Quinton de Kock enjoyed a good World Cup for the Proteas. Picture: Gareth Copley/Getty Images
The Proteas produced their best performance at an ICC limited overs tournament at the recent T20 World Cup in the USA and Caribbean when they finished as runners-up to India after losing the final by seven runs.
It was a solid and gutsy all-round showing in tough conditions at times by the Proteas players, with several men performing well. Others did not produce the goods as they would have liked.
Here we rate the performance of the players, with a score out of 10, over the tournament.
Quinton de Kock 8: He was arguably SA’s best player at the tournament, scoring a total of 243 runs at 27 and strike rate of 140. His best scores were 74 (USA), 65 (England), and 39 (India, final). He’ll be upset he didn’t make his good start in the final count, getting out to a shot he’d hit for four the ball before and after India had moved a fielder to the same position on the field. He took six catches and made two stumpings.
Reeza Hendricks 3: Sadly the opener, who’s been in such prolific form over the last few years, had a tournament to forget. He scored just 113 runs at 14 and a strike rate of 87. While he scored a solid 43 in the one-run win over Nepal in pool play and 29 not out in the semi-final against Afganistan, his other scores were disappointing, and all under 20 runs. Five times he failed to get past 10.
Aiden Markram 5: The SA captain led the team superbly and made excellent decisions in the field, but in his primary job as a batter he failed. He scored just 123 runs at an average of 15 in nine matches with a highest score of 46 against the USA. His next highest score was 23 not out against Afghanistan in the semi-final. His other seven scores were all under 20. He bowled in five matches and picked up two wickets.
Tristan Stubbs 6: The No 4 batter scored 165 runs at 33 and strike rate of 101 in nine games, but he made some telling contributions, namely 33 against the Netherlands, 27 not out against Nepal, 20 not out against the USA, 29 against the West Indies and 31 against India in the final. He would have been angry at getting out when he did in the final after doing the hard work early on.
Heinrich Klaasen 7: The big-hitter had a good tournament, but like De Kock and Stubbs, he will be upset about getting out when, and how, he did in the final against India. He scored a stunning 52 before he edged behind to halt the team’s momentum. He scored 190 runs at 32 in nine games, with a 126 strike-rate. Other good scores came against Sri Lanka (19 n.o.), Bangladesh (46), USA (36 n.o.) and West Indies (22).
David Miller 6: The veteran finisher had a good tournament, scoring 169 runs in eight innings at 28 and strike rate of 102. He scored a crucial 59 not out against the Netherlands, 29 against Bangladesh, 43 against England and 21 against India in the final, when he looked set to take the team home, before holding out to a memorable catch on the boundary.
Marco Jansen 4: The tall all-rounder didn’t have the best of tournaments, as he struggled to score runs and take wickets regularly. In all he made 32 runs in six innings with a highest score of 21 not out against West Indies. His strike-rate was just 96. Bowling-wise he picked up seven wickets, at an average of 30 with a best return of 3/16 against Afghanistan. In five matches he went wicketless.
Keshav Maharaj 6: SA’s leading spinner had a decent tournament, with his highlight taking two wickets early on in the final against India. Overall, he grabbed 11 wickets at 16 with an economy rate of 6.25. He bowled consistently well with his best figures 3/27 against Bangladesh. He also picked up two wickets each against Sri Lanka, England and India. He batted five times, with no significant contribution.
Kagiso Rabada 7: The fast bowler was back to his best, taking wickets at regular intervals and at different times in the innings. He took 13 wickets at 15 in nine matches, with economy rate of 6.29. His best return was 3/18 against the USA. He also grabbed two wickets in the matches against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, England and Afghanistan. He batted only three times.
Anrich Nortje 8: He was arguably his team’s best bowler, picking up 15 wickets at 13,40 and economy rate of 5.74. He finished as the tournament’s fourth best bowler for wickets taken. He was superb throughout the campaign, with a best of 4/7 against Sri Lanka. On four other occasions he took two wickets in the match, against Netherlands, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and India.
Tabraiz Shamsi 7: The spinner only made the final XI later in the tournament but delivered brilliantly. In five matches he took 11 wickets at 11.63 apiece and economy rate of 7.60. His best figures were the 4/19 against Nepal but he also grabbed three wickets against West Indies and Afghanistan and one against the USA. He’ll be disappointed he couldn’t pick up a wicket in the final against India.
Ottneil Baartman 6: One of the new men in the set-up, he enjoyed a good tournament, though he played in just five matches, making way for Tabraiz Shamsi later on. He picked up six wickets at 15.66 and economy of 4.94. His best was against the Netherlands (4/11) while he took 1/9 against Sri Lanka and 1/27 against England. He didn’t bat at all in the five times he was selected to play.
Did not play: Bjorn Fortuin, Ryan Rickelton, Gerald Coetzee
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