Other than that now infamous double super over, South Africa’s progress through the group stage at the T20 World Cup was largely free of stress.
On Wednesday they maintained their unbeaten streak, storming past an outgunned United Arab Emirates by six wickets, despite making four changes to the starting XI that dominated New Zealand on Saturday.
Attention will now be fixed firmly on Sunday and the start of the Super Eight phase, with the Proteas facing India — in front of at least 100,000 spectators — at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The magnitude of that occasion won’t be lost on the players. Asked which of India’s star-studded batting line-up the Proteas would focus on most closely, Corbin Bosch opted for a diplomatic response. “All of them,” he replied. “Their whole batting line-up is quite destructive.”
It will be the biggest test so far of South Africa’s bowling unit and their plans. India have dominated the Proteas since the last T20 World Cup, where a seven-run victory in Bridgetown saw them claim a second world title.
In eight matches since, South Africa has won only twice, with India scoring totals over 200 four times in that period. The last of those was in Ahmedabad in December when they made 231/5 against a South African attack that included Marco Jansen, Lungi Ngidi and Bosch.
“We’ve had the luxury of assessing the conditions and the field [in Ahmedabad], so it’s about creating the right game plans moving forward,” said Bosch.
South Africa batted first against Canada and second against New Zealand in the two night matches at the Modi stadium, so understand the advantage that comes with batting second. The dew which settles makes the surface slick allowing the ball to come onto the bat, thereby helping strokeplay. It’s a nightmare for the spinners, because of the absence of grip, meaning there is little to no turn.
The mental preparation will be as important as the technical planning with the players needing to avoid despondency should the toss not go their way.
Bosch, who took 3/12 and was named Player of the Match on Wednesday, said the differences between bowling in Delhi and Ahmedabad, were all about lengths. “Here you needed to bowl maybe a fraction shorter than you would in Ahmedabad because there’s not as much bounce, but today you could see the odd ball actually stood up so it was definitely food for thought.”
There were fewer slower balls in Delhi from the Proteas seamers than was the case in Ahmedabad, and beyond the conditions, that could also be a consequence of the opposition, who would not have been accustomed to the level of fast bowling South Africa produced.
With Ngidi, Jansen and Keshav Maharaj likely to return to the starting team on Sunday, Bosch’s selection will depend on what kind of pitch is prepared. Given India’s batting is its strength, it’s likely to be flat, with Bosch set to start in those circumstances.
One area in which the Proteas can ill-afford to lack sharpness is their catching. They dropped three chances on Wednesday — two of them very simple opportunities. “We were not up to the mark at all. We let ourselves down with our attitude and approach,” said skipper Aiden Markram.
Bosch dropped what by any standard was a simple catch, and agreed that there would be extra work done in that department before Sunday.
“I’d rather it happened now. It’s not our standards, it will probably be addressed later. We are a much better fielding unit than that. We will have to lift it, especially in the Super Eights, where we will have to take every chance,” he said.
TimesLIVE
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