Ken Borland

Proteas captain Dean Elgar knows as well as anyone that batting first at Old Trafford was not going to be easy, but he expected the batting line-up to show more resilience, saying the poor performance with the bat on the first day was why South Africa lost the second Test against England by an innings and 85 runs on Saturday.

Having selected two frontline spinners in their XI, it was almost inevitable that the Proteas would bat first after they won the toss to allow Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer to bowl on a deteriorating pitch in the fourth innings. But that plan was torn to shreds when South Africa were bundled out for 151 shortly after tea on the first day.

“Obviously the lack of first-innings runs was where the game was lost,” opening batsman Elgar said after the Manchester thumping that sends the series into a decider at The Oval from September 8. “That’s when you stabilise your game and scoring 300+ gives you the best chance of competing. We got half of that.

“We did not bat well. Sure, the ball moved around, but this is Test cricket and you must deal with it. Losing two wickets just before lunch was crucial. If we had been 80/3 then we would have been in a good position.

“But we were five down and then we were always playing catch-up. The pitch deteriorated like we thought it would and there was plenty in it for both seamers and spinners.

“It’s all been a bit of a blur since Day 1, it all happened so quickly after that. England’s batting let them down in the first innings at Lord’s and it happened in this Test as well. You set yourself up nicely if you score runs in the first innings,” Elgar said.

Before what should be an exciting finalé to the tour back in London, Elgar said it was important the Proteas don’t panic despite the horrible loss in the second Test.

“Sometimes you can go into panic mode after a defeat like that, but myself and the coach definitely won’t be doing that. We know we’re not suddenly a bad side.

“I know have a couple of days to process everything, but I won’t change my approach because to do that now would be letting myself down. And I think the players enjoy my honesty.

“Sometimes time away from the game is good, we will do things as a squad though, touch base again, get connected again. We need to pull ourselves towards ourselves and let the dust settle.

“It’s an adult environment and I won’t treat the players like schoolchildren because I know I would not have liked that as a young player. But there are a few tough decisions coming our way,” Elgar said.

Despite the poor middle-order batting performance in the first Test, Proteas captain Dean Elgar confirmed on Wednesday that there will be no change to their top-six for the second Test against England, which starts at Old Trafford on Thursday.

At Lord’s last week, the top-three did a fine job laying a solid platform that took the Proteas to 160/2. But Aiden Markram (16), Rassie van der Dussen (19) and Kyle Verreynne (11) all missed out as they slipped to 210/6, allowing England back into the game.

It was thanks to the lower-order that South Africa had a lead of 161, enough to win by an innings.

Markram, who has not passed 50 in 13 Test innings, and Van der Dussen, no fifty in his last 11 innings, are under particular pressure for their places, but Elgar said they are safe for Old Trafford.

“We do have extra resources, but when the team is getting results then it becomes extremely important to back the players,” Elgar said. “These are proper batsmen and they are here for a reason.

“Hopefully they get everything right in this Test, and if we start firing in the middle-order then we will be even more difficult to beat. So I don’t see any change there.

“Consistency is key in Test cricket, even in selection. We need to back the horses we’ve been backing for some time. So we have selected the same 12 as Lord’s – that’s the XI there plus Simon Harmer.”

It is the sheer potency of the Proteas attack that will pose the biggest threat to England, and Elgar said he is hoping that his bowlers will be even better in Manchester.

“I reckon our bowlers can get much better. They had a brilliant game at Lord’s, the pitch assisted them so that needs to be taken into account, but they put the ball in the right area.

“They are extremely hungry for success, the competition between them is great to see and they display some of the most professional behaviour I’ve seen.

“They know the past is the past, the first Test is done and they need to start again and bring the intensity and heat again.

“If there is extra pace and bounce then I’m sure our fast bowlers will get it out of the pitch. We’ve got the right resources with two world-class spinners in our armoury and four fast bowlers,” Elgar said.

While the Proteas have become a tight-knit family enjoying each other’s success, Elgar is ensuring he still cracks the whip when necessary to push the team to further heights, like securing the series win.

“We want to create a sense of no-one taking their foot off the gas. We’re not going to change the way we play and we won’t be intimidated by whatever changes England make.

“This is a fresh squad with a lot of hunger, whenever we get into a comfortable position then that’s a bit of a red flag. It’s up to me and the coach to realign the team after every good result,” Elgar said.

Spin bowler Keshav Maharaj played a vital innings in the first Test against England that provided a crucial cushion for the Proteas, and on Tuesday he praised batting consultant Justin Sammons for the great work he has done with all the batsmen, the lower-order included.

When Maharaj came to the crease at Lord’s late on the second day, South Africa had slipped to 210/6, losing three wickets for 23 runs as England captain Ben Stokes produced an inspired spell for his team.

But Maharaj helped regain the momentum by scoring a pugnacious 41, as he and Marco Jansen (48) added 72 for the seventh wicket in just 12-and-a-half overs.

Anrich Nortje then added 28 not out on the third morning, boosting South Africa to a decisive first-innings lead of 161. It has been noticeable how much the batting of the lower-order has improved, and those runs are vital for a team playing with just six specialist batsmen and no real batting all-rounder.

“When Mark Boucher took over as coach, he really made us work hard on our batting because he knew how vital 70 runs can be,” Maharaj said. “So there’s lots of time spent by us in the nets.

“Mark, Justin Sammons and the other coaches really put in a lot of work throwing to us. Sammo has been exceptional for the batting unit as a whole, and he makes sure us in the lower-order really take care of the nitty-gritty of batting.

“As a batting unit, I’m sure the top six want more centuries, they are very driven. I’m sure in the second and third Tests we will see some hundreds.

“SJ Erwee showed really good application and he and Dean Elgar really set a good platform for us. The middle-order did not really fire, but I’m sure they’ll get that right in this Test coming up,” Maharaj said.

Speaking of Elgar, Maharaj said his direct captaincy style had been one of the reasons for the Proteas turnaround in Test cricket.

“We are more sound as a unit, we are going about our business a lot better,” Maharaj said. “From Dean’s first tour in charge to the West Indies last year, he put a lot of clarity in place.

“That’s what we needed, a bit of a shake-up. Dean is very driven and the youngsters feed off him as things have aligned in terms of discipline and culture.”

But Maharaj also respects the strength of the English camp ahead of the second Test starting at Old Trafford on Thursday.

“We know England are fierce competitors and they will do everything to try and bounce back. They have played some really good cricket in the last year.

“They have fought out of situations where they weren’t favoured to win. They have some world-class players and we know what they are capable of,” Maharaj warned.

South Africa produced a compelling all-round display as they paced their batting perfectly and then fried England’s batsmen in the hot oil of unrelenting pressure from the bowlers and fielders, beating the hosts by a massive 90 runs to win their T20 series in Southampton on Sunday evening.

The Proteas had been sent in to bat and conditions were tough early on for the batsmen as Quinton de Kock was bowled for a duck by David Willey (4-1-25-3) in the first over and there was early movement with the new ball.

But Reeza Hendricks dug in and Rilee Rossouw then blazed 31 off 18 balls to provide some impetus in the powerplay, which South Africa finished on 53/1.

Hendricks, in red-hot form, accelerated to his third successive half-century and went on to score a fine 70 off 50 balls as he and Aiden Markram (51* off 36) built towards the death overs with a fantastically-judged partnership of 87 for the third wicket in 10 overs.

An impressive Markram, David Miller (22 off 9) and Tristan Stubbs, who hit his first two balls for four, then provided the big finish with 50 runs in the last four overs taking the Proteas to an above-par 191/5.

South Africa were outstanding in the field, their bowlers giving nothing away and being backed by superb fielding, led by a magnificent catch by Stubbs to remove Moeen Ali for just 3.

England missed their usual rollicking start as Jos Buttler (14) was outfoxed by the Proteas’ plans and excellent bowling by left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj, and Jason Roy struggled to 17 off 18 balls before Anrich Nortje had him caught behind.

Tabraiz Shamsi then continued his spectacular comeback from the mauling he took in the first game, ripping through England with career-best figures of 5/24.

Fellow spinners Keshav Maharaj (2/21) and Markram, who dismissed Moeen courtesy of an extraordinary catch by Stubbs, running from a widish midwicket towards mid-on and diving full-length to take a one-handed catch as the ball went past him, also contributed. Their success showed that England erred in only giving off-spinner Moeen one over, getting too carried away with match-ups when conditions and a big field favoured the spinners.