Series Thread: U19 Tri-Series SA v Zim v SL

Very strange. I wonder whether we got undone by spin or pace?

A lot has to do with perception. The Sri Lankans assume the South Africans must be very strong and may well set about the game with caution and perhaps a bit of apprehension and give them way too much respect. State of mind is everything.

Playing against Zim they assume we're the whipping boys and just play with clear minds. Round 2 would have been even easier because they beat us so convincingly before.

On Zim's side it's impossible to say what happened unless you saw the game. I can only think that there were a couple of really sharp bowlers there. As per normal with Zim teams our batting has limited depth and is brittle. Early loss of wickets means guys have to consolidate and grind it out, we've always lacked the depth and ability to do that. Murray is frustrating, big scores then nothing, just lacking consistency, again a Zim curse which largely comes from lack of exposure to top opposition. We lack guys that can grind and nudge and steal sharp singles and get a base going. Hard to find a single batter in our country that isn't a few balls away from a low percentage shot. I could count on one hand the times any Zim teams have chased a big total. It requires at least one big centurion and at least two big partnerships. We usually win when we defend low totals with miracle bowling and fielding or get them out cheaply and then scrape home with a heart stopping collapse somewhere in the innings. Low scores happen, but twice in a row to the same team?

Googly wrote:Hard to find a single batter in our country that isn't a few balls away from a low percentage shot.

Yeah, this is a very important observation. And the reason why we struggle to put up a big score across formats at all levels. Contrast that with the times of Andy Flower, Heath Streak and Guy Whittall. They hardly played low percentage shots. Present generation of Sibandas and Williamses are itching to play that low percentage shot as soon as they middle one or two. Craig Ervine's success last year must be attributed a great deal to his ability to control the urge to play low percentage shots unlike his teammates. Hope he continues in that fashion.

Bangladesh perennially suffered from this disease too, but has grown well over the last 5 years. Shakib still has those tendencies though, a lot more that Tamim. And the Afghans are still finding their feet with respect to this trait. So, therein lies our chance to topple them, if only we are intelligent and stifle their scoring a bit...

Last match of the series for us, and oh! blasphemy! Trent Jayden "Sir Garfield Sobers" Schadendorf has been benched! Probably a much needed rest from constant game time.

Train Driver wrote:

CrimsonAvenger wrote:Last match of the series for us, and oh! blasphemy! Trent Jayden "Sir Garfield Sobers" Schadendorf has been benched! Probably a much needed rest from constant game time.

Benched?, I heard he was seen outside the Afghan consulate with some application forms and a pen

Not easy though! Might have to change name to Tariq Javid Schadendzai and hope for the best. However, today's hardworking makeshift opener Dawlat Zvidzai might be able to break in more comfortably.

Right on cue, he has gotten out to speed up the process.