After South Africa were stunned by the Netherlands at Dharamsala, there were questions about Temba Bavuma’s captaincy. The mighty Proteas were handed a 38-run defeat at the World Cup on Tuesday, leaving their campaign in disarray.
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What rankled the team even more, according to captain Bavuma, was that they had the Dutch batters on the mat in the first innings, but they had loosened their hold.
“From having the Dutch batters at 112 for 6, we shouldn’t have allowed them to go past 200,” Bavuma had said after the match.
But it was in the second innings of the game, as they chased a total of 246, that South Africa were particularly found out. And Bavuma came in for a severe tongue lashing from former Pakistan players.
“South Africa’s captain… in the first four overs where you needed at least six runs an over, he was playing everything on the backfoot. And that too when there was an off-spinner (Aryan Dutt) bowling!” said Wasim Akram on a panel show on A Sports.
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“There were just two fielders outside the circle, so he should have started hitting the bowling from the first ball,” Shoaib Malik chimed in. “A captain’s responsibility is not just to set the field when the team are bowling!”
Buoyed by the restraint shown by the Proteas batters against off-spinner Dutt, the Dutch think tank introduced Colin Ackermann into the attack in the fourth over itself. Both spinners bowled in tandem.
Misbah-ul-Haq broke down where Bavuma had erred.
“The off-spinner was in the attack from the start because the Dutch were targeting left-handed Quinton de Kock. The job of the right-hander (Bavuma) was to not let the off-spinner settle down. Hit him for two boundaries in an owner, they will get him off the attack. That will push them to the back foot. That’s why they brought in Ackermann. The right-hander had allowed the Dutch to dominate them,” said Misbah.
