The Proteas will resist the urge to rotate the squad in their upcoming T20 World Cup clash against minnows Nepal on Friday.
Thanks to the no result in the Tuesday’s match between Nepal and Sri Lanka, Rob Walter’s men have booked their place in the Super 8 of the tournament, and many might say they have the luxury of being able to give a few players a run on Friday.
But that’s not how Walter sees it. Speaking to journalists on Thursday, the Proteas coach they needed to build up their consistency after the team’s top order struggled in their wins over Sri Lanka, the Netherlands, and Bangladesh.
“We’ll not make many changes unless the conditions tell us to do that. Obviously it was a tough outing in New York for the top order, so I want to allow guys to play on a better surface,” said Walter.
“From a bowling point of view,” Walter said, “conditions were in our favour. Very much being able to bowl in the mould that we do in South Africa from a hard length point of view, using the deck to give us that variation.
Monday’s game was their last in New York’s Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, and the team will now head to the Caribbean, where they will be based for the remainder of the competition.
Much was said and written about the New York pitch and the struggles faced by the batsmen. However, Walter didn’t feel those hardships would affect his batters’ confidence for the remainder of the tournament.
“We have to be realistic in terms of what we faced there. As the batters, you can only do what you can outside of match time, and the guy have been working incredibly hard on their games to stay in touch.
“And you know, this game is a strange one. It takes one shot to feel in form, so they are experienced and I trust them. Their time will be coming soon.”
Walter also addressed another major talking point at this World Cup. A number of games have been low-scoring, and some have attributed that to the quality of the pitches on offer.
After an Indian Premier League season that saw record scores left, right, and centre, fans and pundits have welcomed the closer games as they have demonstrated that cricket is still a battle between bat and ball, instead of a candy store where runs are abundant for batters.
“I think people have just got used to T20 format looking a certain way, especially on the back of IPL. But I don’t think anyone can say that these games [at the World Cup] weren’t exciting. We had a number of cliffhangers. Maybe not the age of T20 cricket, but certainly great contests in a different way.”
IOL Sport