Who should bat at Seven for South Africa?

[Niall]

Amla-De Kock- Faf- Ab-JP

Whether people disagree or not that will be the top five for South Africa. Tahir, Steyn, Morkel pretty much nailed on to be the 4 front line bowlers.

That leaves 6 and 7. Miller is probably in pole position for six, but its possible that Roussow after his West Indies bashing may nab that spot. Then its number 7 and tbh, I dunno what I would do if I was a selector as their pros and negatives for all options.


Lets start with Roussow or Miller at seven, they definitely would strengthen the batting, and over the years South Africa have bad memories of chases going wrong. In Tahir and Morkel you have rabbits and Vern has never done to much with the bat in ODI cricket while Steyn is a cow lasher. However picking a pure batsman at seven means you are banking on the four quicks and most notably JP to get through all their overs.

Now next option is Parnell, bowling options won't be an issue as you have six bowlers to choose from, although it does mean its a very top heavy side and you'd be fearful in a tense chase if they lost a few wickets. Parnell at one stage did look like he may be something with the bat, but these days, not so much at all.

The final option is the much derided Behardien, I don't rate this guy at all, he is a player who looks at Ravi Bopara and goes to bed every night praying to be as good as that. However he can bowl maybe 5-6 overs and has got runs in domestic cricket, maybe he is saving his runs for this world cup?


So guys which of the three options would you go for?

 

[longranger]

I'd go for Miller, a guy who can get quick runs at the end. That helps in either boosting a big total after Amla or ABDV are gone, or chasing down something with only a few overs to spare.

Doesn't he bowl a bit too?

 

[_Ed_]

It's an interesting issue, and just a reminder of how much of an asset Kallis was.

 

[Julian87]

I'd go Miller and Roussow at 6 and 7 and play 4 quicks + Duminy.

 

[Niall]

I'd go Miller and Roussow at 6 and 7 and play 4 quicks + Duminy.

I am leaning towards that as well, but you are in serious trouble if someone gets hold of JP and he will be targeted. An other plus for Parnell is he can bowl at the death and I am still not convinced how good Vern is in this format, he could go for a lot of runs if he is not bowled out early.

Its a shame Albie got injured and was never used properly, he could have been an interesting alternative. Not to sure if Weise would have been good enough, but he probably did deserve a game or two to at least have a look.

 

[Dan]

What happened to Faf's bowling? Used to be handy iirc

 

[Niall]

Doesn't really bowl to much anymore in any format, they may nick an over here and their from him and maybe even AB, but you wouldn't want to be relying to much on either of them.

It probably would be the same as Pakistan relying on Younis, Lanka Thirimanne and NZ Guptil really. Not advised!

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

I'd go Colin Ingram or at a push, Peter Ingram.

 

[anil1405]

Imran Tahir is South Africa's 2nd best bowler in this competition. 4 seamers + Duminy theoretically sounds good but might not be the best choice.

 

[cnerd123]

I'd go Miller 6 and Behardien at 7. Behardien adds value in the field and with the ball. It will be a struggle to play with only 5 bowlers in these conditions. And yea, if Tahir cracks the starting XI you might need a extra medium pace option on some surfaces.

 

[anil1405]

Shouldn't fit in Behardien for sake of it....he is useless with the bat anyway....I'd rather have Abd bowling few overs of medium pace (if you can call it) instead of picking Farhaan.

 

[cnerd123]

It's been ages since ABDV has bowled tho.

If ABDV, Faf and Miller can all work on their pies in the nets, they could afford Rossouw/Miller at 6/7

 

[Tec15]

Depends on the opposition and the conditions really. Five bowlers is risky considering that JP hardly ever bowls out his full quota of ten overs and that they may need insurance in case one of the four regulars is going for a few..

 

[Niall]

To be fair Berhardien did bowl some decent stuff against the West Indies and is a huge step up compared to AB and Faf when it comes to part time filth.

However would he score that many more than Parnell would? His record with the bat has been awful, he only got runs in Australia in the dead rubbber where even Watson looked good with the bat.

In some sort of consolation today for South Africa, Vern got some runs, I think their will be at least one knock out game the lower order will have to contribute with the bat. Vern can bat, but a bit like Broad in ODI cricket, he has never shown the application. Steyn is slogger and as I said they don't want to be relying on Morne and Tahir for runs.

 

[Julian87]

I just still sort of can't believe a seam up genuine all rounder hasn't been picked. South Africa have sort of been renowned for these players too. Kallis, Klusener, Pollock, McMillan etc.

I think it's what will cost them the world cup eventually, too. It's odd too when Albie Morkel, Ryan McLaren, David Wiese, Justin Kemp and Chris Morris are all playing 50 over cricket in Africa atm.

 

[Julian87]

Also reckon Elgar should have been considered as a bit part bowling option too which may have allowed Miller and co to bat lower.

 

[hendrix]

Yeah weird that neither Albie nor McClaren made the squad. They're not worldbeaters, no, but they add much more balance.

 

[Julian87]

McLaren ****ting the bed in Australia in November sealed his fate.

 

[Prince EWS]

South Africa should've considered approaching RtD, who is on the record as saying he'd like to play for South Africa (years ago). I'm not saying they definitely should have done it but it should have been considered when they found themselves in the position they're in. Perhaps it was.

 

[anil1405]

What a perfect fit he would have been for this team at this moment. But no point thinking of it now.