Connor Esterhuizen believes the Proteas' narrow victory over Namibia has provided invaluable momentum ahead of Sunday’s T20I Tri-series final against Zimbabwe, while also highlighting the importance of adapting to different roles.
Esterhuizen was instrumental in Friday’s 11-run victory at the Namibia Cricket Ground, smashing 88 off just 40 balls in a record-breaking 156-run opening partnership with Lhuan-dre Pretorius. The 22-year-old was promoted to open the innings and made the most of the opportunity, but he insists he is comfortable batting anywhere in the order.
“I don’t know if I feel a bit more comfortable opening,” Esterhuizen said after the match.
“I’ve done it quite a bit. I think I’ve batted almost everywhere from one to seven in my T20 career. I pride myself on being versatile, so wherever the coach asks me to bat or wherever the team need me to bat, I’m happy to put up my hand and try my best.”
Esterhuizen and Pretorius gave South Africa the perfect start, racing to 70/0 in the powerplay before their partnership eventually reached 156. While Pretorius went on to score his maiden T20I century, Esterhuizen’s contribution was his highest score in the format for South Africa.
The pair complemented each other well, with Esterhuizen admitting their contrasting personalities helped them maintain their momentum.
“When batting out there with Lhuan-dre, he’s super laser-focused and always looking to get at the opposition,” he said.
“I sometimes can be a bit of a nervous wreck out there, so I’m just looking for jokes or some banter and some laughs with one of my friends that I’m batting with. So, we feed off each other very nicely.”
South Africa ultimately posted 228/4, but Namibia mounted a serious challenge before falling 11 runs short. Esterhuizen acknowledged that defending such a total on a good batting surface was always going to be difficult.
“On the bowling end, it was just damage control,” he said. “It was a good wicket, so restricting them under the target was a great effort.”
The victory moved the Proteas into the final against Zimbabwe (starts 2pm), with Esterhuizen expecting a much tougher challenge.
“There’s a trophy on the line, so it’s a great opportunity to win a trophy,” he said. “We know how good that Zimbabwe outfit are, so we’re going to have to be on top of our game in order to come out on top.”
On Wednesday, the Proteas start a three-match ODI series against Namibia, which will give the young Proteas another opportunity to gain invaluable white-ball experience — this time in the 50-over format — ahead of next year’s ICC Cricket World Cup, hosted in southern Africa.
Asked what he was most looking forward to in the change of format, Esterhuizen said: “A little more time to bat would be nice.
“We don’t play a lot of ODI cricket anymore, so building into our home World Cup next year, it’s a great stepping stone and a great time to play some 50-over cricket. Some of us youngsters get to put our hand up while other guys aren’t here, I think it’s going to be an awesome time.” | IOL Sport