Pitches put accuracy at the forefront of Proteas’ plans

Bowlers will have to leave their egos on the team bus at the ICC Champions Trophy and understand they will have to “accept” that totals in excess of 300 may not be a bad outcome. 

In their sole warm-up match against a local Invitation XI, which featured a few players with international experience, the Proteas conceded 322 runs in Karachi on Monday. 

That was with an attack featuring Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen and Keshav Maharaj. While any warm-up game is only played at about 75% of the intensity that would usually be the case in an international, Monday’s outcome was also the third time in a week the Proteas have conceded more than 300 runs in an innings. 

They have also scored more than 300 each time, so the players will know going into Friday’s opening Champions Trophy clash with Afghanistan that, given the nature of the pitches in Pakistan, conceding more than a run-a-ball may be deemed a success.

“We want to see it as a challenge,” said Proteas bowling coach Anton Roux. “If the conditions stay the same, then one over can be the difference.

“You have to stack overs up as much as you can so you can build the pressure. You can’t get despondent if a few overs go against you; you have to find a way to turn the game in your favour through a two or three over spell.”

SA’s versatility may be their major weapon for dealing with conditions, which for the first half of the tournament at least appears likely to heavily favour batters. “We have a nice balance to our attack in general,” Roux said.

From Rabada’s experience and class, to Jansen’s left-arm angle and bounce, coupled with Maharaj’s nous, the Proteas have the variety to test the opposition and not allow them to settle. 

But the key to success will lay in execution, which over the course of 50 overs can be hard to maintain. Roux explained that relying solely on raw pace would not work.

“Pace is only so good if you are accurate with it. We want to zone in, with a laser-like focus of where we want the ball to go and how we want it to get there, and mixing up our artillery for various phases in the game. It’s not just a one mode fits all approach.

“The best ball is the one that goes where you want it to go. Depending on the plan for that particular phase of the game, if you can execute the ball where you want it to go then we are moving in the right direction.

“It could be the case of bringing the stumps into play or forcing the batter to score in a certain area of the ground. If you are letting the ball go where you want it to go, then we are standing in good stead.”

SA’s recent ODI results do not instil much confidence but none of the other sides in Group B have much of a record that should be cause for concern. Afghanistan last played an ODI in December 2024 — against Zimbabwe — England have won just one of their past seven ODIs and Australia have also won only two of the past eight ODIs. 

Given the relative paucity of ODI matches in the past 12 months, the form teams are all in Group A, where India are favourites, primarily because they are the only team guaranteed to play at just one venue — Dubai International Cricket Stadium. 

“It will take a concerted team effort on these pitches, not just with the ball, but in the field and with the bat. It will come down to how we execute our skill, that’s all of us, not just a few individuals,” Roux said.