Green Proteas deliver composed performance to down Aussies
Spearheaded by Heinrich Klaasen's maiden century, Mark Boucher's rookies show promise.
South Africa’s Heinrich Klaasen bats during the first One Day International cricket match in the three match series against Australia at Boland Park Cricket Stadium in Paarl on February 29, 2020. (Photo by RODGER BOSCH / AFP)
The seesaw that is becoming the Proteas under Mark Boucher continued on Saturday night in Paarl.
Just as cynics were fearing the worst for an experimental, young squad going into the three-match ODI series against Australia, they promptly delivered a 74-run victory.
No-one will deny that South Africa deserved this triumph as they played composed and competitive cricket in this match.
But the big question now is: Can they maintain the consistency to make the series safe in Bloemfontein on Tuesday?
That will remain their Achilles heel until that pattern changes.
Nonetheless, there were many positives in this match.
Heinrich Klaasen celebrated his newfound freedom as an international batsman with an excellent maiden international century, hitting seven fours and three sixes in an unbeaten 123 off just 114 deliveries.
He shared a record 149-run fifth-wicket stand with an impressively mature David Miller, who showed good judgment in his 64.
They formed the backbone of the home side’s 291/7, after they were reduced to 48/3 early on.
Debutant Kyle Verreynne (48) showed promise in repairing the damage with Klaasen, before holing out at square leg when he should’ve brought up his fifty.
At least he did better than his fellow Cobras debutant Janneman Malan, trapped in front first ball to a searing Mitchell Starc delivery.
The Aussies were hardly bad in the field and kept a reasonable lid on the scoring with the ball without showcasing the potency they’ve become known for.
In contrast, the Proteas calmly worked their way through the visitors’ batting order once a threatening stand between Steve Smith (76) and Marnus Labuschagne (41) was broken.
Lungi Ngidi was the hosts’ star with a fine spell of 3/30, which included the wickets of the dangerous opening pair of David Warner and skipper Aaron Finch.
Vitally though, he had the support of the rest of his attack, with the spin duo of Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi in particular flourishing.
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