South Africa less than the sum of their parts

When Albie Morkel was recalled to South Africa's T20 squad after an 18-month hiatus from international cricket, he did not know exactly what his role would be. After five matches at the World T20, he probably still doesn't, reports Cricinfo.
Morkel batted at No. 6 to begin with, moved down to No. 7, up to No. 5 and back down to No. 6. He faced 26 balls in the tournament, hit three sixes and never spent more than 18 minutes at the crease. He went from being South Africa's fifth bowler to taking the new ball, took one wicket while going at an economy rate of 9.20, and did not once bowl his full quota of four overs.
That is not as confusing as it is wasteful, which is what South Africa were with most of their resources at the World T20. The blame lies somewhere between under-planning and over-planning, trusting the statistics more than the situation, and having the parts but not knowing how to put them all together.
Morkel was brought in cold off a domestic season in which he did not sparkle. He was not among the top 15 run-scorers or wicket-takers in the Ram Slam T20 tournament. He lay in 18th place in the batting charts, with one fifty and an average of 28.80, and took only two wickets in 10 matches. He was picked on reputation. He did not have any game time under the new T20 regime, with Faf du Plessis as captain and Russell Domingo as coach, and South Africa did not know what to do with him. He was not the only one.
They were also unconvincing in their use of David Miller and AB de Villiers, although they knew they wanted to hold de Villiers back for the second half of the innings because the numbers show he plays better when he comes in after 10 overs. That his two biggest scores of the tournament, 69 and 29, were scored in such circumstances lends some credence to the theory.
They wished Dale Steyn could bowl all 20 overs but because he could not, they chose to use him mostly at the end of innings. In so doing, there was not as much room to manoeuvre with the other bowlers as they might have liked. That is not to say South Africa were inflexible or predictable, a overused criticism they sometimes get, just that they were unsure and a little unsettled.
From their first match they had to make an adjustment because du Plessis had not recovered from a hamstring strain in time. They only had one option. The extra batsman was Farhaan Behardien, so he had to play, but it was obvious South Africa would rather not have had him.
Behardien was slotted to bat at No. 5 but he was pushed down to No. 7 as South Africa chased 166 against Sri Lanka. Effectively they left themselves a batsman short by using Behardien so low down, he made no impact, and they pushed David Miller and Morkel up with the same result.
At 110 for 3 in the 14th over, South Africa wanted boundaries, so there was some method to their madness. Miller was sent in at No. 5. He had the little bit of the time he often needs to settle in and looked in fairly good touch. However, there was no reason not to bat Behardien when the next wicket fell, but Morkel was sent in instead.
When Morkel was informed he was back in the fold, he said he thought between him, Duminy, de Villiers and Miller, they would be the finishers. The problem is that teams do not need four finishers, especially because in South Africa's case they only had one starter, Hashim Amla, and they saw it in that match. After two strong blows Morkel was gone, South Africa needed 33 in three and a half overs and pressure came down on Behardien like a brick wall. He contributed only 5 runs before falling to a big shot.
Behardien's ability as an international player is yet to be proved and South Africa did not make it any easier for him with the way they used him. He stood in for du Plessis again when the captain was suspended for slow over rate and, again, he was leapfrogged in the line-up. South Africa were 120 for 3 in the 15th overagainst England when they sent in Miller, who added 19, and 174 for 4 in the 19th when Morkel was pushed up. Behardien, due to bat No.7, never got the chance.