Faf delighted with Tahir’s return to form

Proteas captain Faf du Plessis said it was just like the Imran Tahir of old as the champion leg-spinner ripped through the heart of the Sri Lankan batting and set up a convincing win for South Africa in the first ODI at the Wanderers on Sunday.

The batting of Du Plessis himself, with a splendid 112 not out off 114 balls, and Quinton de Kock (81 off 72) was also instrumental, but a total of 231 was obviously well under-par for a good batting deck at the Wanderers, and for that the Proteas had the evergreen skills and control of leg-spinner Tahir to thank.

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Sri Lanka looked well-placed on 97 for two after 16 overs when Tahir was brought into the attack and he needed just four balls to remove Kusal Perera, the hero of Sri Lanka’s stunning Test win in Durban, for a threatening 33.

Tahir bowled his first seven overs for just 18 runs and then added two more wickets in his second spell as he ended with outstanding figures of three for 26 in his 10 overs.

“That was like the Immie of old, winning games single-handedly. We need that, because he’s my go-to-man in the middle overs. Every player goes through like a dip, he wasn’t bowling badly, just one or two bad balls every over, but we saw real consistency from him today – in 10 overs I don’t think there was one bad ball.

“He will be the first to say he hasn’t been at his best this season, but with an experienced player of his quality you know it’s coming, you know a big performance is just around the corner. He’s been working hard in the nets on getting a good shape on his deliveries and his bowling has been really good this week,” Du Plessis said.

The loss of his national contract after the World Cup has certainly not diminished any of Tahir’s enthusiasm or passion for winning games for South Africa, and it seems obvious he is going off Cricket South Africa’s roster by mutual consent as he is turning 40 later this month and may want to turn his focus to the lesser demands of T20 cricket.

But with the Wanderers pitch providing turn and Sri Lanka boasting three quality spinners in Akila Dhananjaya, Dhananjaya de Silva and Lakshan Sandakan, South Africa still had to bat well.

Du Plessis was composure personified and De Kock was in cruise control as they almost effortlessly added 136 off 129 balls for the second wicket.

“We got the intensity right today and a performance like that is very pleasing. We were very convincing with the bat on a pitch that was not as easy as the scoreboard maybe showed. It was very slow, but I’m very pleased with how we responded.

“Quinny just keeps scoring important runs for us and I hope it continues at the World Cup because he is one of our most dangerous batsmen. It looked like a cruise but it was a very sub-continental pitch and they had very good spinners. We weren’t just taking ones and keeping the ball on the ground because then you can go nowhere. And I was very proud of my hundred,” Du Plessis said.

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