As the tri-series moves on from Guyana and St Kitts to its final destination of Barbados, ESPNcricinfo looks at five things we have learnt from the series so far
Brydon Coverdale and Firdose Moonda17-Jun-2016South Africa’s attack is changing
It was only last year that Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander and Imran Tahir almost bowled South Africa into a World Cup final. What a difference a year makes. Steyn is in playing T20 cricket for Glamorgan, Philander is on his way back from a long injury lay-off and Morkel, though part of the ODI squad, has yet to be called on in the series. Even Kyle Abbott has been used only twice. Instead, the attack has based itself around Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Aaron Phangiso and the dangerous Tahir. And their results have been encouraging. The times, for South Africa’s bowling unit, are a-changing.Adam Zampa has poise to burn
He started this year aged 23 and with no international caps to his name, but Adam Zampa has quickly shown that not only does he have the skills for international cricket, but also the poise. Bowling legspin in limited-overs cricket can be fraught, for the margin of error is so slim. But Zampa has belied his youthful looks to bring a mature outlook to the side, and is Australia’s leading wicket taker in the series with nine victims at 19.33. It follows on from similarly encouraging displays in ODIs against New Zealand in February and the World T20 in India in March. Zampa has variety, intelligence and confidence – the next step is for him to gain more traction in first-class cricket, and show he is not just a short-form player.West Indies need more from their top order
Since last year’s World Cup, West Indies have done without Chris Gayle in the ODI format and have stuck with Johnson Charles and Andre Fletcher as their opening pair. Their first few stands against Sri Lanka in November were worth just 2, 1 and 4, but their numbers have lifted in this series and their last two partnerships have been worth 74 and 69. It is an encouraging rise. All the same, West Indies still need more from their top order. The No.3, Darren Bravo, is averaging 24.75 this series. Fletcher is averaging 15.75. The team’s top four partnerships are averaging 31.68 this series, compared to Australia’s 37.56 and South Africa’s 48.50. It is hard to win a series with numbers like that.Anyone can beat anyone
World champions Australia entered this series ranked No.1 in the world, South Africa No.3 and West Indies No.8. And yet the teams find themselves, after the Guyana and St Kitts legs of the tournament, locked on two wins and two losses each, only a couple of bonus points separating them. Everyone has beaten everyone once. In Guyana, West Indies beat South Africa, South Africa beat Australia and Australia beat West Indies. In St Kitts, West Indies beat Australia, Australia beat South Africa and South Africa beat West Indies. For the viewer it is the best-case scenario, a genuine contest. Now what will happen in Barbados?South Africa’s percentages matter
This series is South Africa’s first since the country’s sports minister, Fikile Mbalula, banned four national sporting federations, including cricket, from bidding for or hosting international tournaments as a punishment for their slow rate of transformation. Mbalula made it public that the target the federations had agreed to meet in an MOU signed with the sports ministry was 60%. Cricket was not falling too far short, having achieved 55%, but needed to include one more player of colour to meet the minister’s criteria. That meant fielding seven players of colour in an XI and in this series, they have stuck to that on average. South Africa took the field with six players of colour in their first match against West Indies but made up for that with a record eight players of colour in their second game against Australia. They have included seven players of colour in their other two matches. Sticking to this number should ensure the ban is overturned when the transformation numbers are reviewed next year which means if a World T20 is played in 2018, and there is talk South Africa would be the preferred host, they can stage the event. It has been interesting to note the impact this strategy has had on team balance. It has given South Africa’s attack variety and dynamism but has kept their batting line-up a little too short, with the tail emerging from No.7 in some cases.
