The decision-makers in the Proteas squad are to blame for the top-order collapse we witnessed in their World Cup match against India on Wednesday.
Firstly, I believe they got their team selection wrong by bringing in Hashim Amla for Aiden Markram at the top of the order.
A fit-again Amla was always going to play this match, but it shouldn’t have been at the expense of Markram.
Instead, the Proteas would have been better off to open the batting with Markram and Quinton de Kock, allowing Amla to come in at No.3.
There are two reasons for that.
One is that Amla would have been a nervous man when asking for guard and not knowing what to expect from the India fast bowlers.
SACRIFICED: SA top-order batsman Aiden Markram. Photo: Gavin Barker/BackpagePix.
After being struck on the head by a Jofra Archer delivery in the first match against England and then missing out on the defeat to Bangladesh because of it, Amla needed to see what the pitch would do first to build up some confidence.
The India bowlers were always going to target him with the odd short ball and for a man that battled for form heading into the tournament, it wasn’t the ideal scenario.
And Amla duly lost his wicket for just six runs after edging a ball to second slip.
The second reason is that if Markram and De Kock could then see out the opening overs, Amla would have been there to lessen the threat of the India spinners with his batting style.
But, captain Faf du Plessis then had to effectively “open” the innings at No.3 and while he did okay to score 38 runs off 54 balls, he would have wanted to take guard much later than the fourth over.
ALLROUND DISASTER: JP Duminy looked out of it. Photo: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix.
The man who perhaps should have made way for Amla is JP Duminy.
Entering the tournament as an allrounder, Duminy bowled less overs than Markram in the first two matches.
On top of that, he got eight runs against England and then a decent 45 against Bangladesh.
But he failed again on Wednesday, scoring three runs, while De Kock (10) and Rassie van der Dussen (22) completed a miserable day for the Proteas’ top order, leaving the tail-end and their bowlers with it all to do.