There is little for South Africa to prove in the tri-series in Zimbabwe, particularly as the games do not even carry official status. They should win every game, but more important will be how they use the time to prepare for the World Twenty20. Here are five things they should look to accomplish.
1. Improve their chasing
South Africa will have three Twenty20s in England just before they go to the World Twenty20, but conditions in Zimbabwe will be closer to what they can expect in Sri Lanka. Although Harare Sports Club doesn't turn, it is on the slow side and doesn't deteriorate much. Since there won't be any advantage to batting first, South Africa might as well focus on their weakness from previous Twenty20 tournaments: chasing.
At the last World T20 in 2010 the Proteas beat New Zealand after batting first, but lost all three matches in which they were chasing - against India, England and Pakistan. In that last match they were chasing a very gettable 149, but the pressure (and Saeed Ajmal) got to them. More recently, their exit from the 50-over World Cup also came through a botched chase. Gary Kirsten needs to work out ways to turn that around, and repetition might be one of them. If batsmen can get involved in a bunch of successful chases, that could breed belief that will serve them well later in the year.
2. Get a clear idea of the ideal batting line-up
With AB de Villiers and Jacques Kallis sitting out the series, Faf du Plessis can expect a Twenty20 debut. There's no doubt that he has the mental fortitude that South Africa's batting has often lacked, and he's made a fairly impressive start to his one-day international career, so he deserves a good crack in the shortest format. After he had a lot of success for Chennai at the top of the order, it might be worth considering him as an opening partner for Richard Levi - Du Plessis could play the steady hand that bats through while Levi goes hard at the other end.
But what of Hashim Amla and Graeme Smith, you may wonder. Amla will captain the side in Zimbabwe, but desperately needs to prove himself in Twenty20 cricket after averaging 14 in his first eight internationals at a poor strike rate. Smith's stats are better - he averages almost 32 in T20Is - but that is partly attributed to some big scores in the first half of his Twenty20 career and some easy runs against Zimbabwe two years ago. The selectors need to decide who is worth hanging onto at the top of the order, where Jacques Kallis fits into the puzzle, and who would complement AB de Villiers and JP Duminy as the third middle order man.
3. Work out what to do with Albie Morkel
It seems to be a perennially present question for South Africa: how do they get the best out of Morkel? In ODIs the answer has sometimes been to drop him, but in Twenty20s Morkel's explosive hitting remains their most effective matchwinners. He's never been consistent, and he's never scored more than 43 in a Twenty20 international, but then he's rarely been given the time to batter a big innings because he's generally been viewed as a finisher.
More generally he's also seen as an allrounder, but with an economy rate of more than eight per over with the ball it might be time to change the perception that Morkel is a frontline bowler. He's done well in the IPL, but he's got away with bowling at a lot of Indian rookies in that tournament. South Africa seemed to hint that they were in agreement with this when Morkel bowled just four overs in three T20s in New Zealand and shuffled Morkel up the order. Perhaps that's the way to go - to treat Morkel as a wildcard batsman and occasional bowler.
4. Test out the newbies
With Levi, Amla, Du Plessis, Duminy, Morkel, Kallis, Smith, De Villiers, Colin Ingram and Justin Ontong all in the mix for six or, at most, seven batting spots, the queue ahead of Farhaan Behardien looks long. But as Levi showed in New Zealand, it only takes one innings of brilliance to shoot to the front of the line. Some of those players have flattered to deceive despite numerous chances, and Behardien's start to international cricket, in which he hit 20 not out from 11 balls against India, suggested he might just have the X factor that selectors will be looking for.
The same applies to Chris Morris, who must wonder how he can stay in the team once Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel return to a bowling line-up that also includes Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Marchant de Lange among the seamers. But a domestic Twenty20 average of under 14, allied with an economy rate of 6.7, suggests that he's got something. It won't hurt the selectors to have a proper look. With AB de Villiers proving that he's perfectly capable of captaining and keeping, Dane Vilas will just hope to seal his place as South Africa's back-up wicketkeeper in Twenty20 cricket.
5. Scout out the Group C opponents
Zimbabwe have lost their last 12 official Twenty20 matches and are ranked below both the Netherlands and Afghanistan. Not the sort of record that will concern South Africa when they meet their neighbours in their first World Twenty20 fixture in Hambantota on September 20. But Zimbabwe have been known to shock big opponents before (just ask the Australian side from 2007), and have developed matchwinners like Brendan Taylor, Hamilton Masakadza and Elton Chigumbura over the last few years. With hosts Sri Lanka the other side in Group C, the Proteas can't afford to slip up in their first match. A bit of extra homework should prevent an embarrassing upset.
Tristan Holme
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