Cape Town — The Proteas 28-year long wait to win a white-ball series in England will continue after the series-decider at Headingley was washed away on Sunday.
The visitors would undoubtedly feel that they missed the opportunity to close out the series last week at Old Trafford in the second ODI when they dismissed England for just 201.
And to further compound matters, they were denied another chance in the series-decider in Leeds just when Quinton de Kock’s superb 92 not out off 76 balls had propelled South Africa to 159/2 after just 27.4 overs before the match was abandoned.
“It wasn’t ideal , especially after putting in such a spectacular performance with the bat in the first ODI,” stand-in captain Keshav Maharaj said. “It is frustrating, but the rains are out of our control. We can only control what we can.”
Reflecting on the overall performance during the series, it certainly was the batting blowout at Old Trafford that cost the Proteas dearly, particularly coming on the back of a record score in England.
Instead of bemoaning the Old Trafford catastrophe where the Proteas slumped to 6/4 en-route to being bowled for 83 — their lowest score in England — Maharaj adopted a philosophical approach.
“Our ODI batting unit has done relatively well for the last 18 months, so it is about give and take because it was bound to happen, but I think the boys understood where we went wrong and they rectified it today,” he said.
The Proteas’ ODI journey only intensifies from hereon, especially with Cricket SA forfeiting the ICC Super League points that was on offer in the away series in Australia next year in favour of launching a T20 domestic franchise tournament home.
The decision severely affects the Proteas’ chances of qualifying automatically for next year’s 50-overs Cup in India, especially with Mark Boucher’s team currently languishing in 11th place on the table. Only the top seven teams along with the hosts India qualify automatically.
This ODI series against England did have any ICC Super League points on offer, but all the Proteas’ remaining series for the year will. Maharaj is confident that the Proteas will have benefitted from this series in England though, and will be take to confidence from the 1-1 result against the world champions into the forthcoming matches.
“I think if you looked at the first ODI, then it was arguably our most clinical performance in the last 18 months. If we can replicate that sort of mindset, as the adaptation to the wicket was probably the most important, and if we can keep building on the things we have done, I think we’ll be okay. Obviously, it is a tough schedule in terms of the countries we have to play for points, but we’ll take that in our stride,” he said.
Maharaj was also pleased with De Kock’s contribution before the rains came down, especially with a three-match T20 series against England followed by another two T20Is against Ireland on the horizon.
“Quinny is probably back to his best. His skill levels are up there with the best in the world. It is good to see a senior player put up his hand in such a crucial game. It would have been interesting to see the outcome of the game because it would have been a thrilling end to a spectacular series. I’m just happy that Quinny has found his form again, Maharaj added.
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