South Africans forced to play 'catch up' cricket
One down and two more to go and the nature of South Africa's defeat only adds to the anticipation of what will happen at Cape Town, the home team's fortress
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
One down and two more to go and the nature of South Africa's defeat only adds to the anticipation of what will happen at Cape Town, the home team's fortress. Suddenly, the South Africans are forced to play a brand of cricket they're not used to, the kind which Ricky Ponting's Australians demonstrated at the MCG, writes Vic Marks in the Guardian. Moreover, they will have to try and attack Graeme Swann, a tactic which is fraught with risks.
Generally Ponting's first priority is to give his bowlers enough time to win the game (though this may change in a tight Ashes series), the South African way is to ensure that the opposition do not have a chance of winning and only then to press for victory. Now Smith's team may have to swerve.
Such an emphatic defeat often prompts calls for sweeping changes. This rarely happens in modern, squad-orientated international cricket, where security of tenure is so treasured. But in the South African side there are several players suddenly under severe scrutiny in a country where the supporters routinely expect victory. Ashwell Prince, JP Duminy, Paul Harris and Makhaya Ntini are all under pressure.
Kanishkaa Balachandran is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo