South Africa crashed to a crushing 7-wicket loss against New Zealand in Harare in what was considered a dress rehearsal before the final on Saturday. New Zealand made it 2 wins out of 2 against the Proteas and are unbeaten in the league stage. While a lot of things went well for New Zealand, there are a few issues for South Africa to sort out. We will try and give 3 reasons for South Africa’s loss to New Zealand.
Sluggish Powerplay pushes South Africa back.Â
South Africa were put into bat by New Zealand and the Proteas were trying things out and one of them was open the batting with Rassie van der Dussen alongside Reeza Hendricks. The move did not quite work as the Proteas lost their skipper early and scored only 34/1 in 6 overs. New Zealand, on the other hand, scored 55/1 in the powerplay. It shows what a massive difference it made.
Starting an innings is important and South Africa did not get off to the best possible start. They only lost one wicket but scoring only 34 runs was way below par. They got to 134 that also due to the death overs as they struggled in the middle phase as well. Yes, they were trying out few things. But it’s about bragging rights at the end of the day.
Looking ahead to the final on Saturday, South Africa should put in a complete performance and score a competitive total should they bat first. Chasing has been easy and they will want to chase on the big day. But they need to learn how to succeed even if they are batting first for that matter.
Middle Order and Middle Overs A Concern for South Africa.Â
The powerplay wasn’t great for South Africa neither was the middle overs as they could only muster 33 runs and lost 3 wickets to lose their way more. They just did not have momentum in their innings as the batting flattered to deceive. Reeza Hendricks was there trying to get into some form and scored 41 off 37 balls which is slow by his standards.
Rassie had already fallen in the powerplay. Rubin Hermann couldn’t get going and scored 10 off 12 balls. Dewald Brevis scored 13 off 13 balls as they failed to get going against the big team like New Zealand. Pretorius failed and Simelane was slow as well. Only George Linde who came towards the end did well and took Proteas to 134/8.
Going forward, South Africa has to perform as a cohesive unit and perform well in all the phases of the game in order to be successful in Saturday’s final. If they can fix these loopholes they will have a good chance of lifting the trophy come the weekend.
Lack of planning against Tim Seifert costs South Africa the match.Â
Defending a modest total of 134, it was important to get early wickets for South Africa. But that did not happen. The Proteas did not have a plan bowling to Tim Seifert and he took the game away from the opposition in a jiffy in this small chase. Seifert put up a 51-run stand with Devon Conway inside the powerplay before Conway fell for 19 off 18 balls. Rachin Ravindra came and went away quickly.
Mark Chapman came and went away relatively quickly scoring 10 as the Kiwis were 84/3 when Daryl Mitchell walked in. Mitchell and Seifert played the South African bowling to merit and put the bad balls away. There was no planning as such against Seifert and he enjoyed his time. Seifert and Mitchell put on 51* off 34 balls with Mitchell scoring an unbeaten 20* off 15 balls as they got to the target in 15.5 overs.
In order to be more successful and incisive, South Africa needs to take more wickets at regular intervals and be successful on Saturday. The Proteas know they have to bring their A-game and be at their absolute best to upstage New Zealand who are playing good cricket. South Africa was expected to show better fight with the ball, but unfortunately they didn’t and it turned out to be a one-sided match for New Zealand.
What Lies Ahead
The stage is set for the grand finale on Saturday between New Zealand and South Africa in Harare. Before that, there is one more league game to round the league stage off and that is between hosts Zimbabwe and New Zealand on Thursday. So, a lot of cricketing action coming our way in this Tri-series business end of the tournament.
Who will lift the trophy on Saturday? Will it be the Kiwis or the Protea Fire? Only time will tell as we come closer to the days of action.
Also Read: NZ vs SA: 3 Reasons For South Africa’s Surprising Loss To New Zealand