Despite winning four of their five group stage matches, South Africa have been knocked out of the t20 World Cup on net run rate following their victory over England.
Sign up to bet365 to be entered into a draw for the chance to win a Wisden Hoodie, terms and conditions apply, more information here. 18+ begambleaware.org
Having started the competition with a loss against Australia, who would eventually qualify for the semi-finals at the expense of South Africa, the Proteas then strung together four wins in a row with convincing victories against the West Indies and Bangladesh and nail-biting ones over England and Sri Lanka. Below are our player ratings for South Africa from those five games.
Quinton de Kock: 2.5/10
69 runs @ 17.25, HS 34, SR 107.81
A tournament where de Kock will be remembered for events off the pitch more than his performances on it. A high score of 34 came against England where he looked set to produce an innings of world-class ability that everyone knows he is capable of. However, it wasn’t to be.
Reeza Hendricks: 3/10
56 runs @ 14.00, HS 39, SR 101.81
Meagre returns although his 39 got South Africa off to a strong start in their chase of 144 against the West Indies when Temba Bavuma had been dismissed early. That innings sees him gain a point.
Rassie van der Dussen: 7/10
177 runs @ 59.00, HS 94*, SR 116.44
It’s hard to put a number on van der Dussen’s performance. His 94* off 60 balls against England was undoubtedly a phenomenal, match-winning innings. He has also been a calm head for South Africa and ensured they have made it to the finish line against both West Indies and Bangladesh. However, given South Africa were knocked out on net run rate, his 43* off 51 in the West Indies game and 22 off 27 in their tortuously slow chase of 85 against Bangladesh prevent him from getting full marks. It feels harsh to punish someone for winning their team matches in the ‘wrong’ way. But here we are.
Aiden Markram: 8/10
162 runs @ 54.00, HS 52*, SR 145.94
Did everything asked of him. Two rapid half-centuries played pivotal roles in wins against West Indies and England. Also contributed with a better than run-a-ball 40 against Australia where scoring was very tough. Was also economical with the ball when called upon, bowling seven overs in the competition at less than 7rpo.
Temba Bavuma: 5/10
91 runs @ 30.33, HS 46, SR 108.33
Gained widespread praise for his handling of the de Kock situation and also was lauded for his tactical nous when deploying a fielder directly behind the bowler against the West Indies with Pollard on strike. However, he was also criticised for not bowling out his strike bowlers against England when they had to bowl them out for 131 in order to qualify and experienced a middling tournament with the bat.
David Miller: 7/10
44 runs @ 44, HS 23*, SR 133.33
Unspectacular numbers as he was only required to bat on three occasions, but one of which was a match-winning performance against Sri Lanka where he scored 23* off 13 balls. With 14 required off 5 deliveries at the end, Miller clutched up to strike consecutive sixes and win SA the game.
Heinrich Klaasen: N/A
13 runs @ 13, HS 13, SR 100
Only featured in the first two games of the group stage, scoring 13 off 13 balls in his only innings of the competition which was against Australia in their opening fixture. Arguably his greatest contribution was dropping Lendl Simmons when he was in the early stages of in his pain-staking innings of 16 off 35 balls.
Dwayne Pretorius: 7.5/10
9 wkts @ 11.22, Econ 6.88, BBI 3-17
Pretorius found himself to be the unlikely death bowling hero of South Africa this tournament. An all-rounder who is more than capable with the bat, Pretorius took on the death overs role having previously had an economy rate of 10.38 in 36 overs at the end of the innings. His economy in this tournament of 6.88 speaks of a man who had an incredibly successful tournament in the most unlikely fashion.
Anrich Nortje: 8.5/10
9 wkts @ 11.55, Econ 5.37, BBI 3-8
If Nortje isn’t already a superstar of the modern game, he’s well on his way to being one. Consistently bowling north of 90mph, him and Rabada provide South Africa with eight overs of genuine world class pace. An economy of below a run-a-ball is a remarkable return.
Tabraiz Shamsi: 7.5/10
8 wkts @ 15.12, Econ 6.36, BBI 3-17
A fine tournament for the left-arm wrist spinner whose stock only continues to rise. His performance against England where he took 2-24 off his four overs was comfortably the standout bowling performance of the day in a match where 368 runs were scored.
Keshav Maharaj: 5.5/10
3 wkts @ 42.33, Econ 6.68, BBI 2-24
Don’t be fooled by the meagre total in the wickets column, this was still a good tournament for the left-arm tweaker. Bowling economically throughout, this tournament was much like Bavuma’s in that neither came anywhere close to disgracing themselves whilst not particularly standing out either. A solid showing.
Kagiso Rabada: 5.5/10
8 wkts @ 19.37, Econ 8.15, BBI 3-20
Rabada’s outing against England is a good way of summing up his tournament. Mixed. His first three overs went for 45 before a hat-trick in the final over of the match won them the game. His 3-20 against Bangladesh was a good showing as South Africa bowled them out for 84, but 0-32 from three overs against Sri Lanka was not. Add in a couple of middling performances against Australia and West Indies and all-in-all you have a mixed tournament. 6/10? 7/10? Let’s call it 6.5.
