Ken Borland

Vice-captain Temba Bavuma’s unbeaten half-century, his 18^th coming up in his 50^th Test, and captain Dean Elgar’s brisk 67, bookended a highly satisfactory day for South Africa as they reached 233/4 at stumps on the first day of the first Test against Bangladesh at Kingsmead on Thursday.

It was an extremely solid top-order display by the Proteas, especially since they had been sent in to bat, Bangladesh being swayed by a steamy morning that should have aided swing and a greenish tinge to the pitch.

The facts are, though, that Bangladesh bowled inconsistently through the day and South Africa suffered some soft dismissals.

The day began badly for the hosts when the start of play was delayed for 33 minutes by a malfunctioning sightscreen advertising board. But once Taskin Ahmed finally delivered the opening ball – a filthy leg-side full toss that was clipped away for four by Elgar – it was smooth sailing for the Proteas.

Elgar and Sarel Erwee took South Africa to 95/0 at lunch, but both fell soon afterwards, in the eighth and ninth overs after the break. Khaled Ahmed delivered a rearing delivery that found Elgar’s glove, wicketkeeper Liton Das snatching up the chance with a full-length dive. South Africa’s captain was at his pugnacious best, needing just 60 balls for his fifty and in all he hit 11 fours.

Erwee had worked hard for his solid 41, but then dragged a full and wide delivery from spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz into his stumps in the next over.

Keegan Petersen (19) was then run out by a spectacular piece of fielding by Mehidy, who dived full-length at point, got the ball in his hand and threw down the stumps while half standing up. It harkened back to the days of Jonty Rhodes at Kingsmead.

Debutant Ryan Rickelton moved boldly to 21, his first Test runs coming from a reverse-sweep for four off Mehidy, but he then mistimed a pull shot off fast bowler Ebadot Hossain and looped a catch to mid-on.

South Africa’s innings was at a crossroads on 180/4 half-an-hour after tea. But Bavuma, who had played with some glamour in the early part of his innings, really knuckled down and made sure he was there at the end of the day.

Bavuma reached the close on 53 not out, having occupied the crease for more than three hours and faced 119 deliveries, with six fours.

Kyle Verreynne (27*) showed good composure to bat through to stumps, which came at 5.18pm due to bad light, adding 53 with Bavuma to make it South Africa’s day.

The Proteas are considering playing two frontline spinners in the first Test against Bangladesh starting on Thursday at Kingsmead, where South Africa have had disappointing results in recent years, captain Dean Elgar has confirmed.

The Proteas have lost seven of their last 10 Tests at Kingsmead, dating back to 2008. They have repeatedly expressed their frustration at the dry, low and slow, spin-friendly pitch that has developed there.

But this time, with Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi all unavailable, they could well play both orthodox left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj and offie Simon Harmer.

“We’ve been having really good discussions about the best combination to take 20 wickets and we’re sitting with three different combinations as regards the bowlers,” Elgar said.

“Playing two spinners in Durban is very much a talking point. We are aware of the conditions, it’s generally slower and lower here, and our squad has covered a lot of areas.

“We obviously want more grass on the wicket and it seems that it has grown a bit. But it helps if you put more water on the pitch as well. We hope to get a nice and hard surface, with more pace and bounce.

“But we’re not too fazed by playing on slower wickets, we just need to do the basics better for longer,” Elgar said.

So what are the three permutations for the starting XI?

Disappointment for all-rounder Mulder

If conditions are going to be really tough for batting, or there is pressure to play three Black Africans, then South Africa could choose seven specialist batsmen, giving both Ryan Rickelton and Khaya Zondo their Test debuts. That would mean leaving out all-rounder Wiaan Mulder and probably fielding just one spinner and three pacemen.

Team – Elgar, Erwee, Petersen, Bavuma, Rickelton, Verreynne, Zondo, Maharaj, Williams, Sipamla, Olivier/Stuurman.

Two spinners, the most likely XI

The team that would be the most balanced and cover the most bases includes six specialist batsmen, a seam-bowling all-rounder, two frontline quicks and two spinners lining up. I’ll back this to be the team if the Kingsmead pitch is as it has been in recent years.

Lizaad Williams, so impressively controlled and effective in domestic cricket this season, could get the nod ahead of Duanne Olivier and Glenton Stuurman, who were both dropped after the first Test hiding in New Zealand.

Rather than choose a third, middle-of-the-road paceman, rather go with the four best bowlers, which in this squad includes two quality spinners in Maharaj and Harmer.

This would involve being slightly down on transformation targets, however, with only five players of colour and two Black Africans.

Team – Elgar, Erwee, Petersen, Bavuma, Rickelton, Verreynne, Mulder, Harmer, Maharaj, Williams, Sipamla.

Placing their hopes in pace bowling

If the Proteas go their traditional, unsuccessful-at-Kingsmead, route of having a pace-based attack and just one spinner, then Lutho Sipamla will be joined by Lizaad Williams and Duanne Olivier, or Glenton Stuurman if CSA insist on placing six players of colour in the team.

Recent pitches in Durban suggest this attack will not be as effective, but if there is a bit more grass present, and more pace and bounce, then it could be worth the gamble.

Team – Elgar, Erwee, Petersen, Bavuma, Rickelton, Verreynne, Mulder, Maharaj, Williams, Sipamla, Stuurman/Olivier.

Proteas captain Dean Elgar said on Monday that he has made peace with the four players who are not available for the Test series against Bangladesh because they are in India for the IPL, and he has full confidence in their replacements ahead of the first match starting on Thursday in Durban.

Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen, Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram will all be missing from the team that drew the series in New Zealand. Pace bowlers Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi are also in India.

Keegan Petersen was always likely to return at the expense of probably Markram, while Ryan Rickelton is in line to make his long-awaited debut.

On the bowling front, Lizaad Williams, Glenton Stuurman and Duanne Olivier are the potential replacements for Rabada and Jansen.

“A lot of events have happened lately and I’m pretty comfortable where I sit with the players that are not here,” Elgar said. “I’ve had in-detail chats with all of them, to find out mentally where they are in terms of Test cricket versus the IPL.

“The players were put in a pretty unavoidable position due to the No Objection Certificates and agreements between the BCCI and CSA. No rash decisions were made and I know where they stand.

“But we can’t lick our wounds for too long and I’m very comfortable making do with the next best players, I’m confident they will cover all the bases.

“We’ve lost a few caps, but it’s a great opportunity for the new players to put the unavailable ones under pressure,” Elgar said.

The Test captain was also left in the lurch by the poor performances in the ODI series, which have allowed Bangladesh to take tremendous momentum into the Tests. Elgar said it was clear from the ODIs that Bangladesh now have the apposite skills and attitude for South African conditions.

“The ODI result really hurt, even for me and I wasn’t involved in it. Hopefully that has fuelled us a bit more and our hunger to do well will be right up there.

“Bangladesh are a new-look team and their coaches have obviously changed their mindset about how to play in South Africa. I think it’s going to be a good contest and we’ll need to nail down our basics.

“We are known to start series quite poorly, it’s always a talking point and I’ve emphasised it a lot with the team. I’m not sure what the reason for it is, but by making the players aware of it and trying to avoid it, that gives us the best chance to win the series.

“We need to find a way to not start poorly because it’s just a two-match series. I’m trying my utmost to get the message across that we need to start well,” Elgar said.

Former Proteas captain Faf du Plessis continues to bat with the same class and explosiveness as he showed in his first match as skipper of the Bangalore Royal Challengers at the weekend, but his team suffered the same fate as they always seem to when they put a big total on the board – losing by five wickets with a full over to spare against the Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League.

Du Plessis changed gears superbly in his innings as his 88 off 57 balls took Bangalore to 205/2 in Mumbai. Opening the batting, the 37-year-old only scored 17 runs off his first 30 balls in seamer-friendly conditions, but two sixes and a four off West Indian paceman Odean Smith in the 13^th over took him to his half-century off 41 balls. He plundered 38 runs from his next 16 deliveries, adding 118 in 10 overs with Virat Kohli (41* off 29).

But then, in a recurring theme for Bangalore, their bowlers let them down.

As usual when Du Plessis is the star of the day, in what is still though a domestic league, his display led to plenty of questions over why the Proteas have not chosen him since he retired from Test cricket in February 2021.

The current situation is that Du Plessis is technically available for white-ball cricket, but it is difficult to rely on him at national level because his first priority is playing as a T20 free agent in the leagues around the world. Du Plessis wants a contract to play for South Africa, but CSA cannot afford to contract a player who is only available to them some of the time and in only one format.

Last year Du Plessis said he was taking a sabbatical from ODI cricket in order to concentrate on T20 cricket with World Cups being played in 2021 and this year. He has since made no mention of his ODI availability.

So it would seem Du Plessis has had his day in the Proteas shirt.