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Rob Houwing, Sport24 chief writer
Cape Town - Steady rather than spectacular ... that probably sums up the South African contingent's performances thus far at the 2011 Indian Premier League.
Some Proteas stalwarts may be succumbing to "travel fatigue" and homesickness at this stage of the lengthy season, considering that they had a competitive full home series against India, then the World Cup on the Subcontinent and went more or less straight into the IPL.
Graeme Smith is a notable case: the national Test captain, now retired as ODI skipper, has become a largely anonymous figure at the event, having made just four sub-standard appearances for Pune Warriors and registered 42 runs - not a wonderful return for a US$500 000-valued player.
Not only that but his personal website (www.graemesmith.co.za) has gone rather stale and even his once-prolific Tweets have become more irregular and reduced to such topics as wishing mums all the best for Mother's Day and his fiancée Morgan Deane a happy birthday.
The tournament is at a pretty advanced stage, having gone past the 50-mark for its scheduled 74 matches (it ends with the final on May 28).
Up until the start of Tuesday's matches the headlines have largely been hogged by Chris Gayle's pyrotechnical performances with the blade; the big left-hander may be in dispute with West Indies cricket at present but he has been at his barnstorming best for the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Gayle leads the six-hitting charge (a particularly beloved department in the Twenty20 format, of course) with 26 thus far - including four during a remarkable, IPL record blitz of 37 off seven balls recently.
The best-placed South African in this respect is teammate AB de Villiers, who sneaks into the top 10 with a personal 11 "maximums".
Indian favourite Virender Sehwag, of Delhi Daredevils, is the highest run-scorer in the tournament with 424 at an average of 38.54 and strike rate of 176.66.
The best South African, lying seventh, is ever-dependable Jacques Kallis (Kolkata Knight Riders) with 341 runs at 37.88.
Kallis also manages a top 10 slot in the category of highest individual score; he is eighth for his 80 not out against Rajasthan Royals (the best effort remains Paul Valthaty's unbeaten 120 for Kings XI Punjab against Chennai Super Kings).
And the veteran, Wynberg-schooled all-rounder is joint-second (with eight) for most catches at the IPL so far: those big hands of his so seldom fail in the field.
On the bowling front, Sri Lankan Lasith "Slinger" Malinga remains comfortably the leading wicket-taker with 24 for Mumbai Indians.
Best-placed South African is Albie Morkel (Chennai Super Kings), joint-third with 13 - but hotly pursued in joint-fourth by Proteas Test strike pair Dale Steyn (Deccan Chargers) and his brother Morne Morkel (Delhi Daredevils) on 12 scalps apiece.
In the key economy department, off-spinner Johan Botha is 14th on the chart and top South African, his seven wickets for 173 runs in 28 overs coming at a concession rate of just 6.17. Coincidentally, his legendary Royals colleague, leggie Shane Warne, sports an identical economy rate.
For best economy rate in a single innings, Morne Morkel is fourth-best for his 4-0-11-1 against the Royals, and Wayne Parnell (Pune) seventh (4-0-12-2 versus Kings XI Punjab).
Cape Town - Steady rather than spectacular ... that probably sums up the South African contingent's performances thus far at the 2011 Indian Premier League.
Some Proteas stalwarts may be succumbing to "travel fatigue" and homesickness at this stage of the lengthy season, considering that they had a competitive full home series against India, then the World Cup on the Subcontinent and went more or less straight into the IPL.
Graeme Smith is a notable case: the national Test captain, now retired as ODI skipper, has become a largely anonymous figure at the event, having made just four sub-standard appearances for Pune Warriors and registered 42 runs - not a wonderful return for a US$500 000-valued player.
Not only that but his personal website (www.graemesmith.co.za) has gone rather stale and even his once-prolific Tweets have become more irregular and reduced to such topics as wishing mums all the best for Mother's Day and his fiancée Morgan Deane a happy birthday.
The tournament is at a pretty advanced stage, having gone past the 50-mark for its scheduled 74 matches (it ends with the final on May 28).
Up until the start of Tuesday's matches the headlines have largely been hogged by Chris Gayle's pyrotechnical performances with the blade; the big left-hander may be in dispute with West Indies cricket at present but he has been at his barnstorming best for the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Gayle leads the six-hitting charge (a particularly beloved department in the Twenty20 format, of course) with 26 thus far - including four during a remarkable, IPL record blitz of 37 off seven balls recently.
The best-placed South African in this respect is teammate AB de Villiers, who sneaks into the top 10 with a personal 11 "maximums".
Indian favourite Virender Sehwag, of Delhi Daredevils, is the highest run-scorer in the tournament with 424 at an average of 38.54 and strike rate of 176.66.
The best South African, lying seventh, is ever-dependable Jacques Kallis (Kolkata Knight Riders) with 341 runs at 37.88.
Kallis also manages a top 10 slot in the category of highest individual score; he is eighth for his 80 not out against Rajasthan Royals (the best effort remains Paul Valthaty's unbeaten 120 for Kings XI Punjab against Chennai Super Kings).
And the veteran, Wynberg-schooled all-rounder is joint-second (with eight) for most catches at the IPL so far: those big hands of his so seldom fail in the field.
On the bowling front, Sri Lankan Lasith "Slinger" Malinga remains comfortably the leading wicket-taker with 24 for Mumbai Indians.
Best-placed South African is Albie Morkel (Chennai Super Kings), joint-third with 13 - but hotly pursued in joint-fourth by Proteas Test strike pair Dale Steyn (Deccan Chargers) and his brother Morne Morkel (Delhi Daredevils) on 12 scalps apiece.
In the key economy department, off-spinner Johan Botha is 14th on the chart and top South African, his seven wickets for 173 runs in 28 overs coming at a concession rate of just 6.17. Coincidentally, his legendary Royals colleague, leggie Shane Warne, sports an identical economy rate.
For best economy rate in a single innings, Morne Morkel is fourth-best for his 4-0-11-1 against the Royals, and Wayne Parnell (Pune) seventh (4-0-12-2 versus Kings XI Punjab).
