Proteas, take a leaf out of Siya Kolisi’s book

In these dark times South Africans are crying out for any good news to lift their sombre moods.

The Proteas cricket team seemed to have missed that memo, plummeting to a new low on Tuesday when they lost by 43 runs to Ireland in the second one-day international in Malahide.

While taking nothing away from the Irish, who were brilliant in all aspects of the game, the Proteas were downright sloppy. Dropped catches, average batting and bowling – they conceded 103 runs in the last 10 overs – should never displayed by a team that is ranked fifth in limited overs, seven places above their opponents.

For the past few years, the Proteas are far too inconsistent. Having just defeated the West Indies in the Caribbean – albeit in the shorter T20 format – there was hope the team was turning the corner.

Clearly, it is not so, even though management will argue they were resting some of their key players and trying new combinations.

With the first match washed out with no result on Sunday, it makes tomorrow’s third and final match of the series a must-win encounter for the tourists if they are to save any face.

Mark Boucher, Temba Bavuma and company, take a leaf out of Siya Kolisi’s class of 2019 World Cup-winning Springboks’ book. They showed how sport can unite a nation.