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Cape Town - South Africa under-19s bowling coach, Chris van Noordwyk, has asked his side to show a fighting spirit ahead of the two final Youth One-Day Internationals (ODI) against Pakistan, starting on Friday in Chatsworth.
The team from the sub-continent is leading the seven-match series five-nil following a 116-run victory in Pietermaritzburg on Tuesday and Van Noordwyk is hoping to get the confidence back in the side with wins in the last leg of the series against a talented Pakistan outfit.
“The results have definitely not gone our way. The reality is that they are a better side than us,” he stated during the team’s final net practice. “They have got some really good cricketers; they play all the big moments and we haven’t had a counterpunch to them. The boys are trying, and I can’t fault their efforts, but we are playing against some serious cricketers. The gap between the two sides, unfortunately, is far too big for my liking and we need to close that. We must look hard at certain things, we have to look at certain combinations and our pattern of play and we have to address those issues.
“Moving forward, we have two games left, hopefully we can close the gap and get some wins because we need to get the confidence back in the camp and we need to indicate to ourselves that we are good enough at this level,” van Noordwyk added.
With the ball, South Africa has tended to start on the back foot, thanks in the main to Pakistan’s Haider Ali, who has amassed 278 runs, including two half-centuries and a high score of 116. The opening batsman looks to attack from the onset of the innings, putting the likes of Achille Cloete (6) and Lifa Ntanzi (5) under pressure, despite the pair having 11 wickets between them.
“The effort of the boys has been great. We are playing against an opening batter here, who I believe is of international class and that’s not an excuse,” Van Noordwyk explained. “He is a fine player and has come into the game and has dominated our bowlers. So, we must work on a couple of mental things and a couple of technical things. We have to start throwing a few counter punches at him and their whole batting unit,” he continued.
“From a bowling point of view, we have bowled on really good wickets, I can’t fault that, but we are also playing against an opposition that is very sound. That’s not an excuse and we have to keep working harder and counterpunch.”
With the series’ final two matches moving back to the Chatsworth Oval, where the first Youth ODI took place and Pakistan came out on top by a narrow 17 runs, Van Noordwyk is excited at the prospect of turning things around and has asked the squad to make the step up and show character.
“In the first game, we had them 150/8, we were dominating till the 37/38th over and then they got to 223 so I think the bowlers are quite comfortable with this ground. The wicket looks pretty good, so we need to assess it quickly and show a bit of character. That’s what I’m going to ask the guys; to show a bit of character. It is a different environment and hopefully we can adapt but also make sure that we go up a few notches.
“We need to put in a good performance and give the guys some confidence and allow them to express themselves and turn this thing around,” Van Noordwyk concluded.
The sixth Youth ODI takes place on Friday at the City Oval from 09:00, followed by the seventh and final encounter on Sunday.
