I think we needed those "easy games" in the qualifiers just to serve as a reminder of what winning feels like. That momentum took us to that t20 series win, which took us to the ODIs again. Hopefully we go well vs India and Aus.
We must not be complacent though. Our top order is still struggling and we are finding ourselves 4 down too early, then having to rely on Raza and a willing partner to rescue us. This will not work vs clinical opposition hey. I still think we need the steady head of Ervine opening in ODIs to try and see us through the first 10 overs at 50-0 or at worst 50-1. Zulu has a lot of work to do with our top 3. The bowling has been decent, but as we all have noted, we struggle with closing overs well, too many last balls go for 4, releasing all the pressure from the first 5. Each bowler should have 2 or 3 specific 6th ball that they bowl that is unplayable.
Also, do we rest Raza, or do we let him play on. Remember it is a long season and he has pretty much played every single game since Namibia. Worried about his fitness going forward. It also looks like we have a decent squad taking shape. 5 changes and we still managed to win the game, top stuff.
Very refreshing that there is now some competition for places and everyone knows the team can still win without them. The likes of Wes and Shumba know they need to step up to be counted. Wes has the talent but what he lacks is the temperament to construct a big innings. He got out yesterday trying to sweep the wrong length instead of playing it down in the V for a single. There is work there. Shumba has been unlucky. That boy is a number 3 or 4, and he is the type that is smart enough to build long innings and not hastily give it away.
Lastly, with everyone available, this is my current best.
Kaitano
Ervine
Kaia
Williams
Raza
Chakabva
Burl
Jongwe
Evans/Nyauchi/Chatara (In T20s we bring in Wellington)
Muzarabani
Ngarava
And then we replace kaitano and Kaia with Ballance and Welch and that's our worldcup qualifier 11 right there
Yes there are still issues at the top of the order. Ballance is still needed. South Africa will make the qualifiers very very complicated.
South Africa may yet qualify directly... A lot depends on NZ-WI series this month. On current form NZ may sweep WI 3-0, then WI are finished with all their 24 games on 80 points.
RSA have 49 points as of now and will most likely make it 69 with 2 games against NET. That leaves them to win 2 games out of the 6 against India and England... That's very much possible. Even if WI win one game i think RSA will fancy winning 3 against India and England... Proteas will go full strength for sure.
And then who knows, that RSA-AUS series may yet go ahead at some other time.
The thing I feel is it will be hard to win with one or two guys hitting match winning hundreds once the team is 50-3. The two wins against Bangladesh have been relatively "miraculous" in that sense. Also have to factor in that teams like NZ, AUS, or India won't drop 4-5 catches and let easy singles become 4 runs, except on rare occasions. The top order has work to do.
Another issue is consistency. Raza has proven it, and so has Williams and to a lesser extent Ervine. But guys like Kaia and Chakabva will have to step up in the consistency department. Once you have 4-5 consistent batters, the wins will start flowing.
One thing that has been overlooked is how good all the seamers bowled at the death in both ODIs and the T20 series so far. Yorkers, wide Yorkers, and slower balls bouncers have been very well executed by Nyauchi/Jongwe/Ngarava. That's has been critical to holding BD to 300 when 325 was probably the minimum par score on these surfaces.
320 these days is the 260 of just 6 years ago. Unless you have a line up that can regularly post 300 plus on a good deck against most bowling line-ups you're not winning much.
