Ken Borland

Faf du Plessis put his fabulous 199 against Sri Lanka on the third day of the first Test down to his single-minded focus on his fitness, the one area he said he could control during Lockdown.

While Sri Lanka coach Mickey Arthur was blaming Covid for the unprecedented glut of injuries in his team, Du Plessis seemed to have little sympathy for their plight, saying he had used Lockdown wisely.

“Obviously Covid has made things more intense as far as injuries are concerned, but everyone has had enough time to make sure they are physically fit enough for Test cricket. I did a lot of work during Lockdown, it meant I had a good off-season and, for me personally, I went through the process in the last six months of making sure I was in the best position possible to play really well.

“The one thing I could control was how fit I was and that work is really working for me now and at 36 I feel fitter now than I have ever been before. I’m moving better now than when I was 23 or 24. People have been saying I’m at the end of my career, but it all depends on how good your body is, how fit you are – that is much more important than your age,” Du Plessis said after his career-best masterpiece that lasted nearly seven hours.

The former captain acknowledged his disappointment at getting out one short of his maiden double century, being caught at a wide mid-on off debutant leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga, and said milestones were important for the team and not just the individual player.

“I thought I would just pop it over his head when the field was brought up like they always do when someone is on 99, but maybe I should have tried to hit it straighter because it was the googly. It’s a shot I play really well, just the execution wasn’t so good this time. I was pretty tired by then too and probably not in the greatest position to try and hit a six.
“You don’t think too much about making 200 but it does start when you get past a hundred because big hundreds are what the team strives for. Those are the match-winning knocks and if you get in, you want to make sure that you cash in big time. I felt really good at the crease and from a timing and statement point of view it was great to show those who have doubted my ability recently that nothing has changed,” Du Plessis said.

The runs flowed for Faf du Plessis and South Africa on the third day of the first Test against Sri Lanka at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Monday but while the Proteas’ former captain will be delighted with his own performance and the strong position of his team, he will be hankering after just one more run.

That’s because Du Plessis became just the second South African batsman and 11^th overall to be dismissed for 199, just one run short of his first double century. After 412 minutes and 276 balls at the crease, Du Plessis tried to belt Wanindu Hasaranga over the top but his on-drive failed to clear a wide mid-on and he joined Dean Elgar in the 199 club.

Elgar was sitting outside the changeroom and he lowered his head into his arms, giving Du Plessis a consolatory rub on the head as he walked past him, and then sank back to his haunches, head down and no doubt contemplating the mixed emotions he knows so well.

“I thought I would just pop it over his head when the field was brought up like they always do when someone is on 99, but maybe I should have tried to hit it straighter because it was the googly. It’s a shot I play really well, just the execution wasn’t so good this time. I was pretty tired by then too and probably not in the greatest position to try and hit a six.
“I’ve always wanted to score a 200 and to get so close is no ideal. But I felt really good at the crease and from a timing and statement point of view it was great to show those who have doubted my ability recently that nothing has changed. I’m 36 now but I feel fitter than I ever have before, I pushed myself during Lockdown,” Du Plessis said.

Hasaranga, on debut, also experienced the ebbs and flows of Test cricket as he took four wickets, but conceded 171 runs in 45 overs, as well as injuring his leg on the boundary and having to leave the field for a while. It only added to the woes of a depleted Sri Lankan attack that was already missing Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara and Dhananjaya de Silva.

And South Africa took full advantage: Having begun the day with a deficit of 79, they piled on the runs to such an extent that by the time they were bowled out for 621 – their highest ever total at SuperSport Park – they had accumulated a commanding lead of 225.

Temba Bavuma provided a fluent, classy 71 before he seemed unfortunate to be dismissed caught behind off Dasun Shanaka; except the batsman himself walked almost immediately. It was only when replays suggested his flashing drive outside off stump had made no contact with the ball that questions began to be asked.

Bavuma and Du Plessis added 179 for the fifth wicket, the key partnership after South Africa had lost three wickets for 20 on the second afternoon, and Wiaan Mulder then looked comfortable as he contributed 36 in a sixth-wicket stand of 77.

By then, it had become one-way traffic and Keshav Maharaj was able to stroke a career-best 73 as he and Fantastic Faf added another 133.

Being in the field for 142.1 overs maybe explains the tired shots Dimuth Karunaratne, who also had to bowl 6.5 overs, and Kusal Mendis, who bowled seven overs, played as they were both dismissed cheaply by Lungi Ngidi.

But the runs are still flowing at SuperSport Park and with positive intent and solid technique, Kusal Perera (33*) and Dinesh Chandimal (21*) were able to take Sri Lanka to 65 for two at the close.

But with their deficit still 160 and injuries potentially robbing them of three wickets as the pitch gets more up-and-down, there is no doubt South Africa are in the driver’s seat.

After watching four of his own bowlers succumb to injury in the first Test, it will only add to Sri Lanka coach Mickey Arthur’s woes that South Africa were able to announce on Monday the return of ace paceman Kagiso Rabada to their squad for the second Test starting at the Wanderers on Sunday.

Rabada has been pronounced fit to play again after a thigh strain and his addition is the only change to the squad doing duty in the first Test at Centurion. The highest-ranked South African Test bowler was cleared to enter the bio-bubble on Monday and was running laps around SuperSport Park during the lunch break.

Sri Lanka, in contrast, are wracked by injuries which have ruined the very competitive start they made to the game at SuperSport Park.

Dhananjaya de Silva, their star batsman in the first innings at Centurion but also a handy off-spinner, has been ruled out of the series after tearing a thigh muscle while running between the wickets. Opening bowler Kasun Rajitha then limped off the field with a groin injury after bowling just 13 balls and is also probably out of the second Test.

The tourists’ situation became even more dire on Monday as fast bowler Lahiru Kumara bowled one delivery after lunch and then walked off with a suspected groin injury as well, while leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga hurt his leg while fielding on the boundary and was taken off the field on a buggy. But he did return to bowl and picked up another two wickets.

There were times when Arthur’s face bore such a grim visage outside the Sri Lankan changeroom that industrial-strength anti-depressants seemed the only answer and, with the new regulations forbidding the use of runners in any circumstances, Sri Lanka could well have just seven wickets in their second innings as they look to cancel out their deficit of 225.

Bowlers have travelled so much in the first two days of the first Test between South Africa and Sri Lanka at SuperSport Park that it has been reminiscent of the traffic between Gauteng and the coast during a normal festive season, but Proteas opening batsman Dean Elgar said on Sunday that the pitch is not as flat as the scores would suggest.

Sri Lanka posted 396 in 96 overs (run-rate 4.12) after winning the toss and batting first, while South Africa had rattled up 317 for four in 72 overs at stumps, a run-rate of 4.40. Elgar was pivotal to the Proteas’ strong reply, scoring a typically pugnacious 95. Having spent 199 minutes at the crease, the nuggety left-hander was ideally placed to talk about the interesting pitch.

“Looking at the scores you would think the pitch is quite flat but it’s not; there’s been quite a lot of assistance on the last two days for the seamers which the scores don’t reflect. It’s probably down to some good batting and poor bowling, but it’s a very good Test wicket. We are set up nicely and there’s definitely quite a bit still in it, the new ball is especially hard to face.

“At SuperSport Park, the margin for error for the bowlers is so small and you will go for runs if you miss your mark, the outfield is so fast. Bowlers can get carried away by the bounce and pace here, but those are not necessarily the right places to bowl. But if the bowlers stick to a fourth-stump line like Lutho Sipamla (16-1-76-4) did today then you will be rewarded. But batting with a straight bat will also bring reward,” Elgar said.

The 33-year-old had just weathered a fierce short-pitched, bodyline-type barrage from fast bowler Lahiru Kumara when he hit a sharp return catch to medium-pacer Dasun Shanaka, but Elgar said it was not disappointing that he had fallen just short of his first Test century in 14 innings.

“It was a bit unlucky but I guess I needed to put the ball on the ground. But it was great to just be out there playing for my country. It would have been good to get to three figures but I don’t play for that. I’m there to set up the game for my team and I think it was job done. The openers are supposed to set things up and it was a good day with the bat.”

Elgar and Aiden Markram (68) put on a brilliant 141 for the first wicket to set the tone for South Africa’s strong reply, and the left-hander said it was just a continuation of the good mindsets and strong game-plans they have shown together for the Titans.

“Aiden and I have been batting well domestically the last few months so it’s good to do it now at international level. There’s been a lot of hard work building up to this series and the team has spoken about aggression which we have maybe missed a bit. But you still have to be very calculated and I know myself I still have to earn the right to play that way,” Elgar said.