Ken Borland

The satisfaction of completing a successful summer with a 2-0 series win over Bangladesh was writ large on Dean Elgar’s face on Monday, but the South African captain knows that soon he will have to get busy analysing their Test campaigns and getting a handle on where they can improve for the bigger challenges that lie ahead later this year.

It does not get more convincing than their 332-run win over Bangladesh on Monday, their biggest ever at St George’s Park, but stiffer opposition lies ahead with tours to England and Australia later this year.

“Not a lot of people would have given us a chance of winning five out of seven Tests this summer and it’s great to have those numbers on our side,” Elgar said after Keshav Maharaj’s 7/40 had bowled the Proteas to victory.

“It’s been an extremely successful summer with a lot to build on, but my job is also to dissect our performances and get the negatives out.”

Elgar’s first and foremost concern was the batting and their failure to get more hundreds.

“From a batting point of view, we need to notch up more hundreds. Us senior guys are getting into position and we need to reach those three figures because we know how much pressure that then puts on the opposition.

“We haven’t quite nailed down the batting, and that’s on my own plate as well, so that’s the one main negative. But we’re extremely aware of it, we’re working bloody hard to fix it, maybe even trying too hard,” Elgar said.

The 34-year-old Elgar has been a hit as captain, introducing a hard-nosed, unrelenting style of cricket to the Proteas Test team. It has been a modus operandi that has resonated with the players and is a good fit with traditional South African values like determination and ruthlessness.

“I’ve been trying to install a way of playing that the team can buy into and we’ve come on leaps and bounds. As a captain, I’m now more experienced and I’ve been able to put my own leadership stamp on the group.

“I’ve gained confidence as I’ve been in the job and hopefully we have a style of play nailed down now that we can all follow. I know the players buy into it.

“I think the team is in a very special place, which means I’m a lot happier with what I’m doing as captain. Getting results and playing good, strong cricket definitely eases the burden of captaincy.

“I’m very grateful for the cricket we’ve played this summer and it’s been great to be competitive at this level,” Elgar said.

Bangladesh collapsed again like a tyre on a potholed South African road as Keshav Maharaj ended with another seven-wicket haul and the Proteas won the second Test by a massive 332 runs at St George’s Park on Monday.

As impressive as South Africa were in wrapping up a 2-0 series win by bowling Bangladesh out for just 80, needing just 59 minutes on Monday to take the last seven wickets, it was a deflating end to the tour for the visitors, who had begun with such promise by winning the ODI series.

But they showed no stomach for the fight on Monday. Resuming on 27/3, they lost three wickets in the first 4.5 overs as Mushfiqur Rahim (1) fell to a superb catch by Dean Elgar at slip and Mominul Haque (5) and Yasir Ali (0) were both caught off attempted slog-sweeps.

Liton Das (27) and Mehidy Hasan Miraz (20) enjoyed hitting a few boundaries, but Maharaj kept wheeling away from the Duckpond End and dismantling the Bangladesh batting. The left-arm spinner became the first man in Test history to take seven wickets in the fourth innings of consecutive Tests. His final figures on Monday were an exceptional 7/40 in 12 overs, the best ever figures by a South African at St George’s Park, improving on Allan Donald’s 7/84 against India in 1992/93.

With Simon Harmer chipping in with 3/34 in 11.3 overs, the wheels fell off Bangladesh’s batting in just 23.3 overs. It was another dismal effort following their awful 53 all out in the first Test in Durban.

It was the most unusual and bittersweet of Test debuts for Khaya Zondo on Monday morning as the second Test between South Africa and Bangladesh resumed at St George’s Park.

The 32-year-old Zondo was brought into the Proteas Test team for the first time on the fourth day of the match as a like-for-like Covid replacement for opening batsman Sarel Erwee.

Erwee and all-rounder Wiaan Mulder were feeling unwell on Monday morning, and tested positive for Covid, meaning they had to be withdrawn from the match. Under the ICC regulations, they are allowed to be fully substituted for the remainder of the game.

That means Glenton Stuurman, who made his Test debut in New Zealand in February, is allowed to bowl in place of Mulder. But because South Africa have already had both their innings in the match, there will no batting for the less fortunate Zondo.

One hopes that Zondo’s Test career does go further and he does not become one of those unlucky cricketers who play just one Test and do not bat or bowl.

The KZN Dolphins batsman has been prolific in first-class cricket this season, averaging 73.50. Having made two centuries in 2020/21, he went a step further this summer, notching his maiden double-century, 203 not out against Western Province at Newlands at the end of October.

The Test series against Bangladesh has shown that the Proteas have discovered two new partnerships that they did not have at the start of the summer as spinners Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer continue to cause havoc and Sarel Erwee is combining superbly with Dean Elgar in the new opening batting partnership.

Maharaj and Harmer took three wickets in three overs after lunch on Sunday to rush Bangladesh’s first innings to a close on 217 all out, a deficit of 236, and the pair were at it again in the 9.1 overs before stumps as they reduced Bangladesh to a parlous 27/3 in their second innings at St George’s Park.

The tourists are chasing a highly unlikely 413 for victory, South Africa declaring their second innings on 176/6 after batting for less than 40 overs on Sunday. That was partly due to the tone set up front by Erwee (41) and Elgar (26), who put on 60 for the first wicket off just 69 balls.

The pair have now shared opening stands of 52 and 60, 113 and 48, and 111 and 12, in their last three Tests.

“As opening batsmen, your heart flutters when you have to come out and bat at twilight,” Erwee said. “It’s not a nice period and it’s even worse when you have to face two world-class spinners like Kesh and Simon.

“They are very experienced campaigners, they know their craft and they have different variations and speeds. Plus they have bowled in different conditions around the world.

“They are a partnership which will stand South Africa in good stead.

“As far as Dean and I go, we share a good relationship off the field, we know what makes each other tick, which allows you to understand your partner a bit better. Things are going quite well at the moment for us,” Erwee said.

The strapping left-hander said it had always been South Africa’s plan to bat aggressively and hit the 400 mark in terms of a lead before declaring.

“We had the target of a minimum 400-run lead, that’s what we were looking at before declaring. It was always the plan and that’s why there was such positive shot-making.

“In terms of our mindset, we want to be positive, that’s what Dean as captain and coach Mark Boucher are trying to instil, and we’ve got to follow through as players.

“The new ball was ragging off the pitch and we knew the wicket would get slower and turn quite nicely. Hopefully that carries on tomorrow,” Erwee said on Sunday evening.