South Africa Cricket

Hashim Amla completely dominated the month of January with his bat. It was quite a month for batsmen but with 413 runs at an average of 206.50 in just four matches, nobody performed better than Amla.

All of these runs came during the series against the West Indies. It might be easy to dismiss the bowling lineup he faced as weak, but the way he has accumulated his runs has been simply extraordinary. Tillakaratne Dilshan also had a fruitful January, scoring 397 runs at an average of 66.16, but he batted in two more innings compared to Amla.

The year started with Amla scoring 63 and an unbeaten 38 in the New Year's Test at Newlands. That was followed by 66 against the Windies in Durban. Those runs came off exactly 66 balls and were valuable considering both Rilee Rossouw and Faf du Plessis made ducks in the same match. His effort at the top of the order propped up the South African middle order and helped set the platform for a decent total.

In the next match, though, Amla really got going. He carried his bat for an immense 153 off 142 balls. In that same game, AB de Villiers also hit a record-breaking ton, scoring 100 off just 31 balls. De Villiers' performance overshadowed Amla's effort slightly, but in context, it was Amla's anchor role that allowed De Villiers to go wild.

He scored an unbeaten 61 in the next match and finished the series with yet another century in the final match. It was his 19th ODI hundred. During the series, he became the quickest batsman to 5,000 ODI runs. If he continues his current form, he is very much on course to become the fastest to 6,000 ODI runs, too. Currently on 5,359 runs in 104 innings, he needs to score 641 runs in 31 innings or less in order to break Virat Kohli's current record.

It has been said before, but it’s worth mentioning again. For a player who wasn’t really considered to be a one-day player when he made his debut, Amla has very much proven otherwise.

The rate at which he scores hundreds in ODI cricket is simply extraordinary.

South Africa will be pleased as punch that one of their key players seems to have hit form just before the World Cup. Conditions in Australia are likely to be fairly similar to that in South Africa so Amla is building from a solid platform.

The great thing about Amla is that he is adaptable. Although his main role is to steady the top order and take the shine off the new ball, he can also up the ante when the ball is older and South Africa need to get loads of runs quickly. This will stand the Proteas in good stead when the crunch situations in the World Cup come around.

Runner-up: AB de Villiers

This piece would not be complete without mentioning AB de Villiers’ record-breaking antics. De Villiers is in superb form and his record-breaking hundred underscored why he is such a special player. De Villiers’ ability to adapt to a situation and completely demolish any attack that’s bowling to him is simply unmatched on the current international circuit.

It's taken 55 innings in a career spanning five years, but David Miller has finally scored his maiden one-day international century.

Miller's 130 off 133 balls was the stand-out effort of the South African innings. With Hashim Amla rested, and with Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers both getting out cheaply, South Africa needed somebody to make a statement.

Miller was that man on Sunday, and it could not have come at a better time. During the one-day series against the West Indies, South Africa had hardly been tested, and Miller hardly had time to bat. In the first match, he scored a very useful 70, but threw his wicket away cheaply. In the two matches that followed, Miller’s services weren’t required.

Miller is usually used as a “finisher” and does not often get the opportunity to play an anchoring role. He has batted at five just nine times in his career, but he averages 49.00 batting there, with 249 runs in total.

The bulk of those runs have come in this series. His 70 in the first innings and his unbeaten knock on Sunday both came when Miller batted at five. While the stats might be somewhat convoluted, the way he constructed his innings against the West Indies on Sunday showed that Miller can be more than “just a finisher.”

While it is rare that all of South Africa’s key men fail at once, it is important that they know that there is somebody lower down the order they can rely on to get them into a more competitive position. Miller lifted the Proteas from 76-4 to 262-8, and while they ultimately lost due to a horrific death-bowling effort, Miller’s contribution with the bat was vital in their World Cup preparations.

The current series against the West Indies serves as a springboard for fine-tuning and testing combinations. That is the reason why he has been promoted up the order for the duration of the series. South Africa needed to know that they have a player who is adaptable to float around the middle order.

Lack of consistency has plagued Miller’s international career since he made his debut, which is why this period is so crucial. He has never averaged above 32.00 in a calendar year. His most successful year to date was 2013, when he scored four fifties, 544 runs and averaged 32.00. If he can carry this momentum to the World Cup, South Africa will be in a much stronger position as a team.

The man himself agrees. He said at the post-match press conference that he’s been in a good head space for last few months and always felt as though his first big score was just around the corner.

He said: "It was a massive boost. I have been feeling confident over the last few months, but it was really nice to finally get the hundred. I believed over the last six, seven months that I can score a hundred, so it was a great feeling to score the first one."

With the shackles now finally broken, Miller and South African fans will hope that this was just the first of many.

All quotes and information obtained firsthand.

AB de Villiers broke the record for the fastest ODI hundred in the history of the game on Sunday. It took him just 31 balls to get there, five deliveries faster than the record set by Corey Anderson last year. In that same innings, De Villiers also broke the record for fastest fifty in one-day cricket, smashing it in just 16 balls. Just to make his point quite clear, he also equalled the record for most sixes in an ODI innings.

It was an innings that was good enough to make even those usually partial to football sit up and take notice.

His innings of 149 off 44 balls helped South Africa post their highest ever ODI total, a sweltering 439-2. It was the second highest ever total in the one-day format and the highest against a Test playing nation. It also means that South Africa now features in three of the top five innings totals ever.

With the World Cup just around the corner, South Africa can thank their lucky stars they have a player like De Villiers on their side. He is, without a doubt, the most extraordinary batting talent of his generation. 

There is no doubt that one-day cricket has evolved quite significantly in the last 10 years. In fact, five of the fastest ODI centuries have been scored since 2010. Being a bowler is not a job anybody wants to do willingly these days. The Wanderers certainly lends itself to impressive feats, but what De Villiers did on Sunday wasn’t just impressive, it was revolutionary.

The Windies’ bowling line-up might be weak, but De Villiers’ ability to fire from the get-go is something that very few players can do. When he walked out to the crease, with South Africa on 247-1 and just over 11 overs still remaining, he told Hashim Amla that he will “just have a look” for an over. He had a look by smashing a four off his first ball and from there on, the flood gates opened.

Consistency is key in De Villiers’ approach and that is just one of the many reasons he is such a valuable player and why he is rated as the best in the world. It doesn’t matter where or against who he plays, De Villiers will find a way to get runs. He is also very good at scoring all around the wicket and does so consistently.

With cricket evolving faster than you can say “powerplay,” players like De Villiers become ever more important to their teams' prospects in competitions like the World Cup. While players like Amla can continue to play their natural, more traditional game, players like De Villiers can innovate and be the X-factor that can lead teams to glory.

It’s still far too early to judge South Africa’s chances at the World Cup. There are still three one-day games to come against the West Indies and nobody really knows what the conditions in Australia and New Zealand will be like. What is for certain, though, is that AB de Villiers will be the most important player in South Africa’s arsenal.

All quotes and information obtained firsthand.

Imran Tahir could be South Africa’s key player during the World Cup.

Imran Tahir might be a woeful bowler in Test cricket, but he proves time and time again that he is a gun player in the limited-overs format. In the first one-day international against the West Indies on Friday, Tahir picked up three wickets with an economy rate of 5.00.

It’s something Faf du Plessis has mentioned before. When it comes to limited overs, Tahir has everything working for him. In Tests, his keenness to use his variation costs him. His lack of patience will far too often see him leak runs, but in limited overs, it works to his advantage.

With defensive fields set for Tahir, even if he bowls a bad ball, there is likely a boundary rider to catch a batsman holing out. Equally, because the pressure to score is far greater on batsmen in limited-overs matches, Tahir’s approach becomes far more effective.

He picked up his 50th ODI wicket on Friday night and of those 50 wickets, more than half (28) have been out caught. Because batsmen are often lulled into a false sense of security with Tahir, they get caught out.

Second on his list of dismissals is the 13 that have come through LBWs and third most is clean bowled (eight). These dismissals are largely thanks to his googly. Although he is yet to master the art of using his googly to its utmost efficiency in one-day cricket, he’s certainly on the right track.

His impact was evident during the ICC World Twenty20 in 2014. Tahir was South Africa's leading wicket-taker then, with 12 wickets in five matches. Although he was helped by the turning conditions in Bangladesh, it was his miserly economy rate of 6.55 and his low average of 10.91 that made him stand out. His strike-rate of 10.00 was equally impressive.

While the two formats are quite different, the basics still apply. Tahir is most effective when he is used in short bursts and in the one-day format, he’s pretty good at getting batsmen out no matter where in the order they bat.

The bulk of his dismissals (23) have been middle order batsmen (from four to seven), but this is far more likely to be down to when he usually comes on to bowl rather than his abilities. Twelve top order players (one to three) and 15 (eight to eleven) tail end batsmen have been dismissed by him.

Such a wide range of wickets is indicative of his efficacy and his importance to the South African limited-overs bowling attack.

The one slight area of concern is that in the three matches Tahir has played in Australia, he has taken just one wicket and he averages 131.00. His economy rate remains tidy at 5.24, but it will be crucial for skipper AB de Villiers to manage him carefully during the World Cup.

It will be crucial for skipper AB de Villiers to manage him carefully during the World Cup.

Tahir is very much a confidence player and he feeds off the energy and advice of his team-mates. When things are going badly, he tends to become impatient and make far too many mistakes. Despite having a wealth of experience, Tahir still needs to be nudged in the right direction more often than not.

With a little bit of help and patience, though, and partnered with JP Duminy, Tahir could be one of South Africa’s key men during the World Cup.

All quotes obtained firsthand.

During summertime in Cape Town, a gale force wind regularly rips through the suburbs and the city centre. The South Easter, as it is known, has sometimes blown satellite dishes off walls and is colloquially referred to as the “Cape Doctor”. By Friday afternoon, it was just starting to gain some traction and by the time the West Indies stepped out to bat against South Africa, it was in full force.

But that was not the only gale force in action. In the middle of Newlands, Christopher Henry Gayle was playing the kind of innings that has earned him the reputation of being one of the best Twenty20 players in the world. In the most brutal fashion, Gayle hammered 77 off just 31 balls, and no bowler was spared.

His strike rate was not below 175.00 for any bowler he faced. Wayne Parnell copped the worst of the lot, with Gayle hitting 20 runs off the six deliveries form the left armer.

Remarkably, he managed just one run from his first six deliveries. Kyle Abbott made a steady start and South Africa's young speedster Kagiso Rabada, too, kept a lid on the big man, for a while. For just a few minutes, Gayle looked like he might actually respect the rookie.

Then Rabada bowled a bouncer which went for four byes and, just like that, Gayle tasted blood and the flood gates opened. He welcomed Rabada to his first ever T20 international on home soil with consecutive sixes.

The two know each other well—they played together in South Africa’s domestic T20 competition before. When Gayle was asked why he picked on the youngster his reply was simple: He picked on me first.

The chaos continued, with Gayle smacking eight sixes and five fours. In cricket, the saying “you miss, I hit” is often  used. For Gayle, the phrase should be: you bowl, I hit. Because no matter where anyone bowls to him, he will find a way to punish bowlers.

Aside from his brute force, Gayle’s ability to keep his head dead still is part of what makes him so dangerous. His complete lack of desire to run between the wickets is extraordinary. Just nine of his runs came from pottering between the wickets. Why run when you can smack it?  

At the post-match press conference, Gayle even admitted that he was not one hundred percent fit.

“My back was a bit stiff when I woke up this morning and I was a bit nervous going out there. But it held up well and I’ll see how I feel before the next match,” Gayle said.

If part of T20’s purpose is to entertain, then there is no better player to have out in the middle than Gayle. Even the home crowd couldn’t help but be blown away. Every big hit was greeted with an “ooh” from the bewitched crowd.

When Gayle was eventually dismissed, caught behind after an attempted reverse sweep, the celebrations from the watchers was almost subdued. He might not be batting for them, but that doesn’t mean they don’t enjoy watching him bat.

West Indies needed just 51 off 54 with eight wickets still in hand. The result was only going to go one way and those who felt they had gotten their money’s worth after watching Gayle, got up from their seats and decided to leave early in an attempt to avoid the gridlocked traffic.

Those who stayed watched on as Marlon Samuels continued to build from the platform set by his colleague. But the Newlands mood was significantly dimmed. Their team was losing and the superstar had exited stage left.

It just proved once again that no matter where in the world he is batting and no matter who is playing for, when it’s the Chris Gayle Show, everyone sits up and takes notice.

All quotes and information obtained first hand.

South Africa completed a 2-0 series win over West Indies with an eight-wicket win in the third Test at Newlands.

Needing 124 to win, after the tourists lost seven wickets for 33 runs in 15 overs on the fourth evening, the Proteas reached their target for the loss of two wickets.

Resuming on 9-1, after Sulieman Benn bowled Alviro Petersen for a duck on Monday, they cantered to the total in 37.4 overs with captain Hashim Amla hitting the winning runs.

SA moved their total to 52 before Benn picked up his second wicket, removing Faf du Plessis for 13.

The tall left-arm spinner got a delivery to leap off a good length and it took the shoulder of the bat with Jermaine Blackwood taking the catch, running back from second slip.

Dean Elgar brought up his third Test half-century from 86 balls, hitting six boundaries and a six in the process, and the 50 partnership with Amla soon arrived from 78 balls.

Elgar finished 60 not out with Amla unbeaten on 38 after cutting Marlon Samuels to the boundary to seal the win.

South Africa retain top spot in the ICC Test rankings after they claimed a victory of an innings and 220 runs at Centurion in the series opener before a rain-affected draw in Port Elizabeth.

They are sure to retain that berth for some time with their next Test action coming on a tour of Bangladesh in July.

The teams now play three Twenty20 internationals before a five-match one-day series.

South Africa need 124 to win the third Test after the West Indies imploded on a rain-affected fourth day in Cape Town.

The men from the Caribbean lost seven wickets for 33 runs in 15 overs as they were bowled out for 215 in their second innings.

Rain delayed the start of play until 3pm, but four wickets from Simon Harmer and three from Dale Steyn gives the Proteas an outstanding chance of winning the series 2-0 on Tuesday, although they finished the day on 9-1 after Sulieman Benn bowled Alviro Petersen for a duck.

Resuming on 88-2, eight runs behind, WI suffered a blow in the third over as Leon Johnson nicked Morne Morkel to slip after adding seven to his overnight 37.

Marlon Samuels brought up his 21st Test fifty from 107 balls and shared a 94-run partnership with Shivnarine Chanderpaul before departing for 74.

He attempted to hit debutant off-spinner Simon Harmer over the top but was caught by Dean Elgar at mid-on, and that triggered the collapse.

Steyn picked up wickets with consecutive deliveries. He removed the middle stump of Justin Blackwood (13) and then had Dinesh Ramdin caught by Stiaan van Zyl, in front of square leg, for a duck.

The WI tail then gifted Harmer two further wickets with some braindead batting. Jason Holder picked out short mid-wicket for two and Jerome Taylor went second ball as he slogged out to Elgar at deep mid-wicket.

Chanderpaul had brought up his 66th Test half-century by that point, but the stalwart could only look on bemused as Benn edged Steyn behind for a duck before he ran himself out for 50.

The Proteas lead the series 1-0 after an innings victory at Centurion.