losing the warm-up by seven runs on DLS method yesterday following the rain in the 37th over of South Africa’s chase of 322 runs, South Africa took away lessons from the time out in the park after spending over a week in India without any action.
In the build-up to yesterday’s warm-up match, coach Rob Walter emphasised their intention to use the game for the benefit of the team, to polish off areas they felt needed polishing.
One particular area that Walter mentioned needed attention was the bowling unit getting time on the legs before Saturday’s match against Sri Lanka.
“We expected the rain to come a lot earlier today, so we’re happy with the time that we got in the middle, that’s why we decided to bowl first, to give the bowlers good spells,” said Rassie van der Dussen after scoring 51 off 56 balls.
“It is what it is. It’s not too bad. You want to go into the tournament feeling quite fresh.”
With the bowlers taking precedence in the match, Lungi Ngidi looked on song finishing with figures of 3/33, while his new-ball partner Marco Jansen returned figure of 3/45.
It is also important to note that Devon Conway (78 off 73), Tom Latham (52 off 56) and Kane Williamson (37 off 51) had a good go at South Africa’s bowling attack with Kagiso Rabada (0/44) walking away wicketless from the encounter.
On the batting front however, it was business as usual, with the batting unit looking to further master their blueprint which involves top-order batters seeing the new ball off, while setting a foundation for the middle-order to come in and attack spin.
Van der Dussen built a 74-run stand with De Kock (84 off 89) following Reeza Hendricks’ golden dark in the first over of the chase.
Aiden Markram (13 off 13), Heinrich Klaasen (39 off 37) and David Miller (18* off 26) showed glimpses of what makes them currently regarded as the best middle-order in the world.
All the while, De Kock was out in the middle refusing to retire and opting to soldier on through the numerous blows he took to the body courtesy of Trent Boult’s spell of 2/20 and took the team to 211.4 before the rain came pouring down.
“It was tough with the new ball. We knew in that first ten overs, we needed to not just see it out but still have scoring options,” said Van der Dussen.
“Our blueprint stays the same, if we bat well we give our guys coming in the middle a good chance to come in, especially playing against spin. We saw Klaasen again… some of the shots that he plays are ridiculous to spin bowlers.
“From the top-order point of view - watch that new ball and give guys in the middle time to shone.”
Most importantly, South Africa go into Saturday fresh and ready to deliver as the side hopes to make history by becoming the first South African side to bring the World Cup trophy home.
“I suppose the side effect of not playing two matches in the heat feeling rushed, is that we are going to go to Saturday feeling fresh."
Scorecard
New Zealand: 321/6 (Conway 78, Latham 52, Ngidi 3/33, Jansen 3/45)
South Africa: 211/4 (De Kock 84*, Van der Dussen 51, Boult 2/20, Santer 1/29)
NZ Won by 7 runs (DLS Method)
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