Sri Lanka vs South Africa 2013: South Africa Preview

South Africa begin a new phase in international cricket with the tour to Sri Lanka as Gary Kirsten steps aside to allow Russell Domingo to take over the position of the team’s head coach.

Gary Kirsten was appointed as the head coach in August 2011 after he tasted World Cup success with the Indian side. His priority was to build a strong Test team and claim the top position, an expectation that he fulfilled by defeating England 2-0 last year. He has also mediated the transfer of power from Graeme Smith to AB De Villiers.

Kirsten’s successful stint meant that the South African Cricket board was keen on extending his contract by another two years, but Kirsten chose to give priority to his family.

However, Kirsten was unable to replicate the success he achieved with South Africa in the Test arena in the shorter format of the game. South Africa were rather fortunate to make the semifinals of the Champions Trophy after winning only one of their three group games (lost 1, tied 1) where they eventually bowed out to runners-up England. The manner in which their batting line-up capitulated against the English pace battery would have left a lot of Proteas fans red-faced.

Kirsten admitted to the failures of the side at the end of the campaign even though the team was unfortunate to lose two of its bowling spearheads in the course of the tournament.

He said, “It has happened again, if we are honest with ourselves. I think we did choke again. At the end of the day, it’s a word that we’ve become comfortable with. It’s an uncomfortable word, that we’ve become comfortable with, and you have to accept that that’s what it is.”

Kirsten’s up-front acceptance indicated that both the honesty with which he carried out his work and also the fact that South Africa acknowledge the failure, and that’s the first step in correcting it.

The team was also without their two dependable experienced stalwarts: Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis. They will be absent once again when Russell Domingo starts his campaign with five ODIs and 3 T20 matches in Sri Lanka.

Domingo has been the head coach of South Africa’s T20 outfit since December and now he has been given the responsibility of building a competent team fro the 2014 T20 World Cup as well as for the 2015 World Cup while keeping up the standards set by Kirsten in the Test match arena.

Domingo has a core group of players who have established themselves with their consistent performances in this team and hence his life is made easier. They have a quality leader in AB de Villiers, arguably the world’s best bowler in Dale Steyn and a top batsman in Hashim Amla.

The immediate task at hand however is to challenge the subcontinental giants in unfamiliar territory. The first ODI will be played at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. South Africa have made negligible changes to the squad that visited England for the Champions Trophy. Dale Steyn remains unavailable due to injury, but Morne Morkel will ply his trade as wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock returns to the squad.

South Africa’s batting performed up to the expectations at the Champions Trophy apart from a critical failure against England’s quality swing bowling in the semifinals. Hashim Amla is a reliable commodity at the top of the order and averages over 55 runs in his 73 ODI matches. He will form the opening partnership with Colin Ingram who will be wary of continuing his bad run-of-form, as wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock will be ready to displace him.

Alviro Petersen played a good knock against India in the group game of the Champions Trophy, but he has more work to do before he can be comfortable in his boots. Faf du Plessis is at a stage of his career when he should be playing his best cricket. He has been given the encouragement to do so as he has been named the vice-captain of the side after Hashim Amla relinquished the job. His performance will be critical in the slow and dry conditions of Sri Lanka.

Faf du Plessis

South Africa’s bowling department will miss the leadership of Dale Steyn, but it has enough teeth in its rank to make use of the conditions in Sri Lanka. They have found a new and exciting resource in Chris Morris who impressed with his bowling when he was called to England after Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel suffered injuries. He will have to compete for a place in the side against Rory Kleinveldt.

Ryan Mclaren and Lonwabo Tsotsobe will form the first line of attack along with Morne Morkel. The slow and dry conditions of Sri Lanka will assist Aaron Phangiso’s slow left-arm spin.

Domingo has talked about how he will try to create a pool of about 18 players who can perform for South Africa over the next two years eventually participating in the 2015 World Cup. This will be a crucial stage of that preparation for them, especially considering that the 2014 T20 World Cup is to be played in the subcontinent too.

Proteas ODI squad: AB de Villiers(Capt), Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis, JP Duminy, Colin Ingram, Rory Kleinveldt, Ryan McLaren, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Alviro Petersen, Robin Peterson, Aaron Phangiso, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.