Hashim Amla grinds out a reminder of his value to South Africa

SAM MORSHEAD AT EDGBASTON: Anyone with an ounce of appreciation for Amla's work would have been delighted to see that, at Edgbaston, there were at least signs he could force his way out of his rut

Scorecard

It has been a tough World Cup for Hashim Amla.

He was clattered on the head by Jofra Archer on the opening day, has struggled against the rising ball ever since and on Saturday copped dog’s abuse for steering South Africa to a nine-wicket victory over Afghanistan with the sort of innings which might have had a Sunday afternoon skipper ordering his batting partner through for a suicidal single.

The whole ordeal has hardly been befitting of one of the finest all-formats batsmen the Proteas have ever produced; quite frankly, at times it has been hard to watch.

So anyone with an ounce of appreciation for Amla’s work would have been delighted to see that, at Edgbaston, there were at least signs he could force his way out of the rut.

Just as against Afghanistan, Amla left the ball well alone often during the early overs - 11 times in the first 10 - a tool he has employed to try to kick himself back into form (CricViz data shows that, over his entire ODI career up until the weekend, he had never left more than nine balls in the equivalent period of the innings).

When he did look to get bat on ball, he did so late, under his eyes, affording himself the longest possible time to execute the shot correctly.

^{Hashim Amla hit 55 for South Africa against New Zealand}

Two cover drives were reminiscent of peak Amla - elegant, wristy, portrait-perfect - and he was assured in manoeuvring through backward point off the back foot.

He passed 8,000 ODI runs, becoming the second fastest to do so in terms of innings played (176, one more than Virat Kohli) and an aerial drive past mid-on brought up his 38th one-day fifty. It had taken 75 deliveries, but that didn’t matter.

Amla revealed in an interview with a South African magazine several years ago that his biggest cricket lesson had been taken from the father of one of his schoolfriends back home in Durban.

“Don’t worry about anything else but just put runs on the board and you will make any team you want to make.”

It is a mantra that has largely rung true over the course of his career -  in addition to his 8,000-plus haul in ODIs, he has more than 9,000 in Tests and 1,200 in T20Is. The man has 55 international centuries to his name.

He has been putting runs on the board for his country for the best part of 15 years, and here he was, taking the mindset which has served him well from his first school matches in Tongaat to schoolboy life at Durban High and right through to representing his country.

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On a difficult track - a little two-paced after being kept undercover by Birmingham’s early summer monsoons - against a bowling attack that mixed searing speed with intelligent lines, he was observant, nothing more.

He only struck four boundaries in nearly two hours at the crease, and was as aggressive as a Greenpeace protest. But he made the runs.

“Nobody can argue with a good performance,” Amla said in that interview last year. “If you are a batter just put as many runs on the board as you can, the coach or the selectors will have no option. They will just have to pick you.”

Amla’s ongoing selection is a bone of contention with some fans and commentators in South Africa, who can point to an average of a little more than 34 in ODIs since the start of 2018 as a reason for the opener to be cut from the side.

But this is not the first time he has suffered a dip in form - a flick through his season-by-season ODI record shows more ups and downs than an escalator factory - and he has a proven ability to follow drought with flood.

^{Amla has been going through a tough spell}

The 36-year-old has endured a difficult personal time over recent months, too. He was excused from the T20 Challenge in April to tend to his critically ill father, and regardless of his notably relaxed demeanour, it would take a seriously tough character not to have his work-life balance thrown a little out of kilter in such circumstances.

Still, figures within the South Africa backroom staff speak of a man who is seeing the ball well in the nets, a man who is never that far from a run glut.

“He just needs a nice, sunny day, to have a bit of luck and just get through it,” batting coach Dale Benkenstein, who spent a fortnight with Amla immediately prior to the World Cup, and knows better than most how the batsman is looking behind closed doors.

“He is moving well, he is hitting the ball well and he just has to keep believing.

“He has always said that runs are really important for him because he needs the confidence.”

It might have come too late to save South Africa’s World Cup campaign, but Amla has found runs again. It would seem foolish to be rid of him now.

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