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Follow UsWhen Mohammad Nabi nicked a wide one to Quinton de Kock and walked back to the pavilion, South Africa had Afghanistan on the ropes. Afghanistan were reduced to 116/6, with Azmatullah Omarzai being the only specialist batter remaining, and it looked like the Proteas were just a few overs away from bowling the Afghans out cheaply.
If you’re someone who had followed this campaign of South Africa closely enough, though, you probably knew that wasn’t going to happen.
Heading into Friday’s clash against the Afghans, the South African bowling unit had done plenty right, except one thing: cleaning up the tail.
The same cost them in the Netherlands clash but they had been loose towards the back end of innings even in the games they’d won.
And the wretched pattern continued in Ahmedabad as from 116/6, they let Afghanistan score a near-par 244, letting them completely off the hook.
The Proteas’ inefficiency versus the tail did not come back to bite them on the night, but their impotency against the lower-order has now become a major cause for concern.
Out of the nine games they’ve played in the group stages in this WC, South Africa have managed to take at least 5 wickets on or before the 150-run mark a staggering eight times. Yet in these games, only thrice have they managed to restrict or bowl their opponents out under 225.
It’s not hurt them in games in which they’ve batted first — where they’ve killed the game off in the first innings — but it’s burdened them while chasing.
Like it did against Pakistan, where they were arguably fortunate to exit Chennai with two points. Like it did today against Afghanistan, where what should have been a regulation win — after reducing AFG to 116/6 — unnecessarily turned into a nail-biter.
The group stages are almost over and overall, the Proteas have been the second-most lethal bowling unit, behind only India, averaging 26.3 and striking once every 28 balls.
Yet unfathomably enough, they’ve been the second-worst bowling unit in this World Cup exclusively against the lower-order (No.8 to No.11), averaging 18.6 runs per wicket.
The tail alone wagging wouldn’t necessarily be too damaging. However, the problem in the case of South Africa is that their bowling seems to completely lose bite and steam post the initial rampage, due to which a recognized batter (if he’s in the middle) is able to bat long and stitch big partnerships with the bowlers.
Omarzai (97*) batted through today but it was not a story that was new. Scott Edwards (78*) did it in Dharamshala; Dasun Shanaka (68) did it in Delhi; Mahmudullah did it at the Wankhede; even Glenn Phillips (60), to a lesser extent, did it in Pune.
Here’s a good measure of how poor South Africa have been when it comes to finishing the job off versus the lower-order: 42 games into this World Cup, there have been 11 instances of teams adding 50 runs or more for the seventh wicket or below. 5 of these 11 fifty-run stands have come against South Africa. That’s more than 45%.
This tally almost rose to 6 on Friday. Omarzai and Noor Ahmad were on course to bring up a half-century stand but Noor fell six shy of the landmark, attempting to take on Gerald Coetzee.
There are no established patterns as to why this has been happening but one thing that’s been very evident is the sheer number of half-volleys the South African bowlers have been dishing out to the lower-order (#8 to #11).
The Proteas bowlers have delivered an eye-popping 62 half-volleys to lower-order batters, 14 more than any other side. These half-volleys have cost them 15 boundaries. Only Australia and Sri Lanka’s half-volleys have been more expensive but those two sides have barely bowled any.
On Friday, Afghanistan scored 28% of their total runs via half-volleys, with the South African pacers bowling 21 slot deliveries in the 41-50 phase. Led by Omarzai with the bat, Afghanistan pounced on this, taking 33 runs off the said deliveries, smashing two fours and two sixes.
Lungi Ngidi himself was responsible for bowling 6 half-volleys against Afghanistan at the death (which cost 17 runs) but the 27-year-old’s showing in Ahmedabad wasn’t a one-off.
With a minimum cut-off of 4 overs, the right-armer has been the third-most expensive bowler at the death in this WC, leaking runs at an eye-watering economy of 13.5.
The problem doesn’t end there for South Africa as Marco Jansen, who was rested for Friday’s clash, has been getting hit even more frequently at the death than Ngidi.
When you consider that, outside the India clash, most of these runs have been conceded against the lower-order, it raises plenty of questions.
Being clinical is something every champion side strives to be, but all throughout the group stage, South Africa somehow have not been able to land ‘that’ knockout punch to finish their opponents off emphatically. It’s not cost them thus far, but similar lapses could prove to be fatal in the knockout stages.
