Captain De Kock: The Proteas are in a positive space ahead of final T20

Proteas captain Quinton de Kock has been deprived of some key players that could have made a difference in the T20 series against England that has now been lost, but he is adamant that the players who have come in are good enough to have got the job done and he is not looking for any excuses.

The Proteas have been without the services of two key all-rounders in Andile Phehlukwayo, who is in Covid quarantine, and Dwaine Pretorius, who strained his hamstring just before the series started. Phehlukwayo’s Dolphins team-mate David Miller is also still in quarantine and the experienced finisher’s absence has also been felt.

“We don’t have all the options we’d like but we just have to deal with it and hope for the best in the last T20 on Tuesday night,” De Kock said ahead of the game.

“Andile and David aren’t up to scratch yet but they will be ready for the ODIs. It has been difficult not having a specialist all-rounder, although George Linde has done well. But unfortunately Dwaine got injured at just the wrong time with Andile in quarantine, and it’s not as easy as just flying someone in because they also have to quarantine.

“I know everyone is talking about the sixth bowler, but we haven’t really needed one – in both games it was just one over that did the damage. And that was largely down to the situation, England had to have a go and they really played it well.

“Jonny Bairstow played an unbelievable knock and was hitting wide yorkers that were just one centimetre off to the boundary. It would be nice to have all those guys available, but the other guys coming in can do the job as well.”

The likes of Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje have both excelled recently in sub-continental conditions at the IPL and De Kock said not much needs to change as South Africa go after a face-saving win at Newlands on Tuesday night.

“Obviously it’s disappointing to have lost the series, but I don’t think we need to change much, we’re still going to play our best team available and try to win. We do want to give players opportunities, but right now we need to win. It’s hard to tell guys how to bowl and KG and Anrich are both bowling 150+kph, so do you really want them bowling slower balls?

“We’ve got it wrong once or twice and a guy like Lungi Ngidi depends a lot more on variations. It’s about getting the right mix and it’s been difficult for us to put together the right match-ups.

“An extra batting all-rounder would be nice, it’s what we’re missing and then we could bat with a bit more freedom. We’re trying to do our best up top and the team is just staying positive because there’s still a lot to look forward to,” De Kock said.

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