Important not to get panicky: de Villiers

For a team that has had trouble holding its nerve in past ICC tournaments, the way South Africa handled some tricky moments in its opening game against Sri Lanka at The Oval on Saturday bodes well for its ICC Champions Trophy 2017 chances.

Its batsmen overcame a spirited start by Sri Lanka’s pacers, but the biggest challenge for South Africa came when Niroshan Dickwella went berserk, adding 69 for the opening wicket with Upul Tharanga within eight overs. By then, there were a couple of dropped catches, a no-ball and some wayward bowling.

All of a sudden, the target of 300 wasn’t looking too unsurmountable. But, unlike in the past, South Africa didn’t panic.

AB de Villiers was calm and took stock the situation. He didn’t made frantic bowling changes; he persisted with Kagiso Rabada and Wayne Parnell for eight overs. When a change was made, it immediately resulted in Dickwella falling to Morne Morkel.

“Yes, definitely. That's what it's all about,” said de Villiers after the game when asked whether negotiating tricky passages of play here would help them in the future. “We are always going to face obstacles and challenges playing different oppositions in different fields and different situations.

“I was very proud about the way we kept calm and kept our composure in really important times. The first 10 overs was a huge period in the game for us to keep our composure. It was really important not to get panicky, and that starts from me, through my body language and the decisions I make.

“And there were quite a few other challenges throughout the day as well, but it gives us confidence going into the next game. More of the same good intensity, calm cricket, and it will get us into a really good position more often than not.”

Apart from his unflappability, de Villiers also played a key part with his brilliance on the field. He first took a splendid one-handed leaping catch to send back Kusal Mendis, and then ran out Dinesh Chandimal with a direct hit.

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Game-changing fielding by @ABdeVilliers17 💪 #CT17 pic.twitter.com/SJ87WlFNc6

— ICC (@ICC) June 3, 2017

“We shifted the pressure really well today. It was all on us the first few overs, and we did really well to turn that around and to put it back into their court. That's when the little moments started happening. It’s always important to take those moments, those little opportunities that come your way, which we did.”

De Villiers’s brilliance on the field paved the way for Imran Tahir, who ran through Sri Lanka's middle order, picking up 4 for 27. “Close to 10 out of 10,” was de Villiers's rating for the legspinner’s performance. “Not only with the ball in hand but that run out (of Suranga Lakmal later), it always shows me where the player is at when he shows that kind of dedication and commitment in the field. Immy (Tahir) is a great asset for us. He takes wickets and is also economical most of the time.

“It's great to see he's just got a lot of passion for this team and he loves playing for South Africa. I love seeing that passion come out when he celebrates his wickets. There's nothing wrong with that. He's earned the right to go a little bit overboard sometimes, and it puts a smile an all his teammates' faces, which is great.”

De Villiers, however, was aware that the victory margin of 96 runs didn’t paint an accurate picture of just how competitive Sri Lanka was. “They weren't that far off par today,” he said. “They bowled really, really well. Not the whole 50 overs, but they were on the money for most of it.

“With the bat, they put us under pressure early on and we felt it was really difficult, but we felt if we can just hang in for as long as possible, we're going to find a gap somewhere. But even though we won by (close to) a 100 runs, they were probably a partnership or two away from getting really, really close.

“I didn't think they were that far off so we are very happy with a win, but we are not going to get ahead of ourselves with it, and they still have a big chance in the tournament to come back from that.”