Ken Borland

Dean Elgar had not had much time to think about his greatest triumph as Proteas captain when he was asked what were the positives, in terms of leadership, that he had taken out of the remarkable series win over India, but he did correctly point out that all 11 players had to be on the same page for them to stage such a dramatic and composed comeback.

Elgar had captained South Africa to a defeat against England at Lord’s in 2017 and victory over Pakistan at the Wanderers in 2019 before being appointed full-time Test captain ahead of the two-match series in the West Indies last June. He has now led the Proteas to five wins and two defeats in his total of seven matches as skipper.

“I still need to reflect on all the good things that happened,” Elgar said. “But my skin is pretty thick when it comes to on-field matters and this team never lied down, they always fought.

“They stayed in the game-plan, never veered off it and that’s a good strength to have. You need to have all 11 guys on the same page and I think I’ve gained some people skills that I lacked before.

“I’m a lot more experienced now, but it’s still something I will work on so that I can use it to the best of my ability as captain. It’s tough sometimes not being able to control anything out there.

“But I’ve had to learn quickly not to show my emotions on camera. I think I’m more calm now and I don’t panic too soon,” Elgar said.

The gutsy left-handed opener said building momentum after the poor display in the first Test at Centurion had been a tough task.

“Momentum is important, you really need it in a tough series and it’s difficult to gain against quality opposition,” Elgar said. “So you need to capitalise when the sniff is there.

“And you also have to make sure you don’t let it slip when you’ve got the momentum. But I thought we played the big moments brilliantly, especially considering we did not have a lot of confidence.

“But we showed India are also humans and they are beatable. There were a few turning points and building up to the second Test we had a tough chat for maybe an hour.

“It helped to get the appreciation for the badge back and chasing 240 at the Wanderers was a massive confidence boost for us,” Elgar said.

The Proteas have passed the test of their character and fighting spirit when put under pressure, especially after losing the first Test, coach Mark Boucher said after South Africa sealed an epic 2-1 series win over India in the third Test at Newlands on Friday.

Chasing a testing target of 212, South Africa won by seven wickets thanks to three successive half-century partnerships between Dean Elgar (30), man of the series Keegan Petersen (82), Rassie van der Dussen (41*) and Temba Bavuma (32*).

Having been beaten so thoroughly by the world’s No.1-ranked side in the first Test at Centurion, it was a remarkable comeback by a team that is still in transition.

“The team showed great character and fight, but that did not surprise me because Dean Elgar is a captain that leads from the front and Temba Bavuma too,” Boucher said after his biggest triumph as coach.

“That fight showed in Dean and Temba’s batting as well, so the guys will certainly follow that. When you have real fighters like that as leaders, then that will probably be the character of the team as well.

“This is a team that is on its own mission and it is a special, driven changeroom to be in. It’s fantastic that the results are starting to come in now. There were lots of ebbs and flows in the last two Tests.

“But we played those pressure moments pretty well and if we lost a session, we didn’t lose it too badly so we were still in the game. We are playing good pressure-cricket at the moment,” Boucher said.

As the new-look Test side’s most notable triumph, the players are going to take away enormous confidence and belief from what is one of the best results for South African cricket sine the return from isolation.

“It was a really hard-fought series, and certainly one of the best, top-five, we’ve ever had in South Africa,” Boucher said. “We lost all three tosses and lots of people wrote us off after the first day of the first Test.

“But we need to see this result through the perspective of where this team is and where India, probably the best team in the world, are. Our youngsters will take a lot of confidence from this.

“There’s nothing like winning games when you know you’ve had to play very, very hard Test cricket. But our feet are firmly on the ground and we know we are not the finished product.

“But from where this team has come from, in terms of the on and off-field stuff, they have been through a lot as a unit. But we have had solid chats and we are a close-knit group that has worked very hard,” Boucher said.

South Africa produced a second top-class fourth-innings run-chase in successive weeks as they beat India by seven wickets in the third Test at Newlands on Friday, securing a thrilling and unexpected 2-1 series win over the world’s number one ranked side.

Set a testing target of 212 to win, Keegan Petersen, a batting revelation in this series as he finished as the leading run-scorer (276 @ 46.00), scored a classy 82 off 113 deliveries, with 10 fours, to provide a solid foundation for the chase.

Following a 78-run partnership with captain Dean Elgar (30) on the third evening, Petersen then settled the nerves on the fourth morning as he and Rassie van der Dussen weathered a torrid early burst from Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah to put on 54 for the third wicket.

A composed unbeaten partnership of 57 either side of lunch between Van der Dussen and Temba Bavuma then sealed a tremendous victory for the Proteas.

The growth in confidence in the South African top-order, having lost Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis over the last couple of years, was apparent as Van der Dussen calmly went to 41 not out and Bavuma played some marvellous strokes as he made light of the pressure and cruised to 32 not out off 58 balls.

South Africa ended the morning session on 171/3, still needing 41 runs to win after they had begun the fourth day on 101/2.

Van der Dussen came to the wicket to join Petersen, on 48, following the dismissal of captain Elgar on what became the final ball of the third day.

The Proteas pair had to come through a torrid test with Shami swinging the ball around corners and Bumrah typically probing. But Petersen went to his third half-century in four innings with an edge through the vacant gully region.

Petersen was then reprieved on 59 when Cheteshwar Pujara dropped a comfortable catch at first slip off Bumrah.

Some relief came when Shami was surprisingly replaced by Umesh Yadav after bowling just four overs; the pressure began to ease and the runs started to flow.

Petersen eventually fell when he was rushed by a ball that zipped back into him off the pitch, chopping Shardul Thakur into his stumps. The 28-year-old’s career-best 82 was further proof of his class and silencing the naysayers when it comes to how richly he deserves his place in the team.

India continued to have no luck with DRS, calling for reviews against Van der Dussen for both caught behind and lbw. The former remained with the on-field decision as ultra-edge could not distinguish whether the ball had hit the bat at the same time as the bat scraped along the ground, while the lbw review showed Umpire’s Call with the ball hitting the top edge of leg-stump.

Two things that are obvious in this current Proteas team, highlighted by their tremendous series win over India, is the amount of fight and potential that resides in this squad.

By triumphing over the challenge of an Indian team featuring two of the best fast bowlers in the world in Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah, as well as a side featuring the batting talents of a top six that are all inside the top-35 of the ICC rankings, the Proteas have done their reputation a world of good. For a team in transition to claim the scalp of the No.1 side in Test cricket must rank as one of the best achievements since isolation.

The series win was marked by the arrival of two exciting players for the future in batsman Keegan Petersen and left-arm quick Marco Jansen, whose potential with the bat has already seen him claim the No.7 spot of the typical all-rounder.

The 21-year-old Jansen only made his Test debut in the first Test at Centurion because Duanne Olivier was not yet fully fit for five days of cricket after a bout of Covid. But Jansen has cashed in on friendly bowling conditions in quite remarkable fashion, taking 19 wickets at an average of just 16.47. Only Kagiso Rabada (20 at 19.05) took more wickets in the series.

Jansen’s bounce, pace and priceless ability to move the ball both ways means he has looked right at home in Test cricket and he has also shown the tough temperament you want from your fast bowlers.

Petersen scored just 15 and 17 at SuperSport Park but then found his groove with three crucial half-centuries in his last four innings. And he did all of that in the tough No.3 position, with Aiden Markram’s continued failures meaning he came to the wicket early in every innings.

It led to suggestions that perhaps Petersen’s path into Test cricket should be eased by dropping down the order a bit, but the 28-year-old has emphatically made the No.3 position his own for at least the rest of the summer. The leading run-scorer in the series with 276 at an average of 46, Petersen’s temperament and mental toughness, excelling in tough situations when the pressure was on, has been even more impressive than his slick strokeplay.

With Dean Elgar and Temba Bavuma also having good series and Rassie van der Dussen playing important roles in the two daunting run-chases at the Wanderers and Newlands, it would be silly to contemplate too many changes to the batting order.

One player who might have played his last Test as an opening batsman though is Markram. As talented as he is and as well as he has done previously in the position, a return of 80 runs in his last eight innings is not good enough. Sarel Erwee, who has acted as his understudy for the better part of a year now, was the leading run-scorer for SA A against India A last month and deserves to get a chance in New Zealand next month.

As for Markram, there has been talk of him playing as a middle-order batsman, which would be interesting, but he needs to go back to domestic cricket and force his way back into the team in that position through weight of runs.

Coach Mark Boucher also deserves to have a deeper well of public support for his role in inspiring the team to such a memorable, unexpected triumph.

After a poor performance in the first Test, well done to the Proteas, who were without a key fast bowler in Anrich Nortje, for fighting back and then lasting the distance in what has been a fascinating series. The action has been gripping and the twists in fortune quite riveting.

Long live Test cricket!