According to an article on the Supersport website, South Africa have now failed to cross the 200-mark in five of their last seven matches, including a 4-1 defeat against Sri Lanka in July this year.
AB de Villiers (pictured above) says that Pakistan boasts two bowlers in the top five in one-day rankings and that their opponents have world class spinners. That may be so, but our batsmen are no slouches when it comes to world rankings: Amla (2) and De Villiers (5). It is also not only the spinners who are taking wickets – Mohammad Irfan is doing more than his bit in this regard.
The Pakistan captain is probably right when he says that the Proteas are a tough outfit, and will come back with guns blazing. With Amla back in the batting line-up, and Dale Steyn’s aggression in the bowling arsenal, we should be able to give a far better account of ourselves in the remaining three ODIs.
My concern is that we need to reduce our reliance on one or two players. JP Duminy and Faf du Plessis must start justifying the faith the selectors and their captain show in them. Not all the youngsters are coming through in the same way that a Ryan McLaren and Wayne Parnell is. I just wonder if there is enough time to identify and develop alternatives.
Loskop of Los Kop?
Jannie du Plessis se besering kon nie op ‘n beter tyd gekom het nie. Ondanks sy swakheid met laterale verdediging bly hy die nommer een aanspraakmaker op die nommer drie trui in die Springbokspan, en die blaaskans sal hom die wêreld se goed doen.
Daar is drie kroonprinse vir sy posisie: Coenie Oosthuizen, Lourens Adriaanse en Frans Malherbe. Coenie is eintlik ‘n loskop wat moet instaan op die vaskop kant, terwyl die ander twee spesialiste op vaskop is. Ondanks goeie vertonings deur Malherbe die afgelope tyd sal die feit dat WP hom as impakspeler gebruik het, waarskynlik teen hom tel, en behoort Adriaanse, na my mening, in die beginspan te wees.
We discussed the predicament facing the selectors with the inclusion of Pat Lambie, and whether he should vie for the fullback or flyhalf berth. I have no doubt that the number 10 jersey is his best position, but in a moment of madness this weekend I wondered what would happen if he was in fact chosen as inside centre?
This would provide the Boks with a defensive option (Steyn) or an attacking one (Lambie). And who would you leave out? Not the captain, so he will move to outside centre. I would love to hear your thoughts on this.
Bismarck knows about elbows
I was actually looking for a music video clip when this caught my eye on Youtube last night. Bismarck is on the receiving end of an Eben Etzebeth hand-off, or should that be an elbow off. Eina!
