SA vs England, World T20 2014

We are in the Semi-finals!!!

Another tight game but some amazing performances helped see South Africa through to the next stage of the competition. Unfortunately I did not get to watch the game as I attended a Sharks Rugby match (which was really good too!) but I followed as much of the game as I could on my cellphone. Flip! I thought watching matches on TV was stressful but when your cellphone keeps losing signal and every TV around is showing a rugby match is way worse!  Anyway, that's where highlights come in handy :)

Our batting - YES PLEASE! This is what we are capable of! Will all you Amla-doubters out there please keep your mouths closed from now on. This immediate reaction of calling for a guy to be dropped when he has a couple of bad games really needs to stop.  Amla showed he can comfortably put the ball away and seriously contribute in this format as an opener. Although, it is pretty obvious but hands down the best performance of the night has to go to South Africa's version of Superman - AB de Villiers. In the last blog I mentioned how South Africa need to be grateful for the talent that is Dale Steyn but the other trump card on our team is De Villiers. The expression on England captain, Stuart Broad's face as AB was knocking his bowlers around as he pleased was absolutely priceless! AB stood in as captain with Du Plessis sitting out because of a one-match ban due to slow over rates. De Kock and Miller uncharacteristically played holding roles for Amla and De Villiers respectively and it was good to see they have the capacity to fulfill that role. South Africa posted the highest total of the tournament so far and hopefully the batsmen can keep this momentum going. I really hope that the selectors keep De Villiers at 3 - the earlier he comes in to bat is definitely beneficial for South Africa. Du Plessis will return after his ban so it is likely that they will stick with the normal order.

I think the bowling attacks of both teams had a rough time in the conditions but obviously the stand out performance of Parnell really got South Africa in the winning seat. Parnell was in the side for Tsotsobe and gee did he prove his worth! I think there is little doubt that he will be selected for the semi-final. Parnell and Tahir took care of most of the top order not allowing any of the English batsmen to build on the starts they had made. Albie Morkel was unlucky in the first over getting a wicket on a ball that was wrongly called a no-ball. Injury depending, it is likely that Hendriks will be replaced by Morne Morkel for the next game. I'm glad he was given another chance after he performed well against the Netherlands but in this stage of the competition we need to have all our on-form and experienced players in the eleven.  The bowling was backed up by some outstanding fielding from Miller and De Villiers. The energy in our outfield was electric!

With a few games left to go in the group stages, it seems we will play India in the semi-final which will be a challenge but Twenty20 cricket is a strange creature, very unpredictable.

Teams prediction for the semi-final:

1. Amla

2. De Kock

3. De Villiers

4. Du Plessis

5. Duminy

6. Miller

7. A. Morkel

8. Parnell

9. Steyn

10. M. Morkel

11. Imran Tahir

SA vs Netherlands, World T20 2014

Right, so I think an overview of yesterday's match is a pretty good place to get this blog going.

I'm not going to sit here and crit every player's performance and comment on their technique. I am not in any position to offer opinion on that side of things, I can only write as a passionate supporter.

Now after our defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka - which wasn't entirely surprising - and that last ball madness against New Zealand, yesterday's match was a must win if we stood any chance of getting to the semi-finals. Now let's be honest, it's the Netherlands it really should have been an easy win with a nice boost to our net run rate even though according to Faf that's not what they were concentrating on (yeah right! Amla getting 22 in one over). But in true South African style we had to make it hard for ourselves.

De Kock unfortunately didn't come through in this game but the hope is that he finds some serious form from here on as he definitely has the potential. Luckily Amla seemed to have his head in the game and was slightly out of character with a few big hits. Then Amla got out... from then on it was a pretty sorry sight. It was a defendable score but it was, well, lacking.  Our tail is just too long for this format of the game, especially when our front-line batsmen don't perform. The need for a bowling all-rounder is obvious. Experimenting with the batting order has very rarely worked for South Africa. Tried and tested is generally the best formula ESPECIALLY at a World Cup when we are already on the back foot. Personally I'm quite happy with the batsmen we have in the current line-up so I don't think any of them should be dropped based on this performance but rather stay in their original order. Behardien is the only replacement batsman in the squad and he hasn't put in any outstanding performances that would warrant him a place in the squad. I do think that Parnell needs to slot in at no. 8 as the bowling all-rounder and being a left arm bowler he provides variation.

The bowling...

White-knuckled and the use of quite a few four letter words pretty much sums up how I experienced our bowling innings. Having Albie Morkel and Hendriks opening the bowling was an interesting choice but it seemed to work. Tsotsobe really didn't start well and unfortunately he wasn't able to bring it back Steyn managed to keep his run rate nice and conservative but without bowling the Netherlands out there was no way would have won that match and Steyn got that started for us as well. South Africa really need to appreciate the amazing talent that this man possesses and with out him we would probably be in a really bad place. Tahir again proved that he deserves his spot in this team with his Man of the Match performance. Going back to my earlier thought about Parnell needing to be in the team means that one of the bowlers needs to come out. Adding to that, Morne Morkel will more than likely come back into the squad for the England game. From this thinking, Parnell should come in for Tsotsobe and Hendriks will probably give way to Morkel which is unfortunate because he really did have a good game.

The next game is going to be absolutely vital and the boys really need to step up and show what they are made of. Their last two performances have really been stressful to watch as a fan but in many ways it was great to see the team fight for the win when it really looked like there was no chance of one. The "Ch" word could easily get thrown around if we had been defeated in the last two games but the guys proved that they have the experience and drive to win. On that note - please can the next game be somewhat easier to win because the last two have really shaved a few years off my life!