Proteas in Perth – The enigma that is SA cricket

Certain cities, certain grounds, and stadiums even, have special significance for sportsmen. Soccer City in Johannesburg, for instance, will always have resonance for Iker Casillas’ World Cup-winning Spain, while Yokohama in Japan will always loom transcendent for Siya Kolisi’s 2019 World Cup-winning Boks.

So it is with Perth in Western Australia, possibly Australia’s most South African of cities, where Temba Bavuma’s Proteas beat India by five wickets on Sunday. It would be wrong to say the result sent shockwaves through the tournament (it didn’t) but it did signal South African intent in a difficult-to-miss way.

India are to cricket what Germany are to football — driven, resourced and subtly full of themselves without lapsing into anything quite as crass as arrogance. After limiting India to 133 for nine in Perth, the Proteas passed their score with two balls to spare, which makes the result seem almost close.