ICC Champions Trophy - South Africa beat Sri Lanka - What we learned

Jaideep Marar 23:39 03/06/2017
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  • Amla and Tahir were excellent for South Africa [Getty Images]

    South Africa started their Champions Trophy campaign with a 96-run victory over Sri Lanka in their Group B encounter at the Kennington Oval in London on Saturday.

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    NO STOPPING AMLA

    Hashim Amla is indeed a man for all seasons. He’s a proven stalwart in Tests (nearly 8,000 runs in over 100 games) and he’s stood tall in the shortest format as well. In the recent Indian Premier League, he topped the batting averages (60.00, 420 runs from 10 games) representing Kings XI Punjab.

    The South African opener took his good form from the IPL to the ODI series against England and now to the Champions Trophy by stroking his way to a splendid hundred.

    What makes Amla a dangerous proposition for his rivals is his ability to weather any storm to build the innings against both pace and spin, and also maintain a decent strike-rate. Like he did on Saturday against the Sri Lankans on a slow pitch where stroke-play was not easy.

    SPIN IS IN

    The first sighting of a quality spinner in the Champions Trophy has been exciting, to say the least. And if the bowler is Imran Tahir, it means entertainment as well.

    The 38-year-old has been a nemesis for the Sri Lankans claiming 20 wickets in nine ODIs played against them before Saturday’s match. He continued to roar in delight at The Oval as he claimed four wickets for 27 runs from 8.2 overs to thwart the Sri Lankan hopes once again.

    The South African leg-spinner troubled all the batsmen with his variations as they found it difficult to score against him. While Tahir justified his World No.2 ODI bowler status, what should delight slow bowlers of his ilk is the effectiveness of a spinner on a slow track.

    The Sri Lankan leg-spinner Seekkuge Prasanna too had his moments but he lacked the consistency and discipline of Tahir.

    TUNE IN FOR BIG HITS ON SLOW TRACKS

    The tournament opener at the Kennington Oval raked up 613 runs for the loss of just eight wickets, and Friday’s game between New Zealand and Australia too would have raised similar figures but for the rain and South Africa nearly scaled that mark on Saturday.

    From the evidence of these three matches, it is clear totals of 300-plus are going to be the order of the day.

    It means batsmen are going to belt out hit numbers but there could be a spin in the tale. Because the placid pitches are also suitable for the slow bowlers, read spinners and the dibbly-dobbly pacers, and teams with quality in those departments are likely to have a bigger say.

    BATSMEN NEED TO BE WARY OF THE ‘DEATH OVERS’

    In the Twenty20 era, batsmen are expected to go hell for leather the moment they take guard especially in the slog overs, or in the ‘death overs’. But it has not been the case in this Champions Trophy so far with Bangladesh, New Zealand and South Africa failing to maximise their run scoring despite getting solid platforms.

    Against England, Bangladesh were coasting along at 261-2 in the 45th over but could only add 44 in the remaining 5.2 overs losing four wickets. The Kiwis were worse off against Australia, losing seven wickets for 47 runs in the last six overs after being 254-3 in the 40th over.

    The Proteas too suffered a wobble on Saturday after being 189-1 in the 34th over only to lose four wickets for the addition of 43 runs in the next 9.5 overs. So what is causing this?

    It can be attributed to a mixture of bad batting and good bowling but the missing jigsaw could be that in T20 cricket the boundaries are shorter where even mishits go for fours and sixes.

    While in this tournament so far, the grounds have been bigger and batsmen fed on the T20 diet have gone for the big hits and have fallen short of expectations. Maybe, a more judicious approach will stem the rot.

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