Dane Paterson can ‘hit the stumps’ for Proteas in Gqeberha, says Temba Bavuma

Just a day after the scheduled conclusion of the second Test against Sri Lanka at St George’s Park, the Proteas will do battle with Pakistan in a T20 International further down the coast at Kingsmead.

Never before have the Proteas been forced to split up their squads in this manner and play two internationals across different formats within the space of 24 hours.

But such is the modern-day cricket landscape that any form of whinging about the schedule will merely fall on deaf ears.

It’s best to simply accept one’s fate, move on as quickly as possible, and focus on the task at hand.

And that alone will require all the focus of Temba Bavuma’s Test side, for they once again go searching for those 12 precious match points that will take the Proteas to the brink of qualification for the World Test Championship final at Lord’s next year.

“We’re getting a lot closer. I think as us as a team, we’re also trying to get a lot closer as a team and keep looking inwardly without looking too far ahead,” Bavuma said.

“I think like I said before the start of the series, I think after the start of the WTC series, after New Zealand, we weren’t really rated.

“We weren’t really given a chance to be anywhere close to where we are now. So, I think for us as a team, we’ll take a lot of confidence in that.

“We’ll keep just focusing on ourselves. So yeah, if we see ourselves there in June, July at Lord’s, that’ll be very nice.

“But we have to obviously keep playing the good cricket that we’ve been playing.”

There has been some disruption to the line-up that steam-rolled Sri Lanka by 233 runs in the first Test in Durban last week, with all-rounder Wiaan Mulder and fast bowler Gerald Coetzee ruled out through injury.

This has necessitated a double change, with left-hander batter Ryan Rickelton and veteran seamer Dane Paterson drafted into the starting XI.

Teenage pace sensation Kwena Maphaka had been added to the squad in Gqeberha, but Bavuma believes the conditions expected at St George’s Park is better suited to Paterson’s consistency.

“Patto, if you look at all our bowlers – take away Mulder – he’s probably the one guy that can hit the stumps more consistently I guess, being shorter in stature,” Bavuma said.

“St George’s is one of those wickets where the lbw, bowled – well, even the nick-off as well – become a lot more predominant in terms of wicket-taking options.

“So, I guess he (Paterson) adds that variety to us as a team, where we have a guy who can target the stumps more.

“Also from a skill point of view, there’s not many guys who are better than Patto in terms of getting the ball up there, swinging, nipping it around.”

Paterson’s selection is certainly in line with the Proteas’ mindset that they are preparing for a battle of attrition over the next five days – unlike at Kingsmead, where Marco Jansen decimated the Sri Lankan top-order to bundle out the tourists for a record-low 42.

“The way that we stacked up our line-up is that we believe that with the runs on the board, that gives you enough time to get 20 wickets,” Bavuma said.

“It might take us a bit longer. It may not play like Durban. There is a bit more grass on the wicket. So, you know, I think there will be something in there for our seamers.

“But if it doesn’t favour our seamers, we do have the spin in Kesh (Maharaj) to be effective. We believe that whether it’s the spin (or pace), we can still be successful in these conditions.”

* For a full report on last night’s first ODI between the Proteas Women and England in Kimberley, visit www.iol.co.za/the-star/sport

Proteas Team

Aiden Markram, Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs, Temba Bavuma (captain), David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne, Ryan Rickelton, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Dane Paterson.