Proteas coach Mark Boucher couldn’t be happier with his team’s performance in the 3-0 ODI series whitewash against India.
Wrapping up the tour last Sunday with a four-run victory in the final match, it was their batsmen that ultimately got them over the line against Virat Kohli and company.
The star of the lot was undoubtedly Quinton de Kock, who before the start of the series captain Temba Bavuma said had a “point to prove” after stepping down from Test match cricket earlier in the tour.
A point he made, scoring the most runs in the series - 229 at an average of 76.33 including one hundred and a fifty.
Of De Kock’s Man of the Series performances, Boucher says: ““If you look at Quinny as a person, when he freed his mind up, that’s probably when he plays his best cricket.
“It’s just great to see him come out and play the way we all know Quinny can play. He’s got that freedom about his game - can’t have all six of your batters playing like that, but you can have one or two playing with that freedom that on their day if they score a 100 they can win you a game.
“It’s great to see Quinny back and smiling again…
“Unfortunately he retired from Test cricket, but it would have freed him up for the white-ball stuff.”
De Kock, with a series high score of 124, wasn’t the only South African batsman showing he can play against India’s spinners on wickets that were slow - helped on by the heatwave that hit the Mother City and Paarl at the time.
Rassie van der Dussen scored 218 runs, including an unbeaten 129* in the first match, while Bavuma also totalled 153 runs with a high of 110 in the same match.
Tabraiz Shamsi with four scalps, meanwhile, got the most wickets of the slow bowlers in the series, with Boucher saying: “We didn’t expect the wickets to play the way that they did… but we’ve done a lot of hard work playing on subcontinent conditions.
“It didn’t surprise me that the guys played the way they did, it’s hard work paying off and a bit of confidence as well.
“That’s a big plus, the way guys played spin and also bowled spin.”
Next up for the Proteas is a trip to New Zealand where they’ll play two Tests, with the squad being named today.
Boucher, meanwhile, will meet advocate Terry Mota today to discuss a timeline for his gross misconduct hearing.
dudley.carstens@inl.co.za