South Africa enjoyed a full ‘work-out’ in their second and final warm-up match against New Zealand on Monday with nine bowlers getting some time in the middle and welcome runs for Quinton de Kock (84*), Rassie van der Dussen (51) and Heinrich Klaasen (39) as they reached 211 for four before rain ended the contest.
The first of South Africa’s scheduled warm-up games, against Afghanistan, was washed out on Saturday, leaving yesterday’s outing at the Greenfield Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram as their only netless workout before the first game against Sri Lanka in Delhi on Saturday.
Gone are the days when teams pretended that results didn’t matter in World Cup warm-ups. These days, they really don’t matter and nobody pretends otherwise. Both teams used 14 players in what are very much unofficial fixtures in which match scenarios and individual time in the middle are all that matters.
The Black Caps set the tone with Devon Conway (78*) and Kane Williamson (37*) retiring during a total of 321 for six during which the Proteas even used Heinrich Klaasen among their bowlers, while Lungi Ngidi (3-33) and Marco Jansen (3-45) collected some slog-over wickets.
De Kock reached 84 from 89 balls when rain brought the contest to an end with New Zealand winning by seven runs on the DLS method. Not that it mattered to anyone.
Reserve wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen turned his arm over for three overs, suggesting that he is being considered as the emergency option in case of injury during a match. And they may just have stumbled onto something.
Klaasen used to be a semi-serious, part-time offspinner. He’d be milk and honey to the batsmen in India. But the seam-up, medium pace he delivered yesterday was so innocuous that no self-respecting batsman in the world would dare risk dismissal against him. He might just be able to burgle a couple of cheap overs, should the need arise.
There was also confirmation of South Africa’s blueprint with the bat which sees a full turn of the tactical wheel from 20 years ago when the modus operandi was to start cautiously and build towards a crescendo at the end. Back in the day, it was the reflection of a cautious attitude based on avoiding defeat before aiming for victory.
These days it is based on a lack of allrounders and batting depth but also the immense scoring power of the top six, provided they can make it to the final 10 overs. Much as fans enjoy a walk after a hearty weekend lunch, South Africa’s players enjoyed their time in the middle. But it had a similar intensity to that post-lunch walk. The real business starts against Sri Lanka, in Delhi, on Saturday.