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CHENNAI: It’s that time of the year in India when teams, often, look to bowl first after winning the toss. The dew comes into play and it becomes increasingly difficult for the bowlers to deal with in the evening session.
But South Africa are out to break that trend. They don’t mind being labelled a batting-first team, though the captain Temba Bavumaknows that there could be occasions when they will have to bat second in the tournament.”About chasing, the conversations that we’ve had as batters are to find ways as to how we can still follow the same process that we follow when we’re batting first,” Bavuma, who will be back as captain after a bout of illness, said on Thursday.
South Africa have batted first four times in the tournament so far and have won all four, their only defeat coming in the game (against Netherlands) when they batted second. The scores batting first are 428, 311, 399 and 382, which all but finished off the games. Explaining the process of putting up such tall scores on the board, Bavuma said: “You always want a good foundation being set. From there we have the likes of (Heinrich) Klaasen, David (Miller) and Marco Jansen, who’s also finding his feet in terms of clearing the boundary.”
The captain didn’t forget to mention Quinton de Kock, whose 174 in the game against Bangladesh a couple of days ago was one of the best in the tournament so far. “It helps when you have a guy like Quinton as well who’s played in these conditions over a number of years now. He really knows what’s going on. He’s informed and he’s making that count,” Bavuma said.
The other destructive element in South Africa’s middle-order is Klaasen, who according to the skipper is “in a league of his own”.
“The confidence that he has is rubbing on a lot of the guys within the team. So, that’s great to see. And our job is to support him and make sure that he keeps going stronger.”
Another striking feature of the South African game so far has been a very business-like approach. When somebody asked if it has a lot to do with the fact that this crop of players have the ability to stay relaxed, Bavuma said: “I think behind the cameras, the guys are still quite emotional and staying relaxed is a skill we’re all trying to learn, even myself.”
But South Africa are out to break that trend. They don’t mind being labelled a batting-first team, though the captain Temba Bavumaknows that there could be occasions when they will have to bat second in the tournament.”About chasing, the conversations that we’ve had as batters are to find ways as to how we can still follow the same process that we follow when we’re batting first,” Bavuma, who will be back as captain after a bout of illness, said on Thursday.
South Africa have batted first four times in the tournament so far and have won all four, their only defeat coming in the game (against Netherlands) when they batted second. The scores batting first are 428, 311, 399 and 382, which all but finished off the games. Explaining the process of putting up such tall scores on the board, Bavuma said: “You always want a good foundation being set. From there we have the likes of (Heinrich) Klaasen, David (Miller) and Marco Jansen, who’s also finding his feet in terms of clearing the boundary.”
The captain didn’t forget to mention Quinton de Kock, whose 174 in the game against Bangladesh a couple of days ago was one of the best in the tournament so far. “It helps when you have a guy like Quinton as well who’s played in these conditions over a number of years now. He really knows what’s going on. He’s informed and he’s making that count,” Bavuma said.
The other destructive element in South Africa’s middle-order is Klaasen, who according to the skipper is “in a league of his own”.
“The confidence that he has is rubbing on a lot of the guys within the team. So, that’s great to see. And our job is to support him and make sure that he keeps going stronger.”
Another striking feature of the South African game so far has been a very business-like approach. When somebody asked if it has a lot to do with the fact that this crop of players have the ability to stay relaxed, Bavuma said: “I think behind the cameras, the guys are still quite emotional and staying relaxed is a skill we’re all trying to learn, even myself.”
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