T20 World Cup: Can South Africa maintain the momentum?

The Proteas will be well-placed if they beat Bangladesh in the day game in Abu Dhabi

South Africa and Australia are neck and neck in Group 1, both with two wins in three games. After a narrow loss to Australia in the first game, South Africa have overcome tense times on and off the field to beat the West Indies and Sri Lanka. Australia, on the other hand, started positively with wins over South Africa and Bangladesh, before getting thrashed on Saturday evening by England in Dubai. Both teams are on four points, with South Africa in second position after England on net run rate. So the Proteas will be well-placed if they beat Bangladesh in the day game in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, before their final encounter against England.

Bowler-friendly ground

Except for Afghanistan’s 160 against Namibia, Abu Dhabi has had a string of low scores by teams batting first and second, in day games as well as evening matches. The pitch is tacky and the ball doesn’t come on well to the bat. This keeps both pacers and spinners interested, and the large ground means batsmen hole out in the deep more often than not when they take the aerial route to scoring. South Africa have the edge over Bangladesh in this bowler-friendly ground, with the pace of Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada, complemented by the left-arm leg-spin of Tabraiz Shamsi, whose operatic celebrations on taking wickets are almost as entertaining as fellow South African Imran Tahir’s used to be.

Chasing is better

It’s a day game. So the pitch could get slower in the second half. Nevertheless, the greater advantage is knowing the target, because it’s hard to figure what’s a good score to defend on such a wicket. There’s a likelihood of losing too many wickets in trying to maintain a higher run rate than required. Both of South Africa’s wins came while chasing, and skipper Temba Bavuma would likely prefer that option. Bangladesh, on the other hand, may choose to bat first to take advantage of a fresh pitch, like Afghanistan did against Namibia.

Quinton’s game plan

A crucial element in South Africa’s chances of going further in the tournament is the batting form of their mercurial opener, Quinton de Kock. He got out early against Australia and Sri Lanka, with mistimed shots on both occasions. He also struggled to come to grips with the pitches in the UAE during the Indian Premier League (IPL), but has the talent to find a way if he gives himself a few conservative overs before attacking. The experienced South African opener also missed a game in between when a last-minute directive from the board to make a gesture against racism didn’t feel right to him. But all’s well now, and his partnership with Bavuma at the top of the order will be as good a show of racial equality as any other.

Bangladesh captaincy

Mahmudullah, the century-making hero of Bangladesh’s famous win over England in the 2015 ODI World Cup, has been less assured as a captain. Bangladesh began their Super 12 campaign on a strong note, scoring 171 against Sri Lanka in Sharjah, on a wicket with low bounce where it should have been a winning total. But the skipper let off the Sri Lankans with unwarranted bowling changes like bringing himself for some off-spin to left-handers, taking overs away from his main bowlers.

New gen should stand up

Bangladesh remain over-reliant on three players in their mid-thirties: Mahmudullah, wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Rahim, and all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan. It’s time for some of the talented younger lot like opener Liton Das to take the responsibility of winning matches. This is all the more so now that Shakib has been ruled out of any further part in the World Cup.

Sumit Chakraberty is a writer based in Bengaluru. Write to him at chakraberty@gmail.com