Cricket World Cup: In De Kock, Markram, Klassen and Miller, South Africa’s deadly line-up awaits spin-shy Australia | Cricket-world-cup News

Lucknow: A batsman once judged too slow for white-ball cricket reeling off the fastest century in the World Cup; a troubled maverick rediscovering the joy of batting and representing his country again; an inconsent six-hitting machine fulfilling his gifts; a one-time prodigy realising his potential at 34. South Africa’s batting has dramatically transformed under coach Rob Walter, a once health-and-conditioning journeyman coach bafflingly entrusted to revive his country’s cricket from the chaos that had engulfed it. From a disjointed group, he has carved a fearsome top-six.Few bowling units would not dread a line-up that wields the destructive capabilities of Quinton de Kock, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen and, well, David Miller. And after racking up two scores in excess of 400 runs in the last four games — in the other two games, they piled 300-plus totals— there is a bubbling buzz around them. As is en vogue these days, the press in South Africa has promptly termed the aggressive brand of cricket, Rob-ball.
The self-effacing, largely behind-the-scenes coach, has laughed off the phrase, but explained the g of his approach during the series against Australia at home, in which they bounced back from a 0-2 deficit to win 3-2.
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“The game is riddled with risk. Sometimes it’s going to pay off and other times it isn’t. I was happy with the progress we made.”
His could not be the most gifted side, there are no world-beating names in the line-up but for the quick, Kagiso Rabada. There is no happy headache in picking high-class all-rounders; Kusal Mendis and Co exposed their at-times shoddy bowling in Delhi last Saturday.

But after the storming of the Kotla, there is a sudden thrill about watching their batting, though the sample size is too thin to pass a judgement that they could be one of the surprise packages in the tournament. Bizarrely, this was the least-burdened South Africa team to have ever entered a World Cup. No one whispered the choke-word, few counted them as likely semi-finals, fewer still placed them as elites.
This indifferent build-up suits South Africa, believes their legend AB de Villiers. “I have played in previous teams that had more superstars in its ranks but struggled to deal with the pressure that came with that,” De Villiers wrote in his column for the ICC.
“The longer we can fly under the radar the better, as those are often the tournaments you win. Suddenly you get to a semi-final, and it is knockout cricket where anything can happen,” he elaborated.
In several ways, this looks like a different South Africa, modest and laidback, but clinical and ambitious. Bavuma, for all the criticism he has copped for his fluctuations in form, has been a relaxed captain. Even during the onslaught of Kusal Mendis, he did not panic. There were no frantic discussions with bowlers, no fretful expressions, no moves in hurry, seldom chewing the bowlers’ ears. On the field, he looks less frazzled than he used to in the early days of his captaincy, which seemed as though it was thrust on him. Runs help — he has piled three hundreds in his last 10 outings in this format.
Tougher tests ahead
But caveats abound. Rob-Ball would better be measured against teams of superior bowing and its effectiveness and execution in big tournaments. The Australian bowling that they battered was at best an experimental line-up that featured just two front-liners, Josh Hazlewood and Adam Zampa (but Zampa did bleed 113 runs in his 10 overs); Sri Lanka’s bowlers were skittish, as Pakan’s batsmen reinforced in Hyderabad.
As Quinton de Kock would later admit, the hype is presumptuous. “It’s only one game into the World Cup, so it’s hard to say how we’re really going. Even though we’ve had it really well our last couple of games, it hasn’t been over a course of years. It’s only been a course of over a month or a couple of months.”
So in every sense, a realic assessment of Rob-Ball could be arrived at only after they reproduce their aggression against stronger teams. Like Australia, who they duel on Thursday. Their encounters are less vibrant than they once were — lop-sidedly dominated the Proteas, having won 15 of their last 20 clashes against the multiple world champions. There are few scripts within scripts of fabled match-ups, fewer characters and mind-games. It seems like a ghost rivalry.
From the last half of the last century to a decade into this one, theirs was the rivalry that defined cricket, one built purely on sporting pedigree. Both have lost some of their lustre. Australia are billed to reach the semifinals, but are not irrepressible favourites. They have their cracks to gloss over, after the reality check received during the Chepauk thrashing.Most Read
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The form of their lone special spinner is worrisome — Zampa seemed to have lost his belief after Klassen’s clubbing in Centurion. Their batsmen have looked tired and confused, playing in uncharacteric fashion against spinners. South Africa’s spinners might not possess the devilish streaks of the Indian spin trio, but Keshav Maharaj is a grossly understated proposition. Among his left-arm finger spin contemporaries, he possesses the fourth-best economy rate (4.75), a number better than even Ravindra Jadeja (4.90). Bear in mind that he plies his trade in largely spin-unfriendly conditions in South Africa, and to still manage such an economy rate is staggering. The relaid Ekana surface might not be as conducive to tweakers as Chepauk. But Maharaj could keep a tight lid on Australia’s batsmen, seeking to exorcise their Chepauk trauma.
In that sense, Lucknow’s quiet would have been akin to a detox. It’s hot, but without the sweltering humidity of Chennai. The capital of India’s most populous state loves its cricket, but it’s not as obsessed with it as Chennai. Besides there is little baggage of hory, which Glenn Maxwell called a leap into the unknown.
The pitch too is something of an unknown. A notorious turner during the IPL, the curator was axed after a low-scoring T20I shootout between India and New Zealand. Chasing 100, India won with just a ball to spare. The talk among the locals is that the relaid surface is full of runs. If that be the case, Australia’s spin-stung batsmen could exorcise the demons, while South Africa’s Rob-Ball could roll on.