Maxwell’s phenomenal innings did little to scare the Proteas, says Simons

Looking ahead to their Cricket World Cup semi-final against Australia next week, Proteas bowling coach Eric Simons has dismissed potential concerns that they were given a shake by a spectacular innings from Glenn Maxwell.

The Australian batter smashed an unbeaten 201 runs — the 10th highest ODI score in history — to carry his team to a remarkable comeback victory over Afghanistan on Tuesday. In the process, the Aussies secured their place in the semi-finals, setting up a last-four clash with the Proteas.

And while the SA team had one more first-round match ahead of their playoff encounter — against Afghanistan in Ahmedabad on Friday — they already had one eye on their last-four battle against the Australians.

However, though he credited the explosive middle-order batter for his remarkable innings, Simons wasn’t too concerned after watching Maxwell’s demolition of the Afghan attack as he played down the performance.

Plans in place

In their first-round match against the Aussies earlier in the tournament, Maxwell was dismissed for just three runs, and Simons was confident they would have sufficient plans in place to deal with him, along with the rest of the players in the line-up.

“You’ve got to use the situation as best you possibly can. I think the tactics they (Afghanistan) bowled to him probably suited him, just the way he was playing,” Simons said.

“I think you’ve got to assess the situation. One of the things you’ve always got control over is the tactics and field placings you use, and I think our field placings and tactics would have been different and that’s where we would focus.

“But obviously you can’t take away from an incredible knock and I think that’s one which is going to be spoken about for many, many years.”

Fierce battle ahead

After fighting back from 2-0 down to beat Australia 3-2 in a home ODI series ahead of the World Cup, the Proteas went on to secure a thumping 134-run victory over the Aussies in the first round of the global showpiece.

But the five-time champions could not be underestimated in their playoff clash, and the SA squad were gearing up for a fierce semi-final battle in their attempt to reach the final of the quadrennial tournament for the first time.

Simons believed the communication within the squad in preparation for the match would be key, and he felt they would be ready to face their perennial rivals in their crunch clash.

“I think one of the things we’ve been good at in this tournament is having clarity around tactics,” he said.

“That doesn’t always guarantee accuracy of execution, but the clarity of tactics is important. We’re always looking for what the opposition are trying to do… and making sound tactical decisions is 100% in your control, so that’s certainly where we will focus.”