South Africa have never been beyond the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup, with two runs to the last four the best they have managed. When you consider the class of player they have had in the T20 era they must go down as underachievers. The choker tag has always followed them around but expectation is a lot lower this time around which might just suit them.
Profile
Captain: Temba Bavuma
Previous Best: Semi-finals x2
Key Players: Quinton de Kock & Kagiso Rabada
Best Odds: 14/1 General
Fixtures (Super 12 Group 1)
Oct 23 vs Australia at Dubai
Oct 26 vs West Indies at Dubai
Oct 30 vs Sri Lanka at Sharjah
Nov 2 vs Bangladesh at Abu Dhabi
Nov 6 vs England at Sharjah
Squad
Temba Bavuma (c), Keshav Maharaj, Quinton de Kock (wk), Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen
Reserves: George Linde, Andile Phehlukwayo, Lizaad Williams
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Team Guide
South Africa have certainly had more talented squads with a lot more depth at their disposal in these T20 World Cups in the past but you always felt the burden of expectation on them was too much so the fact this team can play with a little bit of freedom should help them. With the exception of the captain, pretty much all their important players have been involved in the two periods of IPL cricket in this part of the world which will certainly stand them in good stead.
There is a genuine argument to suggest that the South Africans have the best all-round bowling attack in the competition and if they fire it will take the heat off a batting unit which is probably a genuine batter light as a trade-off for the balance with the ball, however if they are not having to put up ridiculous scores or take big risks that isn’t going to matter. If Quinton de Kock and David Miller have good campaigns the South Africans might offer their best showing yet.
Betting
All eyes will be on Quinton de Kock with the bat but I think we saw in the IPL that these conditions don’t really bring out the strengths in his game and there are plenty of attacks in this competition that can get at him so I think he is a vulnerable favourite in the top South Africa batter market. If South Africa play Aiden Markram for the extra bowling he can provide then that might mean there is no place in the team for Reeza Hendricks as surely Rassie van der Dussen and David Miller are certainties to play.
That means the sixth batter slot is between Hendricks or Heinrich Klaasen but either way Temba Bavuma will open the batting or bat at three and we’ve seen in the early stages of this tournament that if you are not a clean and powerful hitter then you need to be in the top three taking advantage of the new ball and fielding restrictions in order to score runs. Bavuma is almost ideal for these conditions because he’s happy to nudge and nurdle but he can hit over the top when the field is up and he is happy to be the glue everyone else bats around. He built some form in the warm up matches and looks a big price to be their leading batsman at 6/1.
Tips
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