Three months ago, the Proteas battled India in a closely fought T20 World Cup final; fast-forward to September 29th, they found themselves outplayed by 11th-ranked Ireland.
While shock upsets are the nature of sport, there’s a difference between a one-off loss and a string of defeats – the former suggests an anomaly, while the latter insinuates inconsistency.
However, Proteas white-ball coach Rob Walter has had to adjust to the loss of star players Kagiso Rabada, David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen as South African cricket attempts to increase the number of internationally capped players.
When did the Proteas last win a series?
September 2023 was the last time South Africa won a white-ball series (ODI), beating Australia 3-2 on home soil.
Two months later, with the stakes intensified, they faced each other again, this time in the semi-final of an ODI Cricket World Cup, which saw David Miller hit a formidable 101 of 116 balls before Travis Head batted Australia to a three-wicket victory.
Having reached a T20 World Cup final and an ODI World Cup semi-final within a year, it’s clear the Proteas have a promising squad. So, is their disastrous white-ball series record the result of leaving key players out? Or is it a stark reminder that the depth of South African talent is shallow?
In a raw interview following their defeat to Ireland, Rob Walter said: “We’ll continue to understand the journey we’re on as a team and know that you have to, in some instances, be patient, but in other instances, we must be a lot harder on ourselves and expect a bit more”.
The Proteas poor form
The irony of the Proteas poor white-ball series form is that it’s happening between two successful World Cups—ODI and T20.
A week before drawing with Ireland in a two-game T20 series in Abu Dhabi they had just experienced a 2-1 defeat against Afghanistan, losing the first two games by six wickets and 117 runs.
Then came successive whitewashes to the West Indies, losing all three T20 games in August and May following a 2-1 ODI series defeat to India on December 21st, 2023.
Words from Walter
Coach Walter added, “You’re certainly trying to win every game you play.
“We should have won the series against Ireland, but we didn’t. It’s about piecing the pieces of the puzzle together, and improving our performances as a unit.
“We’re a proud cricket team, we’re playing for a proud nation of sports-loving people who want to see South Africa win, who want to see us play good cricket.
“We haven’t done that at times and we’re certainly disappointed by that, but we’ll continue – especially me as coach – to look for the positives in it.”
Will the Proteas find their form?
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