In many ways South Africa might have made life a bit easier for themselves has they beaten both Sri Lanka and Australia a little less convincingly. As Nasser Hussain said emphatically on commentary after Josh Hazlewood top-edged a slog to conclude Australia’s heaviest World Cup defeat: “South Africa are under the radar no longer!”
Top of the table with two mighty victories by 102 and 134 runs and a ridiculously strong net run-rate, Temba Bavuma’s team can make it three wins out of three with victory against the Netherlands in Dharamsala on Tuesday. Which will contrast pleasingly with their three straight defeats at the start of the last World Cup.
Kagiso Rabada (3-33) was brilliant and the trio of Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi claimed a brace of wickets each, but the best bowling performance received the least attention. Lungi Ngidi (8-2-18-1) was in outrageous form, not just returning to his previous best but exceeding it. Bowling throughout the Power Play, his figures were 5-2-9-1. Extraordinary. And it wasn’t as though David Warner and Mitchell Marsh weren’t trying to score.
“It was a bowling win,” acknowledged coach Rob Walter, despite Quinton de Kock’s silky century. “I know the batters did a great job to get us there (311-7) but it was a clinical performance from the bowlers and it really was started by Lungi. His five over spell in the Power Play was exemplary.”
It’s been a tough couple of years for Ngidi battling injuries, weight issues and non-selection even when he was fit. His peak, match-winning performances were becoming fading memories and the doubts that he could return to those days were creeping ominously.
“We talk about and comment on results and performances but to see how hard Lungi has worked, going right back through the winter, has been very special. He places massive emphasis on his conditioning as well as working really hard on his bowling and if things weren’t clicking into place for him, it wasn’t for lack of effort and application to his craft,” Walter said on Saturday.
“I’m so chuffed that he reaped the rewards against Australia because he really deserved it based on how hard he’s been grafting, it was great to see. His speeds were up, there was shape on the ball and high-quality thinking, too,” Walter said.
Ngidi has a closer relationship bowling coach Eric Simons having been part of the Chennai Super Kings squad before Delhi Capitals bought him before the 2023 season. He didn’t play a game which does little for anyone’s confidence.
“Obviously I want to acknowledge Eric in this whole process as the bowling ‘lead’, he’s been excellent with the bowlers and we’re starting to see and feel little ‘wins’ here and there based on the work we’ve put in. Lungs certainly was the ambassador for that work,” Walter said.
Ngidi’s father was a school janitor and his mother a house-keeper for a privileged white family. He grew up in modest circumstances before being catapulted into a different world with a scholarship to the country’s most exclusive, private boarding school, Hilton College.
A few years ago Ngidi spoke of his gratitude for the opportunity but also his regret that all the boys he played with as a junior would not be offered the same opportunities. It would be nice, he said, if everybody could play on turf pitches with smooth, well-grassed outfields.
He also spoke of the difficulties of being in such an elite, privileged environment without the means to keep up with his peers. He relied on hand-me-down bowling boots and never went to the tuck shop with the other boys. Those days may be a long time ago but they were formative and shaped the person he is today, feet firmly planted and always humble.
It reminded me, in an abstract, other-wordly way of the first few occasions I was hired by television production companies and accommodated in five-star hotels. The beds and pillows were amazing, and the bathroom condiments smelled incredible, but none were edible or drinkable. I couldn’t afford a single item on the room-service menu.
Three years ago he inadvertently became the team spokesman on taking a knee and the Black Lives Matter movement. It was ironic because he is amongst the least outspoken or controversial members of the squad. But he accepted the role into which he had been thrust despite it being a distraction he could probably have done without. The respect it earned him amongst his teammates and fans coincided, ironically, with the start of the (cricketing) lean years.
At his best Ngidi is one of the best bowlers of the new, white Kookaburra ball in the world. Now that he is back to bowling at around 140kph and swinging the ball, his craftily disguised slower balls and cutters become so much more effective. He will be a key man over the course of the next month or so.
*(Once again, many thanks to everyone who has upgraded from ‘free subscription’ to ‘paid subscription’. I fly to Mumbai next week to begin my live coverage of the World Cup having presented the first couple of matches for the SABC which, thankfully, will be showing all of the Proteas games. If you can afford it, do consider an upgrade. If you can’t, please don’t!)