Captain Temba Bavuma’s dire form has not had an impact on the overall team performance as yet, with the Proteas top of the log heading into their crunch clash against Pakistan at the SCG on Thursday. Picture: Dibyangshu SARKAR, AFP
Johannesburg – South Africa’s parts all seem to be working in sync as they move towards the business end of the T20 World Cup – bar one obvious glaring chink in the armour.
Captain Temba Bavuma’s dire form has not had an impact on the overall team performance as yet, with the Proteas top of the log heading into their crunch clash against Pakistan at the SCG on Thursday (10am start, SA time), but with the stakes rising the question remains for how long can the rest of the batting unit carry the under-performing skipper.
The challenge doesn’t get any easier with Bavuma set to face up to arguably the world’s most potent new-ball bowler in Shaheen Shah Khan.
The towering left-armer has, equally, not had the best of tournaments thus far after only recovering from a serious knee injury prior to arriving in Australia, but he will no doubt be eager to lock in on Bavuma in a must-win game win for Pakistan.
"The pressure for him (Bavuma) is no doubt building,” former Proteas captain Shaun Pollock told the ICC Review podcast on Tuesday. "It's a shame, you feel for the guy. He's an individual. He's a human being. He understands what he wants.
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"From a captaincy perspective, he is obviously manoeuvring his troops as best he possibly can, but there's not one captain in the world who doesn't like to lead from the front with regards to performance, and he hasn't been able to hit his straps. He would love nothing better than to have a little match-winning 40 or 50 and to take his team over the line and win a couple of games.”
Fortunately for South Africa, and Bavuma, the rest of the batting unit are in peak form. Quinton de Kock and Rilee Rossouw may have failed against India, but the duo were red-hot just last week against Bangladesh at the same venue.
Rossouw, in particular, has a grand time whenever he visits the east coast with two half-centuries and a century in his three appearances at the SCG.
The middle-order has also not missed a beat despite Rassie van der Dussen watching on from back home where he is nursing a hand injury. David Miller has relished the extra responsibility of being the senior batter, while Aiden Markram has developed into a T20 beast.
Pollock feels, though, there is still more to come from the power-packed Proteas batting unit.
"The fact that they've come in maybe with people not writing them up as much as they could, I think there's definitely been an effect of South Africa trending in the right direction," he said.
"We've seen them over the last 18 months start to show a little bit of fire-power and start to show some grit and determination. I think the challenge for South Africa has always been, 'which are the six or seven that are going to come good from a batting perspective?’.
"And it was a huge blow to lose Rassie van der Dussen before the tournament because he had played superbly well. I can still see a possibility of improvement. The victory (over India) is a huge boost.”
Pakistan, in contrast, have delivered error-strewn performances thus far with two agonising last-ball defeats to arch-rivals India and Zimbabwe thus far.
The Zimbabwean loss, obviously, stung severely before they finally managed to get a win under their belts over the Netherlands in Perth that has kept them, barely, in the tournament.
But South Africa will be well aware that a Pakistan team with its back against the wall is the most dangerous kind to face, and they will need all their parts to work in unison if they are to book their place in the semi-final with a game left in the bank.
Likely teams:
South Africa: Temba Bavuma (capt), Quinton de Kock (wk), Rilee Rossouw, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Wayne Parnell, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi/Lungi Ngidi.
Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (capt), Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Sikandar Raza, Haider Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Start: 10am (SA time) ; TV: SuperSport Cricket (212)
Welcome event for the Pakistan and South Africa teams arranged in Sydney.#WeHaveWeWill | #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/yG05lYXDOj
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) November 1, 2022