Quick turnaround will help Proteas forget the horrors of season opener

It turns out that five months without cricket with a multitude of training camps to fill that void is insufficient preparation for the rigours of an international match. 

That makes it good that the Proteas don't have too much time to ponder the details of Wednesday night's record 111-run defeat to Australia in the first T20 International at Kingsmead, SA’s first match since April. On Friday, thankfully for the players, they play again at the same venue (6pm).

“The quick turnaround means we have to put [Wednesday night] behind us,” Wednesday’s top scorer Reeza Hendricks said.

“It’s another opportunity for us to improve. We don’t want to use the lack of game time as an excuse, but we are looking ahead to Friday, because there is a lot of room to improve.”

There was a general rustiness about the Proteas; a number of sloppy moments in the field, with debutant Dewald Brevis responsible for a few of the extra boundaries for the visitors. With the ball, SA mixed inconsistency with poor strategy in which they attempted too much variety, particularly in line and pace of the ball. 

The Australians, by contrast, were far more disciplined with the ball, not allowing the South Africans to apply a more aggressive approach.

“Training and working in the nets is not the same. It’s always good to be playing cricket,” said Hendricks, one of the few bright spots on an otherwise gloomy night for the home team.

“The competitiveness and the intensity [of a match] is not something you can replicate, especially when you are training among your own. It’s completely different. When you play more often you get used to it and are more in tune with it.”

Such was the nature of the Proteas' calendar that most players had to make do with playing in T20 leagues around the world, while some, such as Temba Bavuma, had access only to skills camps overseen by head coach Rob Walter. 

Bavuma was in red hot form in April and while the delivery that dismissed him on Wednesday night was a good one from Marcus Stoinis, it’s reasonable to assume the Bavuma of April would not have had his stumps disturbed in the manner of the late August version.

Skipper Aiden Markram would have hoped the excitement of the first match would create energy. What it appeared to lead to instead was over-eagerness, which saw too many errors.  

The Australians were authoritative, clear in their plans and accurate in execution. They also came into the T20 series having decided to rest a number of their top players — as the Proteas are doing — but in captain Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head they had two players who at least have recent memory of playing a high-intensity series, albeit in the Test format against England. 

Marsh joked with Tim David while the pair were batting that he’d played too much Test cricket recently, and he’d lost his swing. It was still too much for the Proteas bowlers, however.

Marsh, who is leading Australia while Pat Cummins recovers from a fractured wrist, finished as player of the match with an unbeaten 92 in which he whacked 13 fours and two sixes. 

One of the stars with the ball for the tourists was 20-year-old debutant Tanveer Sangha, who picked up 4/31, including the wickets of SA’s two young batting starlets, Brevis and Tristan Stubbs. The latter was dismissed first ball with a peach of a leg-break that beat the outside edge, giving wicketkeeper Josh Inglis a simple stumping.

Sangha found out on Wednesday morning he would play after Adam Zampa was forced to withdraw due to illness. “I’m sure he was nervous, but the way he bowled was outstanding,” Marsh said.

He described Sangha as “pretty chilled,” after he was informed he would make his debut.

“I don’t think Tanveer’s heart rate gets over 100. He was in the gym when he found out and he said he was ready to go. It appears he keeps it simple, which will hold him in good stead for top level cricket. His demeanour is fantastic. I’m proud of him, to have a debut like that was brilliant to see. He’s got a great smile and hopefully we see it for many years to come,” said Marsh.