South Africa batsman Farhaan Behardien has said they were confident at the halfway mark of their match against Australia that their total of 189 would be "tough" to surpass. South Africa opted to bat at the Providence Stadium and were struggling at 112 for 6 in the 29th over, before Behardien's 62 pushed them to a more competitive score.
"The chat [during innings break] was to hang in there and we had a score to bowl at," Behardien said. "We knew that the Aussie team is full of confidence but we knew that 190 would be tough. They didn't struggle too much getting the score the other night against the West Indies but it was tough. [Today], the first eight overs, Parnell and Kagiso bowled really well and got those three wickets which put Australia on the back foot. So the chat halfway through was that we had given ourselves a chance and if you bowl really well, which we did tonight, we can win the game and I'm very glad that we did. It's not easy beating the Australian team.
"I thought it was one of those wickets where there was quite a lot happening. Finchy played an unbelievable innings considering the conditions. But we always felt that we were in the game. We went with quite a bold game plan with three spinners, and it paid off on a wicket that offers some assistance for the spinners."
Behardien top-scored for his team with his fifth ODI half-century by building partnerships with the lower order. He first put on 37 with Aaron Phangiso, who scored 9 off 41, for the seventh wicket and then 39 with Kagiso Rabada, who stayed unbeaten on 15. Behardien was satisfied to show a gutsy performance on a pitch that was not easy to bat on.
"It's nice to get a score for the team," Behardien said. "There was a middle-order collapse against Sunil Narine, he kind of got stuck into us on that particular day. Personally, to be out there and grind it out for nearly 30 overs and…the trend of white-ball cricket over the last year has just been of big scores and free-flowing batting innings and sixes and fours. So for me to pull out that performance was pretty satisfying."
Even as teams have struggled to put on big scores at the bowler-friendly Providence Stadium pitches, Behardien hoped the forthcoming matches in the tri-series would be more batsmen-friendly.
"Apparently, St Kitts and Barbados offer a bit more pace and bounce, even and through bounce," he said. "Guyana was obviously low and slow so they brought all the spinners into play. Similarly, our spinners did really well. Phangi took three wickets against the West Indies the other night and Shamsi, Imran [Tahir] and Phangiso again did really well tonight. There's a big emphasis on playing spin. Hopefully the tracks will be a little more in favour of the batters in St Kitts and Barbados."
Behardien also sang praises for debutant and chinaman bowler Tabraiz Shamsi, who struck in his first over with the wicket of Glenn Maxwell and finished with an impressive 1 for 36 from eight overs that included a maiden. Shamsi had two lbw appeals in his first over - against Finch and Maxwell - but got only one in his favour.
"He brings new energy to the group. He made his debut today against the world champions so we had chucked him in the deep end straightaway," Behardien said. "I played with him at the Titans, my state franchise side, in South Africa. There's a little bit of mystery to him.
"We've seen wrist spinners coming to the fore in the shorter formats - [Adam] Zampa's coming, a lot of the IPL teams have one or two wrist spinners who turn the ball both ways. I think that's the key going forward as to try and get some back-up for Imran Tahir. And we need somebody to be groomed by him. Tabraiz Shamsi offers a left-arm chinaman in the mould of Brad Hogg, bit of fire in his belly, always up for the game, always keen to put a performance in. It's always gold dust to have a guy who turns the ball both ways.
"He is tough to pick and I hope he will be tough to pick for the next couple of weeks. Like I said, he's new so teams won't have too much footage on him and hopefully the wickets will assist him little bit. But as I've heard that the wickets in Barbados and St Kitts are a bit more batter-friendly, he'll have to work hard and work on his lengths. As a team we're really excited about a left-arm wrist spinner playing in our starting XI. Hopefully he can be a member of our side for the years to come."