South Africa’s batting order needs to play more attacking cricket if they want to win the third ODI against Bangladesh.
South Africa need a convincing victory after losing by seven wickets on Sunday. Generally speaking the batting in this series has been very disappointing.
The batting line-up looks a bit suspect without AB de Villiers. His presence gives the rest of the batsmen more confidence. I have been very disappointed in Quinton de Kock’s performances to date.
He is obviously very talented but struggling for consistency. He plays too many loose shots. Apart from that I don’t quite know why he’s struggling so much.
The two big positives for me has been Faf du Plessis’ performances at the top of the order. He does the job and provides the stability we need. He seems to be settling in nicely batting at three. The other positive has been the emergence of young fast bowler Kagiso Rabada.
Rabada looks good for the future and should take over from Dale Steyn when he decides to retire one day. I would go with Rabada in the one-day side for now. His form in the first two games means he deserves to be there and the selectors should continue to pick him.
It will be interesting to see how he goes in the series against New Zealand in August where he will face better batsmen and where the wickets will suit him better as well.
I wouldn’t pick Rabada for the Test side just yet. With Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander coming back for the Test series, I would pick my strongest possible team.
If one of Steyn, Morkel or Philander looks a bit off the pace in the first Test, it would make sense to give Rabada a chance in the second Test.
Looking at the last ODI match, the only change I would make for the third game is with the bowling attack. Morne Morkel has to play. He will add experience and he is a very good ODI bowler. I would pick him in place of Chris Morris.
Ryan McLaren might also be a good change lower down the order. It is quite possible that Sunday’s result was just an off day, but the selectors need to start thinking about that No 7 position.
Nevertheless, I want to see South Africa play more positive cricket, especially from the batsmen.
