Exclusive: Corbin Bosch’s Yorkers and Nandre Burger’s Pace Give Proteas Attack Real Depth, says Coach Piet Botha

The ability of Corbin Bosch to bowl yorkers and the left-arm pace of Nandre Burger have obviously added greater depth to the South African attack, bowling coach Piet Botha told sportsboom.co.za ahead of their limited-overs series in England this week. 

The Proteas take on England in three ODIs and three T20s between September 2-14 and will be feeling confident having beaten Australia 2-1 in an ODI series last week. 

The T20 series in Australia was tightly contested, with the hosts winning the last game by two wickets with one ball remaining, to edge the rubber 2-1.

All-rounder Bosch took six wickets in the three T20 matches, while he emerged with great credit from the lone 50-over game he played: While Australia plundered 431 for two, Bosch conceded just 26 runs in his last four overs bowling at the death.

"Corbin has done so well, being selected first for the Test side and then being drafted into the one-day squad," Botha told sportsboom.co.za. 

"He's got the unique ability to land the yorker. For a long time we've been searching for someone who has got that ability."

"Even if you get hit once or twice - even the perfect yorker sometimes goes to the boundary - it's about sticking to it and Corbin has the confidence to do that. He's certainly got a role in our attack going forward; Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi are practising hard at their yorkers as well. It seems to be working, as a unit we are getting our percentage of successful yorkers up," Botha said.

While Ngidi was the star of the show in the crucial second ODI, taking five for 42 as South Africa won by 84 runs, it was the work of Burger, bowling in tandem with him up front with the new ball, that gave the Proteas control.

Burger finished with two for 23 in six overs, and Botha praised the resilience of the 30-year-old, who bounced back from figures of two for 54 in eight overs in the first ODI.

"Nandre came back superbly well after he struggled a bit in the first ODI. In the second match, he produced a superb spell up front which set the tone really well. He's got pace, but it's the control that he also showed that is so vital up front. Australia were 39 for three in the powerplay, which was probably the difference in the end. He will take that as a reference point going forward and he takes confidence into this series against England," Botha added. 

Ngidi is also in prime form, finishing as the leading wicket-taker in the ODI series with seven for 70 in 13-and-a-half overs. As South Africa's prime purveyor of slower balls and other variations, he certainly outbowled Australia's 'skills man', Nathan Ellis, across the series.

Tasmanian teammates

The fact that Ellis's Tasmanian teammate Matthew Kuhnemann, a left-arm spinner, did not play at all in the series, points to another key difference between the two attacks. 

South Africa's left-arm spinner, Keshav Maharaj, was named Player of the Series in the one-dayers, after taking six wickets and conceding just 4.64 runs-per-over.

Maharaj was controversially left out of the T20 squad, all-rounders George Linde and Senuran Muthusamy, both also orthodox left-arm spinners, being preferred. But Botha said Maharaj is still very much in the picture in the shortest format, and he has returned to the squad for the T20 series in England.

"Generally in T20s, you're trying to get your batting as deep as possible, so a spinner who can bat, who can swing the bat in the lower-order, is always in the discussion. But your best spinner also needs to be in consideration as well. Keshav is certainly our number one spinner, and he can bat a bit, as he showed in his 22 not out in the second ODI. The important thing is that Keshav the bowler can win the game for you in three overs, like he did in the first ODI."

"It's a privilege to have such a big group of bowlers. The nature of international cricket means it's about the management of players, like we did with limiting Lungi to just the first two games in the ODI series with this England tour coming up."

"It's a blessing to have this big group, two years ago that was not the case. It's important because on certain grounds you need certain options, and we can string together those combinations. Leeds has big square boundaries and that brings a certain game-plan in, and because we're towards the end of the English season, the pitches could be slower and maybe there will be more assistance for those bowling slower balls," Botha concluded.