SA Cricket management should be shot. Over the last week Markram played in 3 Momentum Cup games for 50 overs matches:-
Runs Balls Strike Rate Runs per 6 balls faced
Game 1 - 169 139 121,58 7.3
Game 2 - 137 123 111,38 6,8
Game 3 - 85 43 197,67 11.9
Total 391 305 128,20 7,7
Average 131 per game
This while they are struggling to find an opening partner for Quinton De Kock. The alternative tried in the first 2 ODI's was Reeza Hendricks who made a total of 30 runs from 45 balls faced at an runs per 6 balls faced of 4.
The other potential opening partner is Amla - who has had a record of near consistent failure in most ODI's played over the past year and went down from an average of 53.3 to an average of 46.1. In his last 10 ODI's Amla scored at an average of 36 runs per match and his strike rate was 71,1. Amla played in 1 Momentum Cup game the past week and failed badly too, There have been a number of newspaper reports implying that he should not be in the WC squad - because aside from below par batting his fielding has been poor.
An in-form De Kock and Markram can both bat at a run rate of 7,5 for every 6 balls faced meaning they are capable of scoring a hundred runs in less than 14 overs. A partnership like that means that the pressure on both players are reduced because both players are equally productive and they can in fact avoid hitting out at balls they should not be hitting out at, If the one partner does not produce the expected goods it put pressure on the other partner to hit out even at good balls - a very dangerous thing to do. .