Ken Borland

Serviced by a steady flow of quick ball, British and Irish Lions fullback Josh Adams and wing Duhan van der Merwe both scored hat-tricks as the tourists hammered the Sharks 54-7 at Ellis Park on Wednesday night.

The Covid crisis surrounding this series meant the Lions had to make eight late changes to their originally announced team and they had just one backline reserve on the bench. It only seemed to fuel them to higher levels of excellence.

Playing with tremendous skill and tempo, the Lions were ruthless and clinical in scoring eight tries. Their aggressive defence took away much of the time and space the Sharks are used to normally and the tourists only conceded a single try.

The prolific Adams, who has now scored eight tries in three appearances for the Lions, and Van der Merwe both scored in the opening 10 minutes to immediately settle the tourists and banish all thoughts from their minds of the tremendous disruption they have suffered over the last 24 hours.

With Owen Farrell, one of the late changes at flyhalf, producing a tactical masterclass, the Lions scored two more tries before halftime to lead 26-0 at the break.

The Sharks scored first in the second half, flank James Venter rounding off a lovely try that featured slick work down the right touchline by Jeremy Ward, Werner Kok and Manie Libbok.

But then they ruined their promising moments with basic errors and soft moments, succumbing to the pressure exerted on them by a top-quality international side. The Lions scored four more tries, the last when they deliberately played with just 14 men. From a powerful scrum, Adams had space aplenty to complete is hat-trick.

It is highly unlikely that Sharks coach Sean Everitt sleeps well tonight. With their first foray into Europe a couple of months away, the Sharks were way off the pace. Clearly, playing against sluggish South African teams has got them into bad habits and a false sense of security.

Scorers

Sharks – Try: James Venter. Conversion: Curwin Bosch.

British & Irish Lions – Tries: Josh Adams (3), Duhan van der Merwe (3), Bundee Aki, Louis Rees-Zammit. Conversions – Owen Farrell (3), Finn Russell (4).

A top-class century by Dean Elgar on a tricky Wanderers pitch has put South Africa in a position of strength in the second Test against Sri Lanka and the gritty left-hander said on Monday that he enjoyed the challenge and being able to cope with the various fluctuations in batting flow that inevitably happen during four hours at the crease.

Elgar’s 127 was the bedrock of the South African first innings of 302 that gave them a commanding lead of 145, but apart from displaying his usual tenacious streak, it was also a fluent innings, coming off just 163 deliveries and featuring 22 boundaries.

“It’s about the ebb and flow of batting in Test cricket and you do go through periods when you have to absorb pressure, and then you’ll have a short window where you can score more freely when the bowlers maybe start searching for a little bit extra. So I went through the gears quite a bit, but that’s the nature of Test cricket – you can’t just have one gear and expect to be consistent.

“It was tough, we know what the Wanderers is like, it was bowler-friendly conditions and there was a lot of movement and in the air too. So the mental aspects of batting are challenged and it’s nice to put yourself through a challenge like that. It’s like coming out the other side of a tunnel and if your team is then in a good position then that’s all you can ask for,” Elgar said after notching the second-fastest of his 13 Test centuries.

While Elgar and Rassie van der Dussen (67) shared a second-wicket stand of 184 – a record both for South Africa against Sri Lanka and in all Wanderers Tests – there was a glaring failure by the rest of the batting line-up to capitalise as the Proteas lost their last nine wickets for 84 runs. Instead of shutting the tourists out of the game through sheer pressure of runs, they gave Sri Lanka a glimmer of hope and the visitors batted gamely, led by captain Dimuth Karunaratne’s 91 not out, to reach 150 for four at stumps.

“It was a well-under-par total especially after the big partnership, but this is not an easy place to bat, especially for the new batsman coming in. There were quite a few very good balls bowled so credit to Sri Lanka, and when you come in you have to really be on form. If you’re able to get through that tough time up front, if you respect the conditions, then you can cash in.

“It was not ideal that I got out and then Rassie straight afterwards, but maybe we relaxed a bit mentally, maybe we need to trust our techniques a bit longer. If you can apply yourself for lengthy periods, leave well and trust your defence, then the conditions will start to flatten out. If you stay in your bubble and not play rash shots, then the pitch does start to do less,” Elgar said.

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.