There is an old saying - Form is temporary, class is permanent - and on Wednesday Kagiso Rabada proved once again that he is pure class for the Proteas.
While his fellow bowlers were being smashed all over the place, South Africa's No 1 spearhead took control finishing with 3/18 as he took his team to an 18-run victory against the USA in the West Indies.
South Africa's bats finally woke up and they put up 194/4 with Quinton de Kock smashing 74 off 40 balls to set the tone.
Aiden Markram found the middle more often than not as he contributed 46 off 32 and Heinrich Klaasen's 36 off 22 was vital in the end.
The men in green (or is it yellow) struggled a little at the end and didn't finish the way they would have wanted to but had enough runs to keep their unbeaten run at the T20 World Cup going and start the Super Eights with a comfortable win.
It wasn't comfortable for a while as Andries Gous (good American name) threatened to ruin the party with a cracking 80 not out off 47 balls.
When Gous and Harmeet Singh were at the wicket together they had a chance to pull off a major upset but Rabada ended their 91-run partnership when he grabbed his third stick of the day.
Rabada opened his account in the fourth over when he had Steven Taylor caught by Klaasen, he added Nitish Kumar to his list of victims shortly afterwards before his amazing 19th over, that went for two runs and claimed the wicket of Singh.
Tabraiz Shamsi (1/50 in four overs) struck first ball but after that he was taken apart by the US batters, a far cry from the man that won the game against Nepal at the weekend.
Keshav Maharaj (1/24) also struck in his first over and showed that he's South Africa's No 1 spinner going forward by keeping it tight and not giving away free runs.
Marco Jansen bowled three on the trot up front and lacked penetration and didn't get another chance to bowl with the old ball as Markram opened the bowling with the big quick (going for 13).
Anrich Nortje bowled better than his 1/37 suggests but on the flatter wickets of the Caribbean he can't simply blow the opposition away so his slower ball will be key for him going forard.
The Proteas will face tougher tests going forward (the clash with England on Friday looms large) and have still not put together a complete performance, which is worrying and also exciting as they are unbeaten and when they fire on all cylinders, they will be a sight to behold.
For now, we simply bask in the unbeaten glory and the class of KG.
Comments