Three T20Is against India, a 2-1 series defeat for the Proteas, some questions raised but not necessarily solved, and others answered. There were several positives and some negatives. In other words, coach Mark Boucher got exactly what he expected from the quickfire series.

Losing the T20I series in India – the Proteas’ last warm-up before the 20-over World Cup later this month – was disappointing but not defining for South Africa. Losing 2-1 in India, in a format that they are comfortable in, in their own conditions, was not the cricketing equivalent of a train wreck.

What happened in India over the past nine days will just be a footnote when the dust settles on the World Cup. But what kind of footnote will it become?

Proteas batters Quinton de Kock and Rilee Rossouw hit form after lean patches and David Miller reminded everyone of his quality with a stunning century in the second match.

Keshav Maharaj bowled well in the high-scoring second match and again in the third, while scoring lower-order runs in the disastrous opening match. Dwaine Pretorius’s three wickets in the 49-run win in the third T20I were vital and Kagiso Rabada found his groove in that game too.

The Proteas also posted successive scores in excess of 220 in T20I cricket for the first time. Despite some top-order batting issues, the big hitters showed South Africa can hurt opponents.

Bavuma conundrum?

Of course, the biggest negative was the collective failure of the top order in the first encounter and captain Temba Bavuma’s wretched form that yielded only three runs in three innings.

Top-order runs will remain key in the World Cup in Australia and Boucher must be reaching a point where Bavuma’s place is under pressure. In such a cutthroat format, lack of runs and also taking six balls without making a run, as Bavuma did in the second T20I when the Proteas were chasing 237, was criminal.

Reeza Hendricks, whose white-ball form in England in August was excellent, must surely be under consideration, but Bavuma won’t be jettisoned just yet.

Rossouw, who failed to score a run in the first two matches, smashed 100 off 48 balls in the third. He knows the margins between success and failure are slim and it doesn’t take much to regain form.

“Temba’s form isn’t affecting the team at all,” Rossouw said after his heroics in Indore on Tuesday. “We actually talked about it before the game. If someone is going to have a good day, they can carry the weight of someone who’s not in great form. We literally saw it today.

“It takes just one knock and Temba can be in the form of his life going into the World Cup. We just need to be there as a team for him because every professional goes through this. 

“It’s about backing him, and we do, whether it’s his captaincy or his batting.”

The troops are rallying around the skipper, but Bavuma will also understand that he has to come right with the bat to justify his place.

It’s perhaps the biggest poser for Boucher going into the World Cup, but perhaps not. The coach has made it clear that he backs Bavuma and on that basis, Boucher might be clear in his mind that nothing will change.

It might not be a popular stance if runs don’t come for Bavuma, but in some ways it’s a simple solution too. The coach backs his skipper and for this World Cup campaign at least, the status quo will remain.

Of course, Boucher is leaving his post after the World Cup, so he doesn’t have to deal with the fallout if the campaign fails on something as obvious as backing a player short of confidence and runs.

Different conditions

The Bavuma conundrum is certainly a big subplot as the World Cup looms, but looking back at the India series, the biggest takeaway will be the confidence gained by the likes of Rossouw, De Kock and Maharaj.

The conditions in which the series against India were played are different to what both sides can expect in Australia for the World Cup. The pitches, mostly, will be bouncier and faster in Australia and there will be less swing on offer.

In the first T20I of the recent India series in Thiruvananthapuram, the ball swung like a 1950s jazz band and the Proteas struggled. They were reeling at nine for five at one stage yet somehow managed to post a score of 106 for eight.

Tristan Stubbs plays a shot during the 3rd T20 international against India in Indore on 4 October 2022. (Photo: Pankaj Nangia / Gallo Images)

It was woefully too little, of course, despite the batting rearguard by Maharaj (41 off 35 balls) in tough conditions, as India cruised to victory. The Proteas’ bowlers battled to swing the ball as much as India under the lights, slightly later in the evening.

It was a disappointing first outing, with the entire top order failing, which gave the bowlers nothing to work with. Once the Proteas were five down with fewer than 10 runs on the board, gameplans and tactics were rendered meaningless. It became about trying to eke out some sort of credit from the mess.

Visit Daily Maverick’s home page for more news, analysis and investigations

The second match saw a completely different scenario play out in Guwahati. The pitch was as flat as a road and there was almost no assistance for bowlers, via seam, swing or turn. It boiled down to a batting shootout.

India’s batters all contributed as the bowlers toiled. Suryakumar Yadav was particularly brutal, smashing 61 off 22 balls as the fast bowlers were dispatched to every part of the ground.

Read in Daily Maverick: “‘Temba is a world-class player, he’s a brilliant leader,’ says long-time teammate Rassie van der Dussen”

Maharaj though was able to create some problems as he bowled with control to finish with two for 23 in his four overs. In the context of an innings which saw India score 237 for three, it was a remarkable effort.

Although the Proteas smashed their way to 221 for three in reply, they made a poor start. At five for two with Bavuma and Rossouw back in the sheds, each without scoring, the chase was hobbled.

Although Miller (106 off 47 balls) and De Kock (69 off 48) took South Africa close in such a big run chase, the reality was the first 10 balls of the chase yielded one run and two wickets. It made an unlikely target impossible.

In Indore, the Proteas took advantage of being inserted to bat. De Kock and Rossouw put on 90 in eight overs for the second wicket before Tristan Stubbs and Miller offered Rossouw great support as the Proteas reached 227 for three.

The bowlers then did the rest as India were bowled out for 178 for a confidence-boosting 49-run victory.

Despite the obvious red flag of Bavuma’s form and the disappointment of losing the series, the Proteas have actually built some momentum as they head to Australia. The World Cup wasn’t won in this series in India. But it most certainly wasn’t lost either. DM