AB De Villiers is a hard man to please.For the captain of a team who beat their opponents properly in the first one-day international in Mount Maunganui yesterday, he seemed less than satisfied.
SA chased down New Zealand’s total of 230 with six wickets standing and 11 balls to spare, but the only number that mattered to De Villiers was nine – the number of wickets his bowlers took before Luke Ronchi and Trent Boult added 74 in 10.3 overs.
And that after SA had taken those nine wickets for 156 in 34.4 overs. Quinton de Kock was excellent behind the stumps taking six wickets equalling the record.
“We did exceptionally well to get them to nine down at the start of the powerplay,” said De Villiers. “I expected our bowling unit to finish them off, which we didn’t do.
“Our bowlers showed skill to get them to nine down. But it’s still nine down. We’ve got to finish games, especially big games. If you get teams to nine down after 35 overs you have to finish them off.
“You’ve got your best bowlers with the ball in hand. I feel they will be disappointed.”
Even so, De Villiers said his bowlers delivered an “incredible performance” and that “to dismiss them for 230 on a wicket that didn’t do too much was great”.
But, in his final assessment, he returned to his new favourite number: “It’s nine out of 10 for the bowlers.”
Dale Steyn was fast, furious and fastidious for his figures of 1/28 in 7.1 overs.
Vernon Philander conceded just seven runs in his first five overs – and took two wickets – but went for 13 in his sixth and 18 in his seventh.
Morne Morkel recovered well from a second over that went for 10 runs to claim 2/39 in eight.
Ryan McLaren will not be happy with bleeding 13 runs in each of his second and third overs and 16 in his eighth and last.
Imran Tahir was good value for his 2/37 from his full quota and JP Duminy did well, taking 1/22 off five.
De Villiers had more nines to talk about. His 89 not out included nine fours, forming part of an unbroken stand of 139 he shared with Duminy, and was a signature display of the outrageousness he does best.
But then he also sounded less than happy with himself.
I didn’t feel as though as I was in at all, which maybe helped me and played into my hands,” he said.
“I was more conservative than what I would normally be because the ball wasn’t coming out of the middle (of the bat). It made me focus a bit more on the basics – getting off strike, getting my ones and getting the innings going.”
With that, De Villiers left no doubts in the minds of those who have ambitions to force their way into the reckoning for SA’s World Cup squad of the required standard.
For instance, Andrew Puttick and Robin Peterson are second on the list of run-scorers and wicket-takers respectively in the One-Day Cup. But they will know second place is not good enough when they run out for the Cobras against the Knights at Newlands today.
Perhaps an innings of 199 not out or a haul of nine wickets would grab De Villiers’ attention.