South Africa’s batting coach JP Duminy has been open about his team’s performance after their surprising ODI series loss to Afghanistan. He acknowledged that the Proteas struggled to handle the opposition’s top spinner, Rashid Khan.
The South African batsmen were horrendous in both matches and despite their batting order being labelled as the best, they put on another poor performance as Afghanistan went ahead by winning the second ODI played at Sharjah Cricket Stadium thus making it an unassailable 2-0 lead.
The Afghan bowlers proved too much for them; they were all out for 106 and 134 in their two innings which did not even reach 200 runs. In a statement before Sunday’s match published by SA Cric Mag, Duminy said:
“We find ourselves in a position where we’re coming up against one of the best spinners in the world and, at times, guys found themselves in tricky situations where they didn’t pick him. We have to turn the mirror on ourselves and ask how we are going to get better.”
South African batters have experienced difficulties when dealing with both kinds of bowlers: spinners and fast bowlers alike. In the first ODI, left-arm pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi and Allah Ghazanfar initiated their collapse with the bat. In the second match, Rashid Khan ripped their middle order apart for 5 wickets as South Africa lost 10 wickets for 61 runs.
“When you’re uncertain in your movements, that’s when you can be caught off guard”- JP Duminy
Duminy noted that many batters have relied on half measures, explaining:
“There is no running away from a situation like this. We were well below par in both games. When you’re indecisive in your movements, then that’s where you can be caught off guard, and that’s where we find ourselves.”
Afghanistan have a target of an unprecedented clean sweep which has never been seen before in any format but may happen if this team led by Hashmatullah Shahidi succeeds. The sub-continent nation has enjoyed a remarkable year so far with victories over top teams like New Zealand Australia and Bangladesh on their way to the T20 World Cup semifinal that is slated for 2024.
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