South Africa still have a few questions to answer before the World Cup, but the win in the triangular series has boosted their preparations and shown that they have the right personnel in place
Firdose Moonda07-Sep-2014’Lost track of where Faf was at’ – de Villiers
In his haste to secure a trophy for South Africa, AB de Villiers forgot that his batting partner and childhood friend, Faf du Plessis was chasing a milestone of his own. By the time South Africa needed just six runs to win the match, thanks to de Villiers taking 17 off the 40th over, du Plessis was eight away from what would have been a historic hundred. No batsman has ever recorded four centuries in a series but du Plessis needed successive boundaries to get there. He managed one four but not another and de Villiers’ admitted the blame lay with him for not leaving du Plessis more runs to get to his milestone.
“I lost track of where he was at. I was just watching the scoreboard, counting down every run. I sensed weakness from their bowlers and went after it,” de Villiers said. “In that last over, Faf was in the 90s, he reminded me and said, ‘Listen, I’m close to my hundred here, bud’. I said, ‘OK, sorry. I forgot about that.’ We tried our best to get him to that milestone, but it didn’t work out that way.
“He’s ok. He knows it’s not about individual milestones; it’s about finishing it off. But if I could have it over, I would have allowed him (the chance) to get to it a little bit easier than what I left him.”
A trophy is a trophy is a trophy, right? Wrong. Some are small and shiny, others so substantial they need both hands to hold up. Some are won over weeks through unmatched hard work, others lost in seconds, the result of a small error.In 50-over cricket, there is only one trophy that really matters: the World Cup. And for South Africa, securing it is an obsession. They have fallen short six times since readmission, which is less than the number of times England and New Zealand have failed – theirs stand at a staggering ten – but somehow feels more. Expectation has always surrounded South Africa at major tournaments and, ultimately, it has always suffocated them, too.Each World Cup one brings new hope and another promise that things will be different. What never changes is the meticulous preparation South Africa put into pre-World Cup plans. This time, they can add the feeling of holding an actual trophy to that.The triangular series trophy, a traditional cup, mounted on a base between figures of batsmen, has nothing on the World Cup as far as appearance, prestige and memorability go but South Africa will take it because it proves to them they can hold on to one. Better yet, they held on to it against an old enemy who accounted for them at two previous World Cups – 1999 and 2007 – and against whom they have always had a score to settle.”Who doesn’t like beating Australia? They’re a world-class cricket team,” Dale Steyn, whose four-for in the final swung the match South Africa’s way, said. “But another thing is that with it dangling in front of us, that we’ve struggled to get over the line in past years, before my time, and still have that name that lingers with us; to get over that hurdle and win a trophy, and the way we won it today, was a great step.”The most important point Steyn made in his celebration speech was not about the satisfaction of beating a top side or shrugging off a tag that will never actually wear off until a World Cup is won. It was about style. South Africa won by dominating, not scraping through, throughout the tournament and the crunch game. They lost the least number of games in the league stage and controlled the title-decider throughout.For AB de Villiers, that is a sign of progress for a side that have usually stumbled when it matters. “There’s always been doubt on us in big pressure games and we showed what we’re capable of today,” de Villiers said. “We are probably not as predictable as everyone says we are.”Australia gave that label to South Africa in the lead-up to the final when they said de Villiers’ men were easy to read and dependent on only one or two batsmen. Australia, though, should have probably been more worried about the one batsman South Africa relied on more than anything else.Faf du Plessis’ form in the tournament was South Africa’s biggest gain; larger even than winning the trophy. Du Plessis was the highest run-scorer with 464 runs at 92.80, which included three centuries and could have included four had he not run out of a target in the final. He scored 214 runs more than his nearest competitor, Aaron Finch, and 249 runs more than any other South African. He also secured a permanent place in the side and showed he is the correct candidate to fill the spot left vacant by Jacques Kallis.Before the tour to Zimbabwe, du Plessis was not even a regular member of South Africa’s ODI XI. He was dropped against India following a poor run, and had to make room for Kallis in Sri Lanka. He also did not have an ODI hundred to his name. Kallis’ full international retirement allowed du Plessis a comeback but also required him to fill giant-sized shoes. Du Plessis is known to excel in situations like these and he did. He has paced innings with a Kallis-like temperament and firmed South Africa up where they have otherwise often floundered.Du Plessis’ success does not mean South Africa don’t have other questions. Kallis’ retirement has left the side without a batting allrounder and they are still struggling to come up with an XI that can adequately compensate for that. The top six is settled but if a bowling all-rounder, Ryan McLaren or Wayne Parnell, is used at No.7, South Africa’s tail-end begins immediately after that and they may not want to go into matches a batsman short.The reason they did that through much of this series was to make room for two specialist spinners in Imran Tahir and Aaron Phangiso and it is unlikely they will need that combination at the World Cup. That raises the question of whom to pick between the two spinners because both are economical, although Tahir is more of a wicket-taker. South Africa could include either McLaren and Parnell at No. 7 but they will have to demand more consistency from Parnell. Or they could play an extra batsmen, someone like Rilee Rossouw, leaving them a bowler short.Luckily, they have another 13 matches to come up with the solution. South Africa will play in New Zealand and Australia in the next three months, which will also allow them to assess the exact requirements for the conditions the World Cup will be played in. They may find they can get away with six specialist batsmen because they need the additional bowler or they may discover the opposite.What this victory has done is shown them they have the right personnel in place, irrespective of the combination they decide on. Steyn’s ability to turn it on when needed was on display in the final and he surged to the top of the wickets table. Morne Morkel and Ryan McLaren backed him up throughout as they should have, but South Africa still needed a reliable death-bowling option.The absence of a final-over hangman almost cost them in the tournament. That South Africa claimed the trophy regardless should not cloud over what needs to be worked on if they are to challenge for the trophy that really matters. Knowing South Africa’s fixation with the ultimate prize, it won’t.