TimesofIndia.com in New Delhi: On Tuesday, just after 3:15 pm (local time) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, the lid on the pitch was finally lifted and the curator started the customary ritual of heavy rolling. Preparations for South Africa’s final Group D match have gathered pace. Near the Mohinder Amarnath stand, the Proteas batsmen were sweating profusely from long sessions at the nets, while the fast bowlers relaxed close to the Bishan Singh Bedi stand.
In between, South Africa will take on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday morning, a game that recently provided pace, bounce and a late turn in the UAE’s five-wicket win over Canada.
In that match, Junaid Siddique took five wickets as Canada were restricted to 150 despite batting first, before the UAE pulled home with a two-wicket advantage.
With early movement from the seamers and some help from the spinners later in the day, the surface may once again provide a balanced game, especially in the morning, when the moisture and freshness may suit South Africa’s fast attack.
For Aiden Markram’s side, the hard work has been done. Their three wins in three matches so far, including a dramatic double Super win against Afghanistan, have secured their place in the Super Eights. But the Proteas are unlikely to treat their final group game as a formality.
“The Cricket Association has grown a lot in the last few years. They have the opportunity to play on a stage like this. As I said, the batting conditions are very good (here) and this T20 format brings the teams closer together because one person can win matches in his time. So no, I am not surprised by their performance in this T20 World Cup,” South Africa expert advisor Albi Morkel told reporters at the pre-match press conference on Tuesday.
“The World Cup is really starting now. As tough as our group is, now we’re facing India and probably Australia or Zimbabwe and the West Indies. So it’s going to be really tough. It’s all going to be exciting games. Yes, when you get into the playoffs, there’s more pressure. But I feel like we have a very experienced group, bowlers and batsmen.”
“The status of Brevis and Rabada is not a problem”
South Africa’s performance in the group stages was very encouraging. Marco Jansen demolished a strong batting line-up with a career-best 4 for 40 against New Zealand, while Lungi Ngidi is joint-second on the list of wicket-takers with eight scalps.
“If you look at his T20 record, he (Ngidi) has one of the best records of taking wickets. He has developed a slow ball that is very deceptive and he knows when to use it and how to use it,” Morkel explained.
However, Kagiso Rabada is still struggling to find his peak clarity. In this T20 World Cup, he accumulated two wickets in three games and maintained an economy of 9 runs in each over.
“It’s not a problem. I think it can happen to any bowler at any stage… but he is still our premier fast bowler and we will work extra hard and support him all the way,” he added.
Brevis has yet to live up to the hype. The 22-year-old Proteas, who spent considerable time with the Nets on Tuesday, has scored just 50 runs in three games at this World Cup and has not scored more than 30 runs in his last five T20I innings.
“There is no chatter (Brevis’ form). We think he is an X-factor player. We feel if you ask him to play in a certain way, you take away the X-factor and he will break your heart at some stage but he will also win you games,” the 44-year-old said.
