Marco Jansen and Proteas face new challenge in Delhi after securing Super 8 spot

The distance between Ahmedabad, situated in north-central Gujarat along the banks of the Sabarmati River, all the way north to New Delhi, positioned between the Himalayas and the Aravalli Range, is just under 1 000km. 

It may as well be on a different continent for the Proteas after spending the first week of their ICC T20 World Cup journey at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, picking up three crucial wins from three matches, to book their ticket to the next Super Eights phase. 

Afghanistan’s victory over UAE on Monday ensured the Proteas’ passage to the next round with a game to spare. 

Aiden Markram’s men have, though, now packed their bags and travelled to India’s capital for their final Group D match, effectively a dead-rubber, against the UAE at the unknown Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday.

The Proteas have become accustomed to the Narendra Modi Stadium, where they even worked out unique field placings to suit the ground’s dimensions, such as when David Miller took a smart catch at short third-man off Marco Jansen against New Zealand. 

“A lot of the plans come from the bowlers which I think they need to get a lot of credit for and it gives you wide options pace on and pace off and it gives you straight options pace on and pace off as well,” Proteas captain Aiden Markram said.

“I think that’s what most teams are chasing, it’s just the fields might look different for each of them based on the type of bowler, the skiddy nature or bouncy nature, whatever it might be.”

Jansen, the hero of the victory over the Black Caps with career-best T20I figures of 4/40, will, however, rely on his IPL experience gained over the past five years to adapt to both the surface and the size of the ground in Delhi. 

“It’s a smaller ground and the ball flies a lot further,” Jansen said.

“From a bowling point of view, it’s always going to be tricky playing at Delhi, having played there a couple of times now. I think the wicket is going to be good.” 

The lanky seamer is, however, confident the bowling group will be able to formulate new plans for the change of venue.

“It’s going to be sort of a low, skiddy bounce there and I don’t think we’re going to change too much,” Jansen said.

“We might just play around with field placements and get those angles exactly right. Especially in Delhi, if your angles are in the wrong spot, the ball can fly everywhere.”

With qualification assured, the Proteas could even rest up Jansen to give fellow left-armer Kwena Maphaka his maiden T20 World Cup outing, while another speedster Anrich Nortje is also waiting in the wings for his first run out in this competition.

* Zaahier Adams is a veteran sports reporter with over two decades of experience in the field. He has covered multiple major ICC events, and hopes to one day see the Proteas lift a white-ball World Cup championship.