“What If India’s Dominant Powerplay Display Happens Again in South Africa’s World Cup Clash?” The question of whether India’s top order assault on South Africa’s renowned attack during the powerplay in their recent World Cup match at the Eden Gardens will be repeated looms large. Eric Simons, South Africa’s bowling coach, responded to the query cautiously during a press conference. “We do have very specific tactics for certain situations – who we prefer to bowl to and who we’d rather not bowl to,” Simons said. “But I wouldn’t want to discuss it in this context.” “We need to analyze who we’re up against, their strike rates, and how we manage the number of deliveries we bowl to them. We aim to use field placements to apply pressure as much as possible. We want our bowlers to execute the planned deliveries and then use field placements to build pressure.” However, these tactics didn’t prove effective against India’s powerplay onslaught on Sunday. India managed to score 91 runs off the first 10 overs at the loss of only one wicket. South Africa is unlikely to face the same level of pressure in their upcoming match against Afghanistan in Ahmedabad on Friday. Nevertheless, they can expect Australia, their likely semifinal opponent in Kolkata next Thursday, to have taken note of India’s performance. The Australians already have a blueprint. Only once in the tournament did any team score more runs during the first-innings powerplay than India did on Sunday, which happened in Dharamsala on October 28 when Australia made 118 without losing a wicket against New Zealand. South Africa’s next most expensive opening 10 overs when fielding first was against Pakistan in Chennai on October 27 when they conceded 58/2, fewer runs than have been recorded 14 times in the first 10 overs of the 40 matches played so far. South Africa was unable to recover from India’s early onslaught, conceding a total of 326/5 and being dismissed for 83, marking their heaviest defeat in all 667 of their ODIs. This was an embarrassing result for a team that entered the match as the second-strongest side in the competition. While it may seem unfair to blame Marco Jansen, he took a tournament-leading twelve wickets in the powerplay before Sunday’s game. However, he was hit for 43 runs in his first four overs and ended with figures of 1/94 in 9.4 overs on that day. Jansen even bowled four wides in his first over, one of which went to the boundary. This clearly rattled him, especially considering it was only his 22nd ODI. Simons commented, “He shifted his focus from concentrating on himself to concentrating on the opposition, which sometimes happens in pressure situations when facing quality batsmen like those we played against. His focus moved away from his bowling approach in that situation. It’s a matter of regaining that focus.” When asked about his plans to get Jansen back on track for Friday’s match, Simons humorously responded, “I can’t put my arm around his shoulder because it’s too high – I can’t reach it!” On a more serious note, he added, “There’s potential, and then there’s performance. He has bowled at a certain level, and then you see a performance that’s off. What has caused the gap between how he bowled and how we know he can bowl?” However, this doesn’t imply a change in selection strategy for South Africa, as they have largely stuck to the same XI throughout the tournament, aside from including either Gerald Coetzee or Tabraiz Shamsi. “We don’t want to over-analyze one performance that we weren’t as happy with as others,” Simons stated. Simons hinted that South Africa might face India again in the tournament, possibly in the final in Ahmedabad on November 19. He pointed out the difference in the consistency of accuracy between the two teams, with India excelling in building pressure and taking wickets during the powerplay. However, he noted that India’s attack has not been tested in the middle overs when they haven’t taken wickets. South Africa remains hopeful of a strong performance in the remainder of the tournament, despite their historical struggles in knockout games and finals at the World Cup. As India’s bowling consultant during their successful 2011 campaign, Simons is familiar with the requirements for winning the trophy. Although he was cautious in his response, the possibility of adding a South African triumph to his resume is certainly worth considering, especially for a team that initially wasn’t seen as a major threat in the competition.
