Ken Borland

Sri Lankan captain Dimuth Karunaratne is standing between the Proteas and victory in the second Test as he scored 91 not out to shepherd his team to 150 for four, a lead of five runs, at stumps on the second day at the Wanderers on Monday.

Karunaratne is certainly leading from the front as he has occupied the crease for 190 minutes, but the left-hander is putting away the bad ball effectively as he has collected 17 fours off 116 deliveries. With Sri Lanka trailing by 145 runs on first innings and losing master blaster opener Kusal Perera for just a single in the third over, bowled through the gate by a beautiful Lungi Ngidi delivery, it has been important for Karunaratne to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

Niroshan Dickwella is with him on 18*.

South Africa’s inexperienced attack endured a flat period as Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne (31) added 85 for the second wicket following the dismissal of Kusal, and it took a big moment of good fortune for the Proteas to shift the momentum.

Thirimanne, who had played a series of superb drives, tried to glance Ngidi off his hip and was caught down the leg side by wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock. Amazingly, Ngidi’s next delivery was similarly off-target but it dismissed Kusal Mendis for a first-ball duck, De Kock taking a stunning leg-side catch diving at full-length. The unfortunate Mendis therefore completed a pair and his third successive duck.

Anrich Nortje then bounced out debutant Minod Bhanuka for 1, Keshav Maharaj taking a brilliant running catch off a top-edged hook, and the Proteas attack looked much more threatening in the last hour of the day, but by then the luck seemed to have shifted and several edges went over the slips or through the gaps between them.

South Africa had begun the second day on 148 for one, just nine runs behind and with both Dean Elgar, on 92 and Rassie van der Dussen, on 40, approaching milestones.

Elgar reached the landmark of three figures first, notching the second-fastest of his 13 Test centuries as he got there in 133 balls, with 18 fours. Van der Dussen went to his half-century off 98 deliveries and the pair passed South Africa’s record second-wicket partnership against Sri Lanka (125 between Elgar & Faf du Plessis in Galle in 2014) and then also broke the Wanderers record of 182 set by Andrew Strauss and Rob Key for England back in 2004/5.

Elgar scored the couple of runs that took the partnership to 184, but he was dismissed by the next delivery, Dushmantha Chameera bowling a fine delivery that just nipped away a touch to find the edge of the left-hander’s bat. Elgar was caught at first slip for 127, ending four hours of quality batsmanship in which he showed a tremendous ability to bat fluently, absorb pressure and then lift the scoring rate again.

The wicket of Van der Dussen followed in the next over, Sri Lanka needing good use of the review system to confirm the 31-year-old had gloved a paddle-pull down the leg side off Dasun Shanaka, wicketkeeper Dickwella scrambling to take the catch.

Sri Lanka then quickly ran through the rest of the Proteas batting, the last nine wickets falling for just 84 runs as they were bowled out for 302, left-arm swing bowler Vishwa Fernando leading an excellent bowling comeback with five for 101, his maiden five-wicket haul.

He was well supported by skilful seamer Shanaka and feisty debutant Asitha Fernando, who took two wickets each.

It is certainly part of Proteas coach Mark Boucher’s mandate to ensure a steady flow of youngsters come through and perform at international level, but his No.1 priority is for South Africa to have a winning cricket team, hence his decision to stick with veteran former captain Faf du Plessis, a move which was thoroughly justified in the first Test against Sri Lanka.

The 36-year-old Du Plessis scored a magnificent, career-best 199, an innings which began under pressure with South Africa slipping from 200 for two when he came to the crease, to 220 for four. Thanks to the class and skill of Du Plessis, and the help of the lower-middle order, the Proteas were able to post 621, setting up an innings win that seemed most unlikely when Sri Lanka scored 396 batting first. It was the third highest first innings total South Africa have conceded in a Test they have gone on to win.

There is no doubt a rebuilding Proteas team thoroughly enjoy having the cool, calm wisdom of Du Plessis still around. Not least of all the new captain, Quinton de Kock.

“It’s important to have senior guys with experience. People always talk about youngsters coming through but you need a balance. Faf really showed his experience, you need that under pressure, he showed his leadership and how to handle the pressure because he’s been through those situations many times before,” De Kock said after the first Test.

“It helps me too to have good leaders in the team and although I’ve never captained a team before in first-class cricket, I have stood next to Faf for most of my Test career so I very much knew what the captaincy was about.”

Boucher, who has taken a lot of flak in the last year for sticking with his former captain, described the presence of Du Plessis as being like “gold dust”.

“I know what Faf is worth, I understand what he has done for South Africa. He’s a great player who went through a bit of a dip in form but his place was never under pressure for me. You need experience and he showed that in this game. He did very good work over the Covid Lockdown period on his technique and he looks very comfortable at the crease now.

“He really wanted to score big runs and he is gold dust to us. It’s nice to have him in such good form and good spirits. We’re going to need him in the big series coming up,” Boucher said after the Centurion triumph.

After the Test series loss to England at the start of 2020, I wrote a column [https://citizen.co.za/sport/sport-columnists/2236293/dont-savage-faf-yet-he-had-a-lot-of-external-issues-to-deal-with/] asking where Du Plessis fitted in in the future red-ball plans of the Proteas. I said the only question I would ask Faf before selecting him for the team would be “Are you still enjoying your cricket?”

The sheer hunger Du Plessis has shown in getting as fit as he has ever been over Lockdown and continuing to work on improving his game are all the proof one needs to know that South Africa’s ninth highest Test run-getter is still loving the sport.

“The Lockdown really helped, mentally it allowed me to freshen up, but I also knew I could control how fit I was. People say I’m at the end of my career but it depends on how good your body is, how fit you are is much more important than your age. So I really pushed myself, I may be 36 but I feel fitter than ever before, I’m moving better now than when I was 23/24. Now the younger guys must stay with me.

“I’ve definitely scored hundreds against better attacks and in hotter conditions and match situations, so this innings was not close to some of those. But from a timing and statement point of view it showed those who doubt my ability that nothing has changed and I am still trying to improve,” Du Plessis said after his 199.

The last part of that sentence – “I am still trying to improve” – is the clincher: the still-hungry Du Plessis should be part of the Test team for the foreseeable future and the often wonky South African batting line-up will definitely reap the benefits of having the man for all situations there.

With the injury-decimated Sri Lankan side succumbing to an innings defeat midway through the fourth day, it may have seemed there was not much resistance from the tourists in the first Test against South Africa at Centurion, but Proteas captain Quinton de Kock said it was still a hard-fought win and there are plenty of positives the hosts will take from the game.

Sure, Sri Lanka were bowled out for just 180 in their second innings, with only Kusal Perera (64) and Wanindu Hasaranga (59) providing much resistance as they went down by an innings and 45 runs, but rewind to two days earlier and South Africa were certainly under pressure.

Having conceded 396, the third largest first innings total they have ever managed to overcome to win a Test, South Africa made it to lunch on 45 without loss. Openers Dean Elgar and Aiden Markram provided the ideal platform by taking that first-wicket stand to 141, but even then there was a mid-afternoon wobble as the Proteas slid from 200 for one to 220 for four.

And then enter Faf du Plessis with a magnificent 199, and Temba Bavuma and their crucial fifth-wicket partnership of 179, added to with great effect by Wiaan Mulder and Keshav Maharaj.

“A Test win never comes easy and we still had to earn it. We fought really hard with the bat after Sri Lanka came out with plenty of intent. It was quite a difficult pitch and we knew we had to be positive. Aiden and Dean started really well and their momentum really helped the rest of the batsmen. Then Faf showed how important is to have senior guys with experience, we needed that under pressure.

“And then the bowlers came back really nicely in the second innings. A guy like Wiaan Mulder is still a youngster but he bowled with maturity, he showed what he’s about and really added value with the ball. Lutho Sipamla made a great comeback, the first day all came down to his Test debut and nerves, he began to bowl like he has been in the nets and it was great to see that fight from him,” De Kock said after starting his Test captaincy tenure with a win.

De Kock said the presence of other leaders who have been captains in the franchise system in the Proteas team had helped him deal with captaincy for the first time in long-format cricket.

“I’ve never captained before in a first-class game but you do have more time to think about things and it helps to have good leaders in the team around me – guys like Dean, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba and Faf. I’ve been standing next to Faf for most of my Test career so I very much knew what Test captaincy is about.

“People always talk about youngsters coming through but you need a balance. Faf really showed his experience in this Test, we needed that under pressure. He showed his leadership and how to handle that pressure because he’s been through those situations many times before,” De Kock said.

Sharks captain Lukhanyo Am played his first match for six weeks in the victory over the Bulls last weekend and it was not just his own excellent display which pleased him.

As befits a highly-respected leader, Am was more keen to talk about the impressive team display by the Sharks and how it augurs well as they build for the closing stages of the Currie Cup. The thrilling win over the high-flying Bulls means the Sharks are now just five points behind the log-leaders with a game in hand.

The Sharks have struck top form at the right time for arguably their toughest stretch of matches: they visit the resurgent Lions at Ellis Park this Saturday before going to Bloemfontein to tackle the Free State Cheetahs.

“It was definitely an important result for us, we came back from the bye nice and refreshed and to get the result against the Bulls will be a massive confidence boost going forward. Credit to the impact players who came off the bench and closed the game for us. We’ve been together as a team for a while now and playing for 80 minutes is still a work-on.

“But we managed to do that against the Bulls even though we had a dip early in the second half. We are starting to do the small things right, we are building momentum and slowly getting to where we want to be. We expect another exciting game against the Lions, who we know are a good side that likes to keep possession and move the ball around. They are 100% on the rise and, playing at Ellis Park, we definitely need to bring our A-game,” Am said on Tuesday.

Michael Kumbirai, who stepped up admirably to replace Thomas du Toit at tighthead prop when the Springbok left the field with a rib cartilage injury, was one of those bench players who have waited months to make their impact and he said his Currie Cup debut for the Sharks will be a match he never forgets.

“To make my Currie Cup debut for the Sharks was a special moment and then to get the win, I’ll never forget it. As a pack we stood up to the challenge, although it was a bit disappointing to concede that last scrum penalty, so we’re putting in the work this week to make sure we improve on that. If we can keep the same mentality we’ve had at home for the next three weeks, then I’m sure we can keep winning away as well.

“But the Lions will be just as hungry as us on the weekend, they will definitely be up for it and come at us with lots of tempo. We have to be prepared to work very hard and have good work-rate and they have a really good scrum, the set-piece is a strength of their’s. We’re definitely taking confidence out of the Bulls win, but this is a new week,” Kumbirai said.