There’s something to be said for being way too early to set up a tournament dream team. It basically doesn’t make sense. Except for today. South Africa have three T20 internationals left before the 2024 World T20 in the United States and the Caribbean. Rob Walter, the national team coach, has openly acknowledged that with that narrow a window to assess players at international level, their domestic record will have to do some heavy lifting.
So with that said, we thought, why not create a South African-centric “dream team” from the SA20 at the halfway point of the tournament? No objections? Alright then, here we go.
Openers:
Ryan Rickelton (WK): 6 matches. 355 runs. Average 71. SR 177.5. 4×50
Rickelton has probably been the big man on deck in the South African domestic scene for a few years now, but this SA20 is probably the first time the larger audience has seen him shine. While he doesn’t have the notches in his belt, his overall game seems an almost carbon copy his fellow wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock’s. Rickelton has been on the periphery of the national team for the better part of the last two years, but this performance at the SA20, where he has scored four fifties in six games, including a near-century, where he scored 98. He said in an interview that being dropped from the national team did negatively affect him, and he’s adopted the mentality that he “has nothing to lose”, and sometimes the most dangerous man is one with nothing to lose. With over 100 runs more than the next man, he’s an early contender for tournament MVP.
Rassie van der Dussen: 6 matches. 229 runs. Average 38.16. SR 156.84. 1×100
Rassie van der Dussen is an incredible chameleon. If you’ve ever seen van der Dussen at Test level, where he has a strike of 40.7, with four career sixes to his name, it wouldn’t even make sense that this man has four T20 international hundreds. It’s been feast or famine for van der Dussen, with three scores in excess of 40, including, and three scores less than 25. Consistency is overrated in T20 cricket though, and the level of destructiveness he’s produced when he has gotten in has given MI Cape Town some explosive starts.
Middle order
Matthew Breetzke: 6 matches. 211 runs. Average 35.16. SR 135.25
So, having said consistency is overrated in T20 cricket, I’m going to reward Matthew Breetzke for his consistency. It’s been a glorious summer for the young man from Eastern Cape, having received his his debut T20 international cap earlier in the season. Durban’s SuperGiants are second in the table, and this is in no small part due to his runs. He has yet to fully kick on, but five of innings have seen him score more than 30, meaning he’s consistently seen the DSG off to good starts. I know he generally bats at the top of the order, but first drop is not that big a change, I don’t think.
David Miller (C): 5 matches. 162 runs. Average 54.00. SR 135.00. 1×50
I nearly went with Leus du Plooy, but I remembered that Leus actually isn’t South African anymore. I also thought Miller edged it a little bit with more decisive knocks. His 42-ball 75 vs Pretoria Capitals was enough to see the Paarl Royals edge the Pretoria Capitals While his 33-ball 41, also against the Capitals was the top score in a reasonably low-scoring T20. Overall, he’s been an ever-present force in the middle order of an explosive Royals side.
Heinrich Klaasen: 6 matches. 200 runs. Average 40.00. SR 183.48. 2×50
Heinrich Klaasen hits the cricket ball a long way. Like. He hits a LONG ball, and when he faces spinners in T20, he hits it an even longer way. His man-of the match performance vs MI Cape Town saw him hit eight sixes in 35 deliveries. His 64 off 41 balls vs the Joburg Super Kings was a masterful display on a pitch where everyone else combined for 178/17 off 200 balls.
Tristan Stubbs: 4 matches. 132 runs. Average 132.00. SR 183.22. 2×50
The most expensive player in the SA20. Stubbs has only had three innings in the SA20, but he’s been on fire in his limited appearances. A 26-ball 55 against MI CT was an incredible way to open his SA20 account this year. He then followed this up with a very mature 66 off 37 deliveries against DSG, as he saw them home from a potentially precarious position after Patrick Kruger fell to make the score 97/5 in a potentially tricky chase. He’s yet to fully shine at the national stage, but it’s only a matter of time if he can keep this up.
Andile Phehlukwayo: 6 matches: 6 wickets. Average 28.00. Economy rate 8.41. 39 runs. Average 39. SR 162.50
Number seven was the hardest to pick. There just haven’t been a lot of bowling all-rounders who’ve shone for in the SA20. The bowling all-rounder role seems to been outsourced, with the likes of David Livingstone, Romario Shephard, Liam Dawson, and James Neesham being the hired guns batting at six or seven. Phehlukwayo had a man of the match all round performance in the Paarl Royals’ curtain-raiser, with a 14-ball 28 and 2/29 against the Pretoria Capitals. Marco Jansen is incumbent in the position for the Proteas, but he averages over 40 with the ball and 31 with the bat, so Phehlukwayo it is.
Bowlers
Keshav Maharaj: 6 matches. 7 wickets. Average 18.42. Eco rate 7.50
The number one bowler in the One Day International cricket has been an ever present in the SA20. He’s not quite taken a hatful of wickets, but he’s kept a lid on the batting team successfully. With the DSG in second place, he’s shown some crafty captaincy, making the most of the tools he’s been given in the team.
Lungi Ngidi: 6 matches. 11 wickets. Average 18.81. Eco rate 9.00.
One thing you can say about Lungi Ngidi is that he gets wickets. Of all the cricketers in South African cricket to take at least 200 wickets, none have done it at a lower strike rate. None have done it a higher economy rate either, and that is the duality of Lungisani Ngidi. He does go for runs. Often, a lot of them. Just last night, he went for 59 runs in his four overs. But wickets win matches, even in T20. Maybe especially in T20. Nowadays if a team has wickets in hand, no target is out of reach. On the other hand, even low targets can be troublesome if you don’t have established batsmen. So the leading wicket taker in the tournament gets a spot.
Ottniel Baartman: 4 matches. 8 wickets. Average 16.00. Eco rate 8.25
We nearly went with Lizaad Williams, who has been one of the few lights from an otherwise putrid Joburg Super Kings season. Baartman has been very decisive in his four games. His performance vs the Capitals, where he took 4/12 to help roll Pretoria Capitals for 52 was a match-winning performance. Has been brilliant, will be curious to see if he keeps it up.
Tabraiz Shamsi: 6 matches. 6 wickets. Average 26.50. Eco Rate 7.22
The former #1 ranked bowler in T20 has shown great control in this SA20. He’s not quite had the wickets but has been quite economical in the tournament. He’s gone for less for seven runs per over in half the matches he’s played. The Paarl Royals are sitting at the top of the table, in no small part due to the control and economy he’s exerted in the middle overs of the match.
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