KOLKATA: South Africa are the only team to have entered the last four unconquered.
In a tournament generally dominated by batters, the South African pacers have stood out so far. The quartet of Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen and Corbin Bosch have not only delivered wickets at regular intervals but also prevented opponents from running away with the game. Fittingly enough, in all the group-stage matches South Africa played, one of their pacers was adjudged Player of the Match with Ngidi bagging the trophy twice.
Captain Aiden Markram should also be credited as he was the who used these fast bowlers to the best of their potential. All these pacers bowled in tandem, especially in the death overs, to keep things under control, be it the first innings or the second innings of the match. And Bosch has been a go-to bowler for Markram especially between the 17 to 20 overs.
The 31-year-old pacer has bowled at least one over in that period, picking five wickets from eight overs. In fact, Bosch has the best economy of 6.2 runs per over in the death overs among the bowlers who have bowled 30-plus balls in the tournament during that phase. India’s Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah are second and third respectively with an economy of 6.8 and 7.6. Overall, Bosch has claimed 10 wickets during that phase from 17 innings with an impressive economy of 7.45.
Bosch was teammate of Markram, Rabada and Jason Smith when South Africa won the 2014 U19 world title, the country’s only ICC white-ball World Cup glory across all men’s categories. Incidentally, Markram was the captain and team’s leading scorer while Rabada was their top wicket taker with Bosch second to him. It was Bosch, who picked 4/15 against Pakistan to help South Africa win the crown. The performance also earned him Player of the Final trophy.
