Proteas need to up their game fast

England were always going to be a tough assignment for the Proteas after the South Africans sat on the sidelines for close to nine months due to Covid-19.

Since August, England have hosted Pakistan and Australia in tricky home series. International competition is needed to get match-ready. A handful of Proteas were involved in the Indian Premier League in the United Arab Emirates this year. That’s it.

Over the past few days England displayed their class, romping home to a 3-0 whitewash over South Africa in the T20 international series. While this was probably expected, the manner in which the Proteas succumbed must give the national selectors a headache.

Despite the odd solid solo contribution with the bat, our batting as a unit was poor. We had to rely on cameos down the order to get us out of trouble, while the absence of a genuine hitter was glaring.

It’s the bowling though that is the huge worry. The Proteas’ execution with the ball was dismal, most notably in the final T20 in Cape Town where England only lost one wicket in pursuit of 192, and still had 14 balls to spare.

South Africa, beaten by a better team? Yes. Proteas’ skills lacking? Definitely. With only a few days to dust themselves off before they face the same opponents in a one-day international series, the home side will need to find those skills.

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