The World Cup is a collection of sad memories for South Africa. It was the worst in 2019. They lost five of their eight completed matches to finish seventh out of 10 teams. Nothing went right after England spanked them by 104 runs in the inaugural match. England won the trophy playing their unique brand of shoot-at-sight cricket. South Africa went home looking doomed, and ripe for further humiliation.
Their landslide 229-run win against the defending champions in Mumbai showed how dramatically things have changed. The Proteas are playing the cricket patented by England and piling up giant scores for fun. The 399 at Wankhede Stadium was their sixth 300-plus total in the last seven matches. There are two above 400 in that list, including the World Cup record of 428 against Sri Lanka.
They were not among the pre-tournament favourites to make the last four in most selections, despite being placed third in the ICC ODI rankings. After three big wins and the shock defeat against Netherlands, South Africa will surprise everyone if they don’t get there. England are in a mess after a third loss in four outings. The vaunted batting not firing and bowling falling apart, they can’t afford to drop any more points.
The Heinrich Klaasen explosion at Wankhede Stadium and the way the stage was set was a demonstration of the South African template. In this version of the England model, they come out to bat with a mix of caution and aggression. They refrain from going bonkers in the middle overs even if they have wickets in hand. In the closing stages, they throw everything at you. The last 10 overs yielded 137-2 against Sri Lanka, 79-4 versus Australia and 143-2 against England. In the Australia game, the total was 311-7 despite that slip.
After a sedate first few overs against England’s left-arm duo of Reece Topley and David Willey, Reeza Hendricks and Rassie van der Dussen upped the ante as soon as Topley left the field with a finger injury. The run rate was six around the 15-over mark and stayed near 6.5 for a long time, until after the 40th over. This was the stage where they tried to preserve wickets without compromising significantly on the pace of scoring.
A clutch of contributions is required for this to succeed over a period and South Africa’s top six have been consistent in providing those. Skipper Temba Bavuma’s absence was a blessing in disguise for them. His replacement Hendricks was commanding against pace and spin on the flat pitch and made good use of the short boundaries. They have already hit five centuries and these have come from four different positions.
Klaasen got starts in the last three games, but his highest was 32. When he came out to bat in the 26th over, his first task was to build the innings with Aiden Markram, the acting captain. They had just lost two set batters. Klaasen then saw Markram and David Miller depart, which made it imperative for him to be there and get a big score. South Africa needed that to reach 350-plus because at that stage, it seemed 320 may not be good enough.
What unfolded was perhaps the most entertaining last eight overs of this World Cup, if you are not an England fan. Klaasen’s 67-ball 109 containing 12 fours and four sixes was an exhibition of clean hits, with minimal use of the heave on the leg side. The range of shots to hit fours and sixes was mesmerising and so was the frequency those came at. Marco Jansen’s unexpected and authentic stroke-play took the total way beyond even England.
The complete surrender and net run rate disaster apart, England need not think that badly about their batting because they were going to lose anyway. A bowling attack with injuries and big names like Mark Wood going for plenty in big games is the worst ally of a batting unit short on confidence and high on trauma. They had qualified with six wins and three defeats in 2019, but to even match that, they will need to win five out of five. Barring something extraordinary, a shock exit looms.