Ken Borland

While the superb pace trio of Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi have quite rightly been lauded for the damages they inflicted on the West Indies batting as the Proteas swept to an innings victory in the first Test at St Lucia, South Africa captain Dean Elgar also pointed to the efforts of the batsmen as being worthy of praise.

Nortje, the enforcer bowling with nasty venom, enjoyed match figures of seven for 81, while Ngidi took five for 19 in the first innings and Rabada then finished off the home side with five for 34 in their second knock.

But on a spicy pitch on which the seam bowlers threatened throughout, the embattled Proteas batsmen did very well to post 322 in their only innings. Quinton de Kock’s magnificent 141 not out, with 12 fours and seven sixes, rightfully stole the limelight and earned him the man of the match award, but Aiden Markram (60) and Rassie van der Dussen (46) made sure he had something of a platform to build on.

Wiaan Mulder and Nortje then shared important partnerships with De Kock to bat the West Indies out of the game with a first-innings lead of 225. Even debutant Keegan Petersen may have only scored 19, but he came to the crease in the first over and batted positively for 40 minutes to keep the home side from making more early breakthroughs.

“The bowlers were assisted in quite a big way by the pitch, conditions were very favourable for seam bowling, and our batsmen managed to score more than 300 so credit must go to them as well. Quinny was just brilliant, showing what a world-class cricketer he is, and Aiden and Rassie applied themselves well too,” Elgar said.

But it was the bowlers who stole the show as they did not get carried away by the helpful conditions or ever stray from the simple disciplines the new full-time skipper wanted – like keeping to the channel just outside off-stump and forcing the batsmen to decide whether to play or leave a ball that cold move either way, which the pacemen did superbly.

“Lungi, Anrich and KG were brilliant with the ball and Kesha Maharaj chipped in really nicely on the third day. It was a proper, professional approach and the team were clinical and ruthless. It was a bit more of the old-school South African style, which I wanted. I know it’s in us, we just need to get it out. It was a collective effort and I know the effort it took, so we won’t take this win for granted.

“It’s nice when everything comes together, I asked for individuals to get accolades and we had a century and two five-fors. Our bowling attack put down their stamp of authority, which we’ve been struggling to do. The basics of bowling applied on that pitch, we had to execute our skills and utilise the facilities. We have a great balance in our attack at the moment,” Elgar said.

New Bulls captain Marcell Coetzee might not go so far as to consider Sean Everitt as something akin to an uncle, but the Sharks coach admitted it is going to be tough seeing his former protégé leading the opposition in their decisive Rainbow Cup match in Durban on Saturday.

Coetzee started his professional career with the Sharks, having been schooled at Port Natal High School, and it was Everitt, then in charge of youth rugby at Kings Park, who guided him through the process of being a talented player from an unfashionable rugby school, through age group rugby to being nominated for SA Rugby’s Young Player of the Year award in 2012. Three years later Coetzee made his Springbok debut and he moved to Ulster in 2016, where he established himself as a superstar.

“Marcell will always have a special place in Sharks fans’ hearts and it’s going to be quite sore to see him captain the Bulls after we brought him through from Port Natal. He was magnificent last weekend and he’s been very good for Ulster too. But our guys want to prove themselves against the best and he’s certainly been one of the best in Europe.

“Marcell is motivated every week he puts on a rugby jersey, but he probably sees a bit of a gap in the Springbok set-up with Duane Vermeulen’s injury, and I’m sure there was a lot of disappointment at being left out so I have no doubt he wants to really put his hand up against us,” Everitt said.

Bulls coach Jake White is never shy to milk any sort of psychological advantage he can get and he was not slow to point out the difficulties facing the Sharks as they look to beat the Bulls with a bonus point,  while also denying the visitors any log points, if Everitt is to take his team to Treviso next week for the Rainbow Cup final rather than to Kimberley for their Currie Cup opener.

”The Sharks are a good side, probably the one side that has consistently really pushed us and they play  a solid, certain style of rugby. They will be motivated because they have to beat us comfortably, but in trying to play a bit differently, there’s the risk that they will present us with opportunities if their efforts don’t come off.

“If you try and run everything and you’ve never trained that way, then it could lead to disaster. It’s going to be interesting to see how they adapt to that. We know we just need one point, which we get if we score four tries, so we will also be going flat out for that. It’s like 50-over cricket, you know you can bat through the overs, but you need to score runs as well,” White said.

Temba Bavuma already missed the T20 series against Pakistan this year through injury and now the middle-order batsman might be forced to take a short sabbatical from Test cricket as well, with Proteas captain Dean Elgar confirming on Wednesday that his vice-captain is in doubt for the first Test against the West Indies which starts at St Lucia on Thursday.

Bavuma strained his hamstring in the last ODI against Pakistan in early April and had to miss the four T20s that followed, but his current injury is a problem with his left hip.

“Temba is a bit of a concern, yesterday was a big day when he pushed his body and today he’ll have to go and prove his fitness,” Elgar said on Wednesday morning in the Caribbean. “We’re obviously banking on him being fit, but Kyle Verreynne is definitely in position to take his place, he’s best suited to No.5, which is where Temba would slot in, he’s accustomed to that.

“That means we’ll possibly have two guys making their debut [Keegan Petersen is set to replace the retired Faf du Plessis], but we don’t have other options really. All our back-up batsmen haven’t played Test cricket yet. But it’s not bad to have young guys coming in, they’re very hungry. I’m sure Kyle will be champing at the bit if Temba is not fit,” Elgar added.

Conditions at St Lucia at this time of year would seem to be very different to what South African teams have previously encountered in the West Indies, but Elgar said they had garnered plenty of info from a two-day practice game they played that turned into a pretty intense contest.

“We’ve been thrown into the deep end a lot recently, but we played a two-day game and it was two tough days of cricket. The first day was very tough batting conditions, playing on a side-pitch with a slope, it was overcast and we’re using the Dukes ball we’re not so used to. And then the second day was an extremely competitive battle between bat and ball.

“Historically this is a very seam-friendly pitch, but if you apply yourself as a batsman you can get in and score runs. We are aware of our limitations and failures, but preparation is one thing we can control, although it is no guarantee of success. We’ve lost a lot of experience in the batting, but it’s time for guys to put their hands up, there are opportunities there now,” Elgar said.

The Sharks have to beat the Bulls and get a bonus point at Kings Park on Saturday if they are to be in the Rainbow Cup final, which means they have to score four tries. That will probably mean they will try to play an even quicker game against the Currie Cup champions, but captain Lukhanyo Am said on Tuesday that they also have to be smart in how they play.

If the Bulls score four tries and get a bonus point then it probably won’t matter who wins the game because their points difference is so much better than the Sharks that the home team would need to beat them by 34 points just to draw level. So Am’s charges can’t just throw caution to the wind and go all-out trying to just score as many tries as possible.

“We’re not going to shy away from our DNA, but the Bulls present a different threat to the Lions and we need to try and find the balance between running, flashy rugby and smart, tactical rugby on the right side of the field. We’ll want to bring energy and continuity and we’ll be trying our best to get into the final,” Am said on Tuesday.

This will be the last time the likes of Am, Makazole Mapimpi and Siya Kolisi will be playing for the Sharks until the end of the chockablock Springbok schedule towards the end of the year. The Sharks do, however, have nine players in the extended Springbok squad and their clash with the dominant force in domestic rugby for the last year will be thrilling.

*Perhaps the biggest surprise after the Sharks officially confirmed on Tuesday that Stormers hooker Bongi Mbonambi will be joining them at the end of the Lions tour was that the Springbok star had held out for so long before signing his new contract.

Mbonambi was already poised to join the Sharks back in March, when his Roc Nation stablemate Kolisi had already been unveiled as a key signing for the Durban franchise.

The talented 21-year-old Fez Mbatha has been the Sharks’ first-choice hooker recently, but Kerron van Vuuren and part-time flank Dylan Richardson have also had plenty of time in the middle of the front row. Former Maties and SA U20 hooker Dan Jooste is also under contract at Kings Park.