How now Proteas....

ODI 3 Was a win waiting to happen for the Proteas which surprisingly saw English wickets fall quickly and cheaply. It would be silly to get carried away with the result in a series already wrapped up and the Proteas far hungrier participants than the English.But it must be said that there was a marked improvement in the Protea bowling from what we saw in the two previous ODI's. The wicket taking balls were of the highest quality, Rabada was back to his best and Parnell also put in a fine effort by making the ball swing. I hope it's the start of things to come and not just a one off as the team can do with a serious partner in attack for Rabada. Generally the batsmen are striking form, Amla, Quinnie and AB are the class acts but it would be great if Miller and Duminy get in on the act as well. Faf worries me, I hope he comes good. Maharaj has justified his selection and besides taking wickets he offers the team another option to Tahir, that way our spinners are not one dimensional. Morne Morkel needs to play more often, he'll get better as long as he spends more time in the middle. AB is proving to be a great captain and as a batsman he has the eye of the tiger about him knowing this to be his last Cricket Championship.
Well done to a team who has as good a chance of winning the trophy as any other top team.

Good post Denny. I think the team is as settled as it's been for a long time, with no obvious weaknesses. On balance it's still a batting team, I think we will concede a few high scores....but we have the batting line-up to chase down a big total. We kind of demonstrated that in our losing second ODI. What happened during the last 10 balls is the old question, mental toughness at the death. Who will be our Carlos Braithwaite when we need him.

We've got the players for it, Denny. One of the best squads in the tournament. But it;s a mentality thing and the 'chokers' tag still hanging above us and unfortunately that 2nd odi didn't help this. 

I really hope we can bury the demons, protea fire!

Spot-on Moz once again proving your healthy insights.
Good post Denny. I think the team is as settled as it's been for a long time, with no obvious weaknesses. On balance it's still a batting team(very much so), I think we will concede a few high scores....but we have the batting line-up to chase down a big total(Proven to be correct). We kind of demonstrated that in our losing second ODI. What happened during the last 10 balls is the old question, mental toughness at the death. Who will be our Carlos Braithwaite when we need him( that's the $m question, the team lacks a smart and mentally tough competitor)
Do you remember Michael Bevan and Tonka tough Steve Waugh? Never gave their wickets away and were astute masters of the situation.

The old Aussies were a tough bunch....we have never quite acheived their degree of self confidence or perhaps arrogance.

 Well Moz, I choose super confidence not arrogance and like Bob Hawke a former Prime Minister once said...... "If you don't believe in yourself then don't expect anyone else to believe in you."
I guess that all comes as second nature growing up in a free society.

The one thing I must say about the Proteas is that they seem to have more fight in them than they used to. While we have had the odd collapse this past year, we have shown a much improved willingness to fight to the end. In the past, if there was a mini batting collapse, we tended to give up a little...that does not seem to be the case anymore. We need to focus on the little positives. 

 I think you can hang that on having two brilliant captains in AB and Faf. The way AB marshalled his troops in the most recent England series was stunning.