This ODI was won, AB was in full flow, the run rate had dropped to a run a ball. Then de Villiers went to the well once too many times....leaving Amla and Duminy. Amla had nothing except behind the wicket flicks and Duminy choked. Unfortunately he stayed just long enough to transfer massive pressure onto the following bats. This doesn't look like a team that can accelerate in the lower middle.
Mozart
The problem started with Graeme Smith and Kallis high up in the betting order. They are the ones that puts players lower down in the order under extreme pressure. In a game where a good start was required - they both failed with the bat. Neither of them are ODI players anymore. If the 19 balls faced by them produced 13 runs and not 7 - the situation would have been much different. The game would have been finished in 42 overs - not in a 45 over failure situation.
Both Kallis and Smith has been released from the squad and you can be pretty sure that without those two the Proteas will win with ease tomorrow. They are excellent test playing batters - but that is when the do not try and hit balls regularly and can bat slowly - in ODI's it is just not possible to play like that.
While Smith opened the batting in the Dubai ODI's - our whole batting line-up was severely problematic and they won the first ODI by 1 run because of the excellent bowling. They lost the next one because of atrocious batting - with Smith making 14 runs from 35 balls (2,5 runs per over) . When Smith was not opening the batting in the next three ODI's the Proteas won with ease.
From an ODI perspective they are past their sell-by date - let them keep playing o n test level where they are still tops and forget about them on ODI level.