There's safety in numbers, especially Amla's

The Kohlis, Roots, Smiths and Williamsons often feature in everyone’s pick of ‘best batsman in world cricket’, but flying under the radar and giving some competition to the younger stars is 34-year-old Hashim Amla.

The South African opener has staggering numbers and breaks records with such regularity and ease that it could give a serious inferiority complex for even the best.

He is the fastest to 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000 and 7000 runs in One-Day Internationals in terms of innings. He now is also the fastest to 25 ODI tons, beating Virat Kohli to the landmark by 11 innings. Amla is also the first ever South African batsman to score so many tons in the format.

First up -- is he even aware of all that?

“Yeah, you get aware of it afterwards,” he laughed after his latest ton helped defeat Sri Lanka in South Africa’s ICC Champions Trophy 2017 opener. “But you know these numbers and those sort of things have very little relevance in the greater scheme of things. Certainly great to get some runs and whatever else that comes with it, but records are meant to be broken so there is no sentimental value to it. You just have to enjoy it, be grateful and move on.”

The reaction was modest, yet typical of Amla’s personality. It’s almost like he feels awkward to discuss his achievements, choosing instead to talk about the team. Once again, typical of Amla’s personality.

But his knock on Saturday at The Oval was not exactly ‘typical Amla’. Such an innings would usually feature abundance of elegance, fluency and boundaries all over the wicket.

The relaid pitch, though, wouldn’t make it that easy. Sri Lanka’s pacers meant business too, tying up the openers and keeping them to 32 in the first 10 overs. Amla himself took 28 balls for his first boundary, and scored only 13 runs off his first 27 deliveries.

“They bowled exceptionally well today. Up front, Quinton (de Kock) and I found it difficult to score,” explained Amla. “The wicket was a bit challenging but you have to hand it to the Sri Lankan seamers, especially in those first ten overs. They made it very difficult for us.”

But the experienced man that Amla is, he realised the need for a different avatar and adapted beautifully, choosing to grind it out. As many as 71 of Amla’s 103 runs came by running between the wicket, with 54 of them being singles. Amla scored only five fours and two sixes, and added 145 with Faf du Plessis for the second wicket, 91 runs of the partnership coming in non-boundaries.

It was crucial, for the game was won – and lost – in the middle overs. While South Africa adapted after a slow start, Sri Lanka missed a trick and was bowled out for 203 after being 94 for 1 in the 12th over.

“We felt that somewhere about 270 would have been a good, defendable target,” suggested Amla. “We weren't sure if the wicket was going to get better as the second innings went on. I'm sure everyone who won the toss would have bowled first as well. The communication was that ‘guys, it's difficult to score’. But we knew that Sri Lanka had only three seamers, if we get through the initial burst of their decent new ball attack, then we could maybe score of their spinners. We managed to hang in there and when Faf came in, he gave really good intensity and we got a nice partnership going.”

The communication that Amla talks about was vital too, for his message that 300 was going to be tough allowed South Africa to approach the innings accordingly. On a more regular Oval track, South Africa might have attacked in the middle overs, but this time Amla and du Plessis were content to milk the bowling.

“On a wicket like today, it's always easiest for the guys who are in because they're used to the pitch and the pace of the wicket,” explained du Plessis. “Whoever comes in next would always find it tougher than the two guys in the middle. It's different if it’s a good, flat wicket and you have guys like AB, Miller and Morris; they can come in and hit sixes easily. Today was just about making sure that we can get the partnership as long as possible. You saw that even at the end, the two of us got out, it was still difficult for the guys coming in.”

This maturity, and the communication, came in for rich praise from their captain.
“It was an amazing innings by Amla,” said AB de Villiers. “He did really well to assess the conditions, and communicated well with us what kind of score is going to be good.

“There was quite a lot in that wicket early on and was really tough to score -- both the opening batsmen sent a message across back to the changing room. Both of them normally bat around a 100 strike-rate without even trying so that told the story.

“When we saw that, it was always going to be important to have a bit of a foundation or a base to play from. And Faf, I thought, played exceptionally well coming in in that situation. We were going at around just under three an over when he came in to bat so there was big pressure there. They did really well to shift it back to Sri Lanka, and I was very happy with that partnership between the two of them.”

“We also had a feeling before the start of the game that around 275 was going to be par. We were really happy around 300. Hash (Amla) obviously played a huge role in that.”

It might not matter to the man, but the century also improved Amla’s numbers in ICC events. This was his first century in a Champions Trophy tournament and his third in a global event, the other two coming against Netherlands and Ireland in the World Cup.

Amla’s average also ‘drops down’ to 41.31 in such tournaments, as opposed to 50.60 in his overall career. In South Africa’s last three knockout matches in marquee tournaments, Amla has scores of 7, 1 and 10.

It indicates just how crucial Amla is to South Africa's quest for ICC silverware.

If those numbers continue to improve, like they did on Saturday, South Africa’s chances in big events will too.