Johannesburg, April 3 (IANS) South Africa’s white-ball head coach Rob Walter is optimistic about the future of his team after formally concluding their 2022/23 home season with a 2-0 win over the Netherlands in the recent series.
The result capped a strong home summer for South Africa, who also beat England 2-1 in ODIs and then drew 1-1 with the West Indies, who they lost a thrilling T20I series 2-1 to but beat them 2-0 in Tests.
The outcome against the Dutch also moved the Proteas ahead of West Indies in the race for ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup qualification where only one team can now catch them on the ICC World Cup Super League table. That team is Ireland who will have to whitewash Bangladesh next month.
“It’s always good to get a series win, so the spirits are high. Most importantly were the 20 points in the context of qualifying for the World Cup were hugely important, so we’re happy we got the job done there. We played a portion of the second game really well, but we were off the mark in certain other areas so there’s work to do still. But we’ll take the win for now,” Walter was quoted as saying by Cricket South Africa (CSA).
There was plenty of concern over the Proteas at the turn of the year, especially after exiting the Men’s T20 World Cup last year at the Super 12 stage after suffering a shock loss to the Netherlands in a must-win game.
But Walter believes there is nothing to fear.
“I’ve kept a close eye on South African cricket over the last few years, so I’m very aware of the people that are playing but the one thing that has really run through over the last couple of weeks is the actual resources and potential of the side, which is really significant. It’s just about harnessing that properly as we move forward.”
Walter was also full of praise for Aiden Markram, who has enjoyed a stellar home summer, which included leading Sunrisers Eastern Cape to the inaugural SA20 title, followed by Player of the Series displays in the Tests against West Indies and the ODIs against the Netherlands.
“I think he’s been doing It for a couple of weeks now, to be honest. His knock at Willowmoore (Park in the second ODI) was also outstanding if you think of the first shot he played when guys were struggling all day. He stood up tall, played it on the up and hit it for four, so his cricket is orthodox, but the purity of his timing has been amazing and his decision-making has been great.”
Markram himself was also pleased with the way things had turned around for him in the last few months. Markram was named South Africa’s new T20I captain last month, and recorded a career-best 175 off 126 balls, in what was his 50th international match.
“I’ve enjoyed the last part of the season quite a bit. I think we have a great team in both red-ball and white-ball formats. There’s a great bunch of guys that we have together. There’s no doubt that we’re slowly but surely getting there and showing some good signs as a team.”
“We’re on this new journey that everyone is speaking about and the brand of cricket that the guys want to play, it’s starting to take some shape, which is exciting to be a part of and exciting to see it from the outside as well. All of that added together has made the journey so far a great joy to be part of.”
Another player who has enjoyed an excellent summer has been fast bowler Sisanda Magala, whose performances have also won him a contract with the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Magala claimed a career-best 5/43 as the Dutch were bowled out for 224.
“I think with Sisi (Magala), he’s a very basic guy and if he’s got backing then he’s going to break his back for you. That’s sort of the way he approaches things. I think he’s felt that backing through the last few performances, naturally a player feels it that now they belong at this level, they can compete and they can win games at this level which he has shown now quite a few times.”
“It’s great for him to have these achievements that he’s getting especially through the bit of history he’s had in this environment. The guys love him, he’s great value in the changeroom and when he does well everyone in the team is over the moon for him.”
–IANS
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