Ken Borland

The day after Christmas can be a bit of a downer considering the joy of the previous day, but there were many at SuperSport Park on Thursday who were adamant that they were not going to let anything get them down on the opening day of the first Test between South Africa and Pakistan.

For the festive crowd of more than 16 000 – the sold out signs went up in the afternoon – it helped ameliorate any hangovers, both literal and figurative, that they bought more than a million rand of beer on Thursday. According to Northerns Cricket Union CEO Jacques Faul, this is the first time that has ever happened at Centurion.

But for the Proteas players it took good old-fashioned determination and pride to ensure they kept coming back.

For the spearhead of the attack, Kagiso Rabada, there was the frustration of any number of plays-and-misses by the Pakistan batsmen as he whizzed delivery after delivery past the edges of the bat. But he did not let it get him down, never once dropping his head. His tenacity was not rewarded, but Mother Cricket will surely smile on the great paceman in the second innings.

Having won the toss and sent Pakistan in to bat, the Proteas had to endure a wicket-less first hour. Captain Temba Bavuma said in the huddle at the drinks break that the wickets will come, they must just stay patient.

Debutant Corbin Bosch, who has had to overcome more challenges than most in getting to the international stage, then struck with his first delivery in Test cricket, the first ball after drinks. Pakistan captain Shan Masood (17), having put on 36 with fellow opener Saim Ayub, drove at a full delivery angled across him and edged to gully.

While Bosch finished a memorable first day in Proteas whites, taking four for 63 in 15 overs, it was Dane Paterson who did most of the damage as Pakistan were bowled out for 211 three balls after tea.

Paterson followed up Bosch’s memorable moment – he is just the 25th bowler to take a wicket with his first ball in Test cricket and the fifth South African – by then snaring wickets in successive overs.

Saim (14) was caught behind after edging an excellent delivery that was typical of Paterson’s effort on Boxing Day: In a great channel just outside off stump and the perfect, slightly fuller length.

Pakistan’s kingpin, Babar Azam, was caught in the slips for just 4 edging a limp, indecisive fiddle outside off-stump, and Bosch then claimed a second wicket as Saud Shakeel (14) gloved an attempted hook to wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne.

Kamran Ghulam and Mohammad Rizwan took Pakistan to 88 for four at lunch, and went on to add 81 for the fifth wicket. But it was Paterson who returned to break the partnership, frustrating Ghulam (54) with his accuracy and drawing a reckless charge down the pitch and wild swipe that was caught at fine leg.

Rizwan (27) had also charged and flailed unsuccessfully at Paterson a couple of times, and a hard-handed drive saw him caught in the slips in the Western Province paceman’s next over.

Salman Agha (18) was also caught trying to slog Paterson, who removed five of the top seven batsmen for career-best figures of 16-4-61-5, his second successive five-wicket haul.

The 35-year-old Paterson has had several critics moaning about his selection for the Test side, but he has not let it get him down.

“I’m drifting nicely into the sunset and I’m happy just to be putting the team in good positions. I will be 36 next year, but I don’t really want to mention my age,” Paterson laughed in the press conference after the close of play.

“If people have something to say about me then they should take it in return too, that’s freedom of speech. The critics provide me with fuel to prove people wrong. But my focus is on putting the team in good positions, it’s not about me.

“I’m probably not a fan favourite because I’m 35 and I bowl at 124km/h. But hopefully after these last two Tests I will get some likes!” Paterson said.

The skilful seamer gave his fellow pacemen Bosch and Rabada likes as well.

“Corbin was in his home conditions and obviously has knowledge of what works here, but to have a debut like that and push for five wickets is a dream come true, it was really quite special.

“KG is special; even against Sri Lanka he had a lot of plays-and-misses. But he keeps on coming, which is good to see, and he doesn’t let it get him down, although that sort of bad luck can be frustrating. But he is a quality bowler,” Paterson said.

Proteas Test coach Shukri Conrad often selects on gut feel and Paterson’s inclusion has been controversial but undoubtedly a success. In his five Tests under Conrad this year, he has taken 20 wickets at a brilliant average of just 21.75.

“I’ve known Shukri for a long time, I played a lot of amateur cricket when he was coaching at Western Province. We had a chat in January and I knew that I would be going to New Zealand. I thought that would probably be two Tests and I was done, but we had a chat and he said he had a plan for me. I knew what I had to do after that, I had to get in better shape and put in the performances at domestic level.

“Hopefully Shukri is now chuffed with his selection,” Paterson said.

In reply, a very good 47 not out by Aiden Markram, stroking nine handsome boundaries off 67 deliveries, took South Africa to 82 for three at stumps.

The pitch may have been unusually slow by SuperSport Park standards, but there was movement off the deck right until the close of play. Tony de Zorzi (2), Ryan Rickelton (8) and Tristan Stubbs (9) all fell to fine deliveries from Khurram Shehzad (twice) and Mohammad Abbas, trapping Stubbs lbw, that seamed a long way.

Sitting 16^th and last in one of the United Rugby Championship’s statistical categories means the critics are always going to stare at that facet of the game, but forwards coach Russell Winter is adamant that the Bulls are really making progress in the scrums.

The Bulls have won 87% of their scrums, which is 1% less than the Ospreys and only 2% worse than the Stormers, who are generally considered to have a strong set-piece anchored by Steven Kitshoff.

“The margins are very small, one or two percent. We have really good players here and they work really hard,” Winter said on Tuesday. “Set-piece gives you control of a game and we are definitely getting better in the scrums.

“We lost a very good player in Trevor Nyakane and we’ve had some injuries. So we need to make sure we get some depth, particularly in the front row. We need to look at signing props to get depth.

“We don’t have any new signings there at the moment, but we are looking. But props are really hard to come by and no-one has really been open to negotiation.

“We do have two scrum coaches in Werner Kruger and Edgar Marutlulle and things have definitely progressed. And we’re very happy to have Mornay Smith back, he’s playing Currie Cup in midweek,” Winter said.

The Bulls did, however, announce the signing on Tuesday of the versatile Ruan Vermaak, the former Lions and Red Hurricanes lock who can also play back row.

The Bulls face the Dragons in Pretoria on Saturday and even though the Welshmen have struggled this season having lost their most-capped player, stalwart captain and loose forward Lewis Evans, to retirement at the end of last year, Winter is expecting their pack to come out wanting to move heaven and earth.

“We’re not too sure yet of their travelling squad but Welsh internationals coming back will obviously strengthen their pack and they will want to play well after Wales lost to Italy.

“Their coach Dean Ryan was at Newcastle where I played and he is a tough man, so I imagine he is a tough coach too. So the Dragons will have a hard pack and they will definitely come at us.

“It will be a big pack too, so we gave our guys a couple of days off to make sure we are ready for what’s coming. It’s going to be a good battle up front,” Winter said.

The misguided few will say Dean Elgar is presiding over the corpse of South African cricket, but the Proteas skipper is adamant that his team can take on India, who he readily admits are the best side in the world, blow-for-blow in the series that starts at Centurion on Boxing Day.

India’s recent victory over New Zealand, winners of the inaugural World Test Championship earlier in the year, returned them to the No.1 ranking, with the Proteas currently languishing in sixth place. But India have never won a series in South Africa and Elgar believes this home ground advantage can give them an edge.

“India have been ranked No.1 for quite some time and, in my opinion, they are the top side, the ranking system is there for a reason,” Elgar said on Friday. “But I think the series will be pretty even and playing at home gives us a bit of an upperhand.

“India have improved a lot in terms of their travelling record and Virat Kohli has put a lot of emphasis on winning on the road. Their dream is to win a series here and as captain I’ll be trying to prevent that.

“It makes it an exciting series and we’re extremely mindful that they will come out firing, but then they know we will too. India’s strength is in their bowling, we’re very aware of their success as a unit.

“I’m sure they will exploit South African conditions well, the pitches do a bit more here than elsewhere around the world, but we’ve also got a very good pace attack. The first punch is going to be important,” Elgar said.

Selecting the right attack is going to be a complex issue for the Proteas because, in their expanded squad, they have eight different pace bowling options. But while South Africa have historically been biased towards using the fast men, Elgar all but confirmed that spinner Keshav Maharaj will play at SuperSport Park.

“It’s my home ground and conditions have changed a bit, there is sometimes some turn,” Elgar said. “We want to set the game up for days four and five, when hopefully the pitch will deteriorate a bit.

“Keshav will then come into play and he’s so adaptable that he doesn’t just contain, but he can also be a wicket-taker, a strike bowler at the right time. He’s been pretty amazing for us and we can’t neglect him.

“There’s no right or wrong answer when it comes to choosing the pace attack, but we will try to tie in with the style of play we’re trying to implement. We have the luxury of an extended squad so we are able to tick all the boxes.

“I like to think we have all our bases covered in terms of selection. It’s a good headache to have, we can exploit a few options. But I still favour having a spinner in the attack,” Elgar said.

Apart from the daunting task of trying to make the Rainbow Cup final, the Sharks are adamant that they cannot brook the thought of the Bulls beating them on their home turf when they meet in the crunch final round of South African Pro14 fixtures in Durban on Saturday.

In order to top the South African standings and get to travel to Italy to take on Benneton Treviso, the Sharks have to win the game with a bonus point and deny the Bulls any log points. And they need to do that with a side weakened by what coach Sean Everitt described as “a few niggles we are trying to push through”.

Because of that, their bench will only be announced on Friday, “once we have more clarity on injuries”, but the starting line-up revealed on Thursday is missing wing Sbu Nkosi and loose forward Henco Venter and there are concerns over the two reserve props, Ntuthuko Mchunu and Wiehahn Herbst.

But Everitt says the Sharks will not be lying down even if their Rainbow Cup hopes are dashed because they have endured some painful defeats in Pretoria over the last year and they don’t want to suffer the same fate at home.

“Psychologically it’s important that we lead on the scoreboard at the end of the day, and I’ve told the players that we first have to win the game anyway and then go for the bonus point. The players want to make Kings Park a fortress, although we narrowly let that slip against the Stormers. They were disappointed with how we went down in the last 20 minutes of the last game against the Bulls in Pretoria.

“But we have also won games coming from behind at the death and the players want to show their character. It’s important we get one over the Bulls regardless of whether we qualify for the final or not. We were narrowly beaten by the Bulls in the Currie Cup final and we want to bounce back and turn the tide against them. The energy and motivation this week is the best it’s been,” Everitt said.

After the impressive win over the Lions last weekend, it has taken a bit of finesse in selection for Everitt to both reward the players who shone at Ellis Park and reintegrate his Springboks.

“We took a changed team to the Lions, where we had to get the bonus point win which is never easy, and the guys really turned up and did very well. So this is another opportunity for many of them and they are good enough for that, we just want to build on that performance.

“But it’s also about my relationship with the international players and I never question their efforts. They got us to where we are now, many of them are world champions and a guy like Lukhanyo Am is our captain who has played well every week,” Everitt said.

Sharks – Aphelele Fassi, Anthony Volmink, Lukhanyo Am (C), Marius Louw, Makazole Mapimpi, Curwin Bosch, Jaden Hendrikse, Phepsi Buthelezi, Thembelani Bholi, Siya Kolisi, Hyron Andrews, JJ van der Mescht, Khutha Mchunu, Kerron van Vuuren, Khwezi Mona. Bench: *To be confirmed.