Ottneil Baartman continues to excel in the SA20 despite T20 World Cup omission

Ottneil Baartman has taken 16 wickets in only five SA20 matches this season. He’s the all-time leading wicket-taker after four seasons of the competition, with 57 wickets in only 30 matches and a lowly average of only 14.11.

Yesterday the Paarl Royals pacer enhanced his reputation even further by claiming a five-wicket haul, while conceding only 16 runs against Pretoria Capitals. The performance helped secure a six-wicket win and the Capitals’ passage into the knockout phase of the tournament as the log leaders.

It seems almost criminal then that Baartman will not be part of the Proteas cohort to board the plane for India and Sri Lanka when the T20 World Cup commences at the start of next month.

But Baartman didn’t expect to be selected.

“I wasn’t too disappointed,” he said after his player-of-the-match performance on Thursday evening. “I didn’t think in the first place that I was going to be picked.”

The seamer was not a regular member of the Proteas squad last season, although he did tour to India and Pakistan at the backend of 2025. But according to Baartman, he’s had no communication from either convenor of selectors Patrick Moroney or head coach Shukri Conrad since, which tempered his expectations on a T20 World Cup berth.

“The selector called me when I was selected for India,” he explained “[but] nobody actually spoke to me before that or after that… I don’t know why I was not selected.”

Hat-trick hero

The last three wickets of Baartman’s five-wicket haul came in three consecutive deliveries to deliver the second hat-trick of the tournament.

Setting the score, the Pretoria Capitals were on 126 runs with six wickets down with two overs left in their innings to set a respectable score.

But Baartman ensured they’d only add one more run to their tally after the next three balls, dismissing big-hitting West Indian Andre Russell, caught by Sikandar Raza. Lizaad Williams followed, clean bowled and Lungi Ngidi was out caught and bowled.

Read more: SA20 knockout phase heats up with defending champions MI Cape Town all but out of contention

Earlier in the tournament Ngidi became the first player to take a hat-trick in SA20 history after claiming the feat against Durban’s Super Giants. In a twist of fate, last night Ngidi was Baartman’s third victim in taking the tournament’s second ever hat-trick.

But makes the man from Oudtshoorn such an effective bowler in this format T20 Cricket?

“People talk about X Factor and X Factor for me is being able to hold the length for a long period of time,” opposing captain Keshav Maharaj said. Maharaj and Baartman have been teammates in domestic cricket at the Dolphins for the past six seasons.

“That’s literally what Ottas [Baartman] does with his odd bumper and a little bit of a change up. He keeps it simple. He doesn’t leave the stumps.”

Baartman is deceptively quick as well, but is skiddy, which helps him zero in on the stumps.

Not leaving the stumps

Prior to his hat-trick, Baartman cleaned up Englishman Jordan Cox, before trapping Connor Esterhuizen LBW in consecutive deliveries in the fourth over of the match.

“If you look at the best bowlers in the world, they don’t leave the stumps,” Maharaj said.

“Kudos to him. The way he bowled today, all his dismissals were basically the top of middle and off.

“If you look at all of it, it’s as simple as that. He’s someone that sums up conditions very quickly. He’s a world-class performer.

“He’s done that at an international level as well. He showed how he can change the game single-handedly on its head and defend the game. He’s probably one of the best death bowlers we have… he’s showing his worth right now.”

It’s high praise from the captain in the opposition camp. Even though Baartman won’t be at the T20 World Cup wearing the green and gold strip next month (barring injury), his record in the SA20 will ensure that the 32-year-old will go down as one of the best the franchise competition has seen. DM