South Africa will face India at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens on Sunday. A win for South Africa will ensure Proteas a semifinal spot.
Kolkata: South African batters, especially Quinton de Kock, have run riot in the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023 but facing Indian spinners like Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja could test the Proteas, indicated captain Temba Bavuma ahead of a top-of-the table clash against Rohit Sharma’s men at the Eden Gardens on Sunday in Kolkata. Riding on their superlative performance, South Africa are on a four-match winning streak. On the other hand, India are the only unbeaten side in the tournament and have already qualified for the semifinals.
“Kuldeep (Yadav) has bowled very well. He’s been taking wickets for them in the middle, in conjunction with (Ravindra) Jadeja. So, they’ve been quite key within that middle phase,” Bavuma told media during the pre-match presser on Saturday.
“I think we’ve played spin quite well as a team over the last couple of years. So, it’ll be a good test for us batters as to how we come up against the challenge of Yadav as well as Jadeja,” he said in the pre-match media conference.
Bavuma also said that the Proteas will have to bring their ‘A’ game to the table to counter Indian bowling, which has been augmented by the inclusion of pacer Mohammed Shami. “You respect the strength and the threats that they bring.
“It’s obviously a world-class bowling attack in their condition. We’re going to have to have our A games up come tomorrow. We try to cover all our bases, make sure that we’re not surprised by anything, and get ourselves into a space where we can play our best cricket,” he said.
The match against India will be played on a used wicket that hosted the first World Cup tie here between the Netherlands and Bangladesh. There may be something in it for the spinners and Bavuma indicated he might playing both Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi on Sunday.
“Yeah, if the wicket assists the spinners, you’ll definitely see those two. If possible, I’d like to play both our front-line spinners, but we’ll see how that comes about. We are mindful of the fact that it won’t be like Delhi, where it’s a quick-scoring ground.
“We might have to graft a lot more. You might have to hit a lot more balls on the ground,” he said. Bavuma has been the weak link in their power-packed batting line-up. Having missed two of the seven matches because of injury, Bavuma averages 22.20 without a fifty to his name.
“I take comfort from the fact that I’ve been involved in some partnerships with Quinton (de Kock) up front. Obviously, you want to extend it. Mentally, obviously, got to keep staying there. There’s still a lot of cricket to go within this tournament. I believe that I’ll have a part to play somewhere within the tournament,” he adde
Asked whether their power-packed batting performance so far had wiped off the choker’s tag that gets attached to the side whenever it plays in ICC events, Bavuma indicated that a loss after putting up such impressive performances here should not be taken as a sign of choking.
“To choke? I don’t know how to answer that. I think if we come unstuck tomorrow, I don’t think it’ll be a matter of choking. I doubt you would say that about India as well if they come unstuck, if they would choke.
“You got two teams who are in-form, coming up against each other and I think it’s just a matter of who breaks first and who’s able to, I guess, exploit that moment or that weakness. We’ll deal with them as best as we can. But, yeah, I haven’t heard that word come up as of yet in the training,” added Bavuma.
(With agency inputs)