South Africa’s coach, Shukri Conrad, called his team’s record 342-run defeat to England in the third ODI “embarrassing,” while skipper Temba Bavuma felt the performance “doesn’t do us justice” following their recent ODI victory. Over the last month, South Africa has defeated Australia and England by 2-1 in series.
Their defeat in the third match in England, which was a dead rubber, followed a comprehensive win in game one and a nail-biting victory in game two. This marked the first series in England since 1998. However, the scale of the setback in Southampton, which comes after a 276-run loss to Australia in a series that was already won, raises questions about how fast and dramatically South Africa switches off, especially when the outcome is irrelevant.
“An excuse is better than none. We were obviously off today. And when you’re not on your game against a top team like England, you get exposed,”
Shukri Conrad stated in the post-match press conference.
“A similar situation occurred in Australia, when going 2-0 ahead was a complete anomaly. They got more than 400 as well. But if we have to be bad at something, we’d rather be bad at games that aren’t important. We are not making light of today’s defeat. “That was slightly embarrassing.”
Both of South Africa’s two heaviest ODI defeats occurred when they fielded first, and they were followed by a lack of discipline and lost catches. South Africa bowled 15 wides against Australia and dismissed Alex Carey, who went on to end the innings strongly. Against England, they bowled 19 wides and lost two catches, Jamie Smith for 23 and Jacob Bethell for 44. Bavuma stated at the post-match presentation that bowling so many extras was “far from ideal, not good enough,” and that it “could be complacency,” whilst Conrad believed a poor bowling performance harmed the rest of their skill set.
“The bowling affects the fielding and the other way around, but nine out of ten times, Matthew Breetzke is taking that catch [off Smith, who offered a chance off a leading edge in the covers],” he remarked. “We’re not going to read too much into that, but it’s a difficult one because when that edge is missing, something doesn’t go your way, and no matter how hard you try, it just isn’t there. I’m not making an excuse because it wasn’t planned to be that way, but the fielding wasn’t up to our typically high standards. Overall, it was a humiliating performance on the pitch.
South Africa’s bowling lows were Nandre Burger’s 0 for 95, the most expensive in their history, and Codi Yusuf’s 0 for 80, the worst by a South African debutant. Some of this may be due to inexperience, particularly in the absence of pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada, who has not played an ODI in either Australia or England while recovering from ankle inflammation.
Conrad admitted Rabada might have been “really pushed and forced through today,” but South Africa chose “not to take any risks with him” ahead of the T20Is next week. “The T20 is our priority. When we gained the opportunity to give him another rest, we obviously used it because, with the T20 World Cup approaching, we want to make sure we have a good read on it. We definitely have two major Test series [against Pakistan and India] coming up.”
Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, who was rested, and Marco Jansen, who hasn’t played since breaking his thumb in the World Test Championship final, will all be available for the T20Is. A fresh issue is Bavuma, who was unable to bat due to a calf injury; however, because he is not participating in the T20Is, he will be evaluated when he returns to South Africa. Bavuma’s injury was one among the reasons South Africa’s batting struggled to their second lowest ODI total – 72 – as they chased a target of 415, for which Bavuma claimed there is “no real formula.”
In the end, they were blasted away by Jofra Archer’s blistering opening performance, which included 3 for 1 in his first three overs and 4 for 18. Aiden Markram, Archer’s first wicket, nicked off against a short, wide ball, sending the rest of the line-up into freefall.
“Aiden lost his wicket to a pretty innocuous delivery, and that probably summed up the day,” Conrad said. “Before you know it, you’re down four. Obviously, Temba’s inability to bat had an impact, but it’s impossible to explain why. If you aren’t on top of your game, if you don’t have an edge, you will be exposed.”
Despite their modesty in this match, Bavuma emphasised South Africa’s accomplishments over the prior month, which included victories against Australia and England with one game remaining. “There are lots of positives in the series, coming to England away with a fairly inexperienced side and we wouldn’t want today’s performance to diminish that,” added the coach. “There are shining moments, which we will attempt to highlight. “They cannot be erased by a single performance.”
India
