In 23 days, the Proteas men’s cricket team start their T20 World Cup campaign in Hobart.
While one swallow doesn’t make a summer, there must be some really worried heads in the management team after Wednesday’s implosion in the first T20 against India.
SA could only manage 106 on their way to an embarrassing eight-wicket loss in Thiruvananthapuram.
That they managed to get past 100 was in thanks largely to knocks by Keshav Maharaj (41) and Wayne Parnell (24) down the order after Aiden Markram (25) was the only batsman in the top six to make more than one run.
Reduced to 9/5 in just 2.3 overs, the match was all but over. While the high risk, high reward nature of T20 cricket can produce lopsided results, these are worrisome times for Mark Boucher and his team.
They only have a handful of matches – the remaining two of the Indian series, and some warm-up matches in Australia – to find some form before the World Cup.
The one characteristic most Proteas teams have shown over the years is the ability to bounce back. They’ll need that if they are to gain confidence before their T20 World Cup opener this month.
And they need to start in the second T20 tomorrow in Guwahati. Otherwise it could be a few miserable weeks Down Under.
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