South Africa Have Some Worries Ahead of Quarterfinal

South Africa completed its league phase with a convincing win over UAE, but continues to carry a few concerns into the next round, where they will likely meet a strong contender in Sri Lanka in the quarter final.

The worry starts at the top. Opening batsman Quinton de Kock is woefully out of form averaging less than 10 in the tournament . Surprisingly he failed to capitalise against the friendly UAE bowling attack and needs to be rested. Captain AB de Villiers has to don the gloves and Hashim Amla needs a more reliable partner and I think Rilee Rossouw, who had considerable success opening when de Kock was injured, fits the bill for the slot.

I don’t think that de Kock has the mental strength at this early stage in his career to both keep wickets and open the innings alongside one of the best in the business at cricket’s greatest stage. There has been added pressure on Amla to bat through the majority of the innings and also make full utilisation of the first power play overs. AB would also do well to get more support in the form of runs from JP Duminy, so too as a regular wicket-taking spinner, which he has not been thus far in this tournament.

Behardien’s quickfire fifty against UAE was encouraging and surely adds the much required balance to the middle order. He has finally shown why AB has had so much faith in him building up to the WC. Also JP and David Miller have to re-create their stupendous form of the first match when they scored unbeaten centuries.

The return of Vernon Philander and the economical bowling of Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn needs to be looked at with more interest considering Imran Tahir may not be as effective against the spin conquering Lankans. In such a scenario can SA afford to play Kyle Abbott also?

Yes, I would like to see SA employ six batsmen and five bowlers against the Lankans at the SCG, as the four seamers – Steyn, Morkel, Abbott and Philander – should get plenty of support from both Tahir and Duminy on the SCG pitch. AB might be tempted to utilise the seventh batsman, then I would go with Abbott ahead of Philander, as Abbott had reasonable success against the Windies at the same venue.

Steyn has suffered a similar fate to Jimmy Anderson this World Cup, as he has not been able to swing the new ball – very rare for him. I would like to see him take little pace off his deliveries, as he often does in the second innings of a Test match, and get the ball to swing, as we know how dangerous the Lankan batsman are with misdirected pace delivered to them!

The success of SA in the QF against SL totally hinges on how the batting rallies around AB and how the bowling works in tandem with Steyn.

THE SANGA DREAM RUN CONTINUES

Angelo Mathews, the Sri Lankan skipper said he “went on his knees asking Kumar Sangakkara not to retire”. The elder statesmen of the Lankan cricket Sanga and Mahela Jayawardene have kindled a phenomenal performance from the team, in their swansong tournament and along with Dilshan they form a trio that has served the island nation well and would love to have a send off with a World Cup crown.

After their opening match drubbing at the hands of New Zealand not many people gave the Lankans a chance, but the turn-around came with the Mahela hundred followed by Sanga anchoring the middle with a century in the last four matches, a record that is unmatched in ODIs. Meanwhile Dilshan too got his second hundred of this WC, against Scotland. Batting is truly their strength at this point with the captain too in sublime form, in spite of losing Dinesh Chandimal to injury.

Lasith Malinga continues to impress but the Lankans are dogged by the inconsistent form of Suranga Lakmal (recently fined for dangerous bowling), Nuwan Kulasekara and Thisara Perera. The bowling of Rangana Herath is being sorely missed after his injury, the wily left arm spinner would have be a huge asset against the Proteas. However his replacement Seekkuge Prasanna did not impress much against the Scots.

There are a few important matches in the league phase over the weekend before the quarter finals. It will be interesting to see if Ireland can beat Pakistan and knock out the Windies or if the Caribbean makes it to quarters with a victory over UAE, following a Pak win in their Sunday encounters, while there is a mathematical chance of even Pakistan being knocked out. Wait and watch!