Langeveldt’s confidence grows as Proteas shift focus to longer format

Pressure at the highest level of sport often equates to a lack of time and space, and Proteas bowling coach Charl Langeveldt is hopeful that his charges will be able to execute their skills better as they move from T20s to ODIs against England.

The first ODI in the three-match series is at Newlands on Friday afternoon and South Africa will be desperate to put their 3-0 hammering in the T20 series behind them.

Time is on their side, however, as their 50-over form has generally been better than their T20 efforts in recent times.

“Most of the guys have been playing four-day cricket and got some bowling in there, but we haven’t had a lot of T20 cricket recently and we missed out on two of our warm-up games because of Covid,” Langeveldt said on Thursday.

“It’s about match fitness and T20 is very difficult because it comes down to execution under pressure. You can train as much as you want in the nets, but it’s not the same intensity.

“We’ve got work to do to be able to execute under pressure, but the first two T20s came down to two big moments, just two overs, and we have learnt from it to identify the big moment and embrace it.

“Fifty-over cricket is still high intensity but it’s longer time. The batsmen take more time to settle in so that means more time for the bowlers to settle into a rhythm and get used to the pitch.”

There will be at least two changes to South Africa’s batting line-up, with the in-form Faf du Plessis being rested for the ODIs and Reeza Hendricks released from the squad.

And the Proteas will be eager to get the experienced duo of David Miller and Andile Phehlukwayo back into action after they were in Covid quarantine.

The absence of the injured Kagiso Rabada means they could well bring Junior Dala in, with Langeveldt saying a big part of their ODI strategy is to be in the opposing batsmen’s faces and try to strike in the early overs.

“KG is a massive loss for us because he always strikes with the new ball and we speak a lot about taking wickets in the first 10 overs so we can shift pressure on to the opposition,” Langeveldt said.

“We see Junior as purely a 50-over bowler because he hits hard lengths and is aggressive, he can use the two bouncers and two new balls you get in ODIs. We’ve worked on upskilling him with slower balls and yorkers.

“Junior gives us that extra pace and aggression, and to have Andile back would give us six bowlers, which is great for us in 50-over cricket. He has a special one-day record and is also an option bowling at the back end.

“We need to be clever and be able to have that next level of intensity. We must be aggressive in both our batting and our bowling. You can’t sit back against England.”

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