SA go into the fourth one-day international in Melbourne today knowing an Australian win will decide the series. And that, according to Hashim Amla, is no bad thing.
“It’s a good situation to be in, in that there is some added pressure on us,” Amla said. “That’s a good thing in preparation for the World Cup. It’s a must-win game for us, but the silver lining is that we’ll be tested.”
All good. But there will be another kind of pressure on SA if they lose today, or even if they win only to go down in what would be the decider in Sydney on Sunday – in which case they would return home to anxious questioning about their readiness for a World Cup that is now less than three months away.
That said, SA could have been sitting just as pretty as the Aussies at the Melbourne Cricket Ground today. The home side won Wednesday’s match in Canberra by 73 runs, but the key was that the only time Australia had two new batsmen at the crease was at the beginning of their innings.
Either opener Aaron Finch, who scored 109, or Steve Smith, who was 73 not out, or both, were involved for all 50 overs.
Amla, who opened and scored 102, lasted into the 39th over – or not long enough, he said. Worse, he and AB de Villiers, who together represented SA’s best hope of chasing down the target of 330, were dismissed in the space of six balls.
“Batting up front you want to bat as long as you can,” Amla said. “We tried to go (big) a little earlier, but then myself and AB got out and we lost our way and we didn’t even get close. Had we got some momentum going from the 35th over onwards we would have challenged.”
Instead, SA lost their last six wickets for 32 runs. That happened at least partly because batting became more difficult as the innings wore on due to the ball aging prematurely on an abrasive outfield.
However, Australia were presented with the same challenge – Finch said surviving and prospering grew harder with each ball he faced – and, thanks largely to Smith’s steadying hand, still soared to a towering total.
There was no such middle order meat in SA’s sandwich, a situation they will have to remedy sooner rather than later what with five matches against West Indies their only remaining ODIs before the World Cup after this series.
But, Amla said, even if Australia took the rubber away from SA, they could not take the experience South Africa will have gained from playing at three of the six venues for their World Cup group games.
“We’re going to be in Canberra at the World Cup so this has given us some preparation, and then we’re going to Melbourne and Sydney,” Amla said.
SA’s players, too, will know that what they accomplish on this tour will not be forgotten by the time the World Cup squad is named.
“The guys have taken a lot of insight from it, and from a selection point of view they are probably having a good look at the squad,” Amla said.
Pressure mounting for Proteas
“It’s a good situation to be in, in that there is some added pressure on us,” Amla said. “That’s a good thing in preparation for the World Cup. It’s a must-win game for us, but the silver lining is that we’ll be tested.”
All good. But there will be another kind of pressure on SA if they lose today, or even if they win only to go down in what would be the decider in Sydney on Sunday – in which case they would return home to anxious questioning about their readiness for a World Cup that is now less than three months away.
That said, SA could have been sitting just as pretty as the Aussies at the Melbourne Cricket Ground today. The home side won Wednesday’s match in Canberra by 73 runs, but the key was that the only time Australia had two new batsmen at the crease was at the beginning of their innings.
Either opener Aaron Finch, who scored 109, or Steve Smith, who was 73 not out, or both, were involved for all 50 overs.
Amla, who opened and scored 102, lasted into the 39th over – or not long enough, he said. Worse, he and AB de Villiers, who together represented SA’s best hope of chasing down the target of 330, were dismissed in the space of six balls.
“Batting up front you want to bat as long as you can,” Amla said. “We tried to go (big) a little earlier, but then myself and AB got out and we lost our way and we didn’t even get close. Had we got some momentum going from the 35th over onwards we would have challenged.”
Instead, SA lost their last six wickets for 32 runs. That happened at least partly because batting became more difficult as the innings wore on due to the ball aging prematurely on an abrasive outfield.
However, Australia were presented with the same challenge – Finch said surviving and prospering grew harder with each ball he faced – and, thanks largely to Smith’s steadying hand, still soared to a towering total.
There was no such middle order meat in SA’s sandwich, a situation they will have to remedy sooner rather than later what with five matches against West Indies their only remaining ODIs before the World Cup after this series.
But, Amla said, even if Australia took the rubber away from SA, they could not take the experience South Africa will have gained from playing at three of the six venues for their World Cup group games.
“We’re going to be in Canberra at the World Cup so this has given us some preparation, and then we’re going to Melbourne and Sydney,” Amla said.
SA’s players, too, will know that what they accomplish on this tour will not be forgotten by the time the World Cup squad is named.
“The guys have taken a lot of insight from it, and from a selection point of view they are probably having a good look at the squad,” Amla said.
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