Big scores and wickets will be needed for Proteas in Champions Trophy

Big scores and wickets will be needed if the Proteas want to progress as far as possible in the Champions Trophy in Pakistan, after they were dumped out of the tri-series by the hosts in Karachi on Wednesday.

The tri-series is essentially a warm up competition for the Champions Trophy, and features hosts Pakistan and New Zealand, who will now battle it out in the final on Friday.

New Zealand won both their games, beating Pakistan by 78-runs and then the Proteas by six wickets to make the final game, leaving the Proteas and Pakistan to battle it out for the second spot, with the hosts triumphing in the end.

In both their games the Proteas managed more than 300, but didn’t come close to defending either scores as their bowlers wilted.

Pakistan match

In Wednesday’s encounter the Proteas batted first and powered their way to an impressive 352/5 batting first, with Heinrich Klaasen, 87 off 56 balls, Matthew Breetzke, 83 off 84, and captain Temba Bavuma, 82 off 96, the chief contributors.

But Pakistan made light work of the chase thanks to a record 260-run fourth wicket partnership between Salman Aghar, 134 off 103, and Mohammad Rizwan, 122no off 128, as they reached the target with six balls and six wickets in hand.

After Pakistan got off to a fast chase that meant they were never behind the needed run rate, the Proteas briefly fought back as Wiaan Mulder picked up two wickets, Babar Azam (23) and Fakhar Zaman (41), while Corbin Bosch accounted for Saud Shakeel (15).

At 91/3 the Proteas would have thought they were on top, only for Aghar and Rizwan to decimate them with their incredible partnership.

Mulder, 2/79, was the pick of the Proteas bowlers, but all the pace bowlers came in for some tap, while spinners Tabraiz Shamsi, 0/53, Keshav Maharaj, 0/54, and Senuran Muthusamy, 0/17, were unable to pick up a single wicket in their 22 overs between them.

Against New Zealand on Monday, Breetzke scored the highest ever score on ODI debut, hammering 150 off 148 balls to help the Proteas reach 304/6, with him assisted by Mulder (64).

However their bowlers were not up to the task as Kane Williamson, 133no off 113, and Devon Conway (97) set up the win with eight balls to spare, with Muthusamy, 2/50, the best of the lot.

Big scores and wickets

Speaking after the Pakistan match Bavuma admitted that their batters would have to keep doing well to score in excess of 300 and 350 to give their bowlers something to defend.

“I think getting to 350 you obviously back yourself. We were confident at the start of their innings, but we just didn’t start well. We managed to get a couple of wickets that kind of slowed them down, but we weren’t able to get any momentum and most importantly take wickets throughout their innings,” said Bavuma.

“It stayed a good wicket from the first ball. There was a little bit of swing, but nothing too extreme. Maybe at the end there was a bit of dew so the ball started sliding on, but generally it stuck to being a good (batting) wicket.

“I think it’s going to be tough for the bowlers if these are the wickets that we are going to be playing on (in the Champions Trophy). There wasn’t a lot on for offer for the spinners.”

Bavuma continued: “Wickets are going to be important. Making sure that the batters aren’t scoring off good balls is another thing. These are top class batters, so if you are bowling on either side of the wicket they are going to put you away.

“You have to try make their lives as hard as they can. Then in the middle that’s really where the game happens. If you are able to squeeze and dot it up or at least take wickets and have them a little bit handicapped going into the death phase will help.

“As batters there is going to be a big responsibility on us, to put scores like this, 350 plus up, so that we can give our bowlers something to defend.”