Ken Borland

India owe numerous debts of gratitude to their captain Virat Kohli, who batted for four-and-a-half hours and wrestled them to 223 all out with his defiant innings of 79, but his conqueror, Kagiso Rabada, said the secret to his and South Africa’s success on the first day of the decisive third Test at Newlands on Tuesday was not coming up with any special plans but rather being relentless in their basics.

Rabada was outstanding in his 50^th Test and actually deserved better than his final figures of 4/73 in 22 overs on Tuesday, such was the quality of his fast bowling. His tussle with Kohli was dazzling at times, and South Africa’s talismanic fast bowler eventually won the day when he had the great batsman caught behind as the penultimate wicket of the innings.

“Kohli batted extremely well and he was very patient with leaving the ball,” Rabada said. “People think we have such wicked plans but it was all about bowling a good line and length, being relentless and resilient.

“I wasn’t going for his pads obviously. I was just trying to get the ball to swing away, that’s where he’s been getting out lately, and the important thing was to just stick at it.

“Bowling very seldom feels perfect, but it was a good day for me. I just tried to be as consistent as possible. Nothing changes, I’m just trying to do the same thing.

“Things went my way today, I feel good about the way I bowled and it was a decent day,” Rabada said with some modesty.

India chose to bat first with dark clouds enveloping the ground and a greenish tinge to the pitch. Armed with the hard, red new ball, Rabada and Duanne Olivier made life hard for them from the outset.

But although there was movement and some steep bounce, Rabada said the Newlands pitch is not exactly poisonous. South Africa, batting under clear blue skies, had reached 17/1 in the eight overs they faced before stumps.

“There’s still quite a bit in the pitch, but it looks a proper Test wicket. Batsmen will have to grind, but the bowlers still have to bowl well. We have no control over conditions, but I don’t think it’s going to get much easier for batsmen tomorrow [Wednesday],” Rabada said.

The 26-year-old, who took his tally to 230 Test wickets, was in his element on Tuesday. His action was liquid smooth, his accuracy superb and the ball was talking.

India have a couple of mean fast bowlers of their own though, and South Africa’s batting line-up are going to have to support their bowlers now and do well as a unit.

Proteas captain Dean Elgar has been urging his players, comprehensively beaten in the first Test last week and then shocked by Quinton de Kock’s retirement, to lift themselves up and toughen up mentally for the second Test against India which starts at the Wanderers on Monday.

While one new face is definite, Kyle Verreynne replacing De Kock behind the stumps, Elgar said other changes were also being discussed. But any alterations are likely to be minor as the captain made it clear on Sunday that he still backs his players and they have to find it within themselves to simply be better in the crucial second Test.

“There’s no need to panic, we have a lot of capable players, even if some of them are inexperienced, and they need to take responsibility,” Elgar said. “It’s extremely important to back them, that’s how you build and grow a team.

“They’re not suddenly bad players, they just need to be mentally more switched on. They need to understand Test cricket is bloody tough. It’s a harsh environment and you need to ask yourself tough questions and then respond.

“The batsmen are up against some of the best bowlers in the world now and they need to put on their big-boy pants. I can talk and talk, but we need to see a reaction now, otherwise the talk is cheap.

“We’ve had quite a few setbacks in recent times, these are just another couple that we need to get over and be clever around. We have to get over it and move on,” Elgar said.

It seems certain that South Africa are not going to sacrifice spinner Keshav Maharaj in order to play an extra batsman or pace bowler either.

“I think the Wanderers pitch will play a lot better than it has recently, it’s going to be more batsmen-friendly, a better cricket wicket. But the batsmen have to put their hands up and take responsibility.

“Sometimes you choose an attack based on horses-for-courses, but Kesh is very adaptable, a very smart cricketer whose record speaks for itself. I always favour having a frontline spinner.

“Being a left-arm spinner to 10 right-handers in the Indian batting line-up, that’s something to utilise. Tactically we need to be much better and Kesh has an extremely big role to play in this series.

“With the conditions as they are now, I would think Kesh is going to play. He stabilises our bowling, I know I can throw the ball to him and he will keep down the run-rate. He gives us better options,” Elgar said.

It seems likely that Duanne Olivier or Marco Jansen will be joining Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje in the Proteas pace attack to take on India in their Test series starting on Boxing Day, and SA A coach Malibongwe Maketa believes left-armer Jansen has earned his shot at an international debut.

While the return of Olivier after nearly three years of being a Kolpak player has hogged the headlines – unsurprisingly given his outstanding domestic form – many observers of the SA A series against India A, that ended this week with the third successive draw, are extremely excited about a potential Test debut for Jansen.

The 21-year-old must have been a contender for the player of the series award that eventually went to leading run-scorer Sarel Erwee (251 @ 50.20). Jansen bowled much better than his final figures of six wickets at 31.83 suggest, and he also averaged 63.50 with the bat, producing some crucial lower-order runs.

“Marco is an unassuming guy in the way he goes about his business,” Maketa told Saturday Citizen on Friday, “he does the job without much fanfare. But his runs and his bowling ability have been invaluable.

“He’s been our aggressor with the ball, he’s the guy we’ve turned to to break partnerships. He had an unbelievable series and his call-up to the Test squad is very much deserved,” Maketa said.

Erwee is also in the Test squad but only likely to make his debut if one of the regular opening batsmen, captain Dean Elgar and Aiden Markram, suffer an injury or illness. But the left-hander was one of the SA A stars to send a clear message to the selectors that he has what it takes to succeed at international level, given he scored 38 and 41, and 75 and 97, in the last two matches against a powerful India A attack.

Paceman Glenton Stuurman is also in the Test squad, with the improvement he showed with the old ball pleasing Maketa and also showing the national selectors that he is progressing as a bowler.

Others to show their careers are on an upward curve were fast bowler Lutho Sipamla, who was the leading wicket-taker for SA A, and batsman Tony de Zorzi, who batted positively in accumulating 234 runs (second only to Erwee) at 46.80. Zubayr Hamza produced an outstanding unbeaten century in the last game, and Pieter Malan opened the series with a big hundred.

“To hold our own against a team of that quality showed that we need to keep investing in these players,” Maketa said. “It was a very good India A team and I’m pleased with our performance.

“In all the games we had opportunities to really put them in the corner, but we let those chances go, it was slightly disappointing that we let India A back in the game.

“But overall, I was pleased that we were able to get into those situations, that we gave ourselves those opportunities,” Maketa said.

Thriston Lawrence was only nine years old at the time, but he remembers when Tiger Woods won the Open Championship at St Andrews in 2005 that the greatest golfer of his generation said before the Major that the key to winning would be not hitting any of the bunkers at the home of golf.

The 24-year-old South African will follow the same tactic when he tees it up for the 150^th edition of the great tournament on the legendary course, having qualified for the Open thanks to his breakthrough victory at the Joburg Open at Randpark Golf Club on Saturday.

The top three previously unqualified finishers at the Joburg Open gain berths to the Open Championship, with Lawrence leading the way thanks to being given the title in the rain-shortened event due to his four-stroke lead after 36 holes. Compatriot Zander Lombard is also off to St Andrews in July after finishing second, with Englishman Ashley Chesters taking the last qualifying spot as he shared third place with South African Shaun Norris, who has already qualified.

“It’s going to be a lifelong dream come true because I’ve never played in a Major and for my first one ever to be at St Andrew’s, and the 150^th celebration, is going to be unbelievable,” Lawrence said.

“I’m so excited, I can’t wait for July. It’s going to be the best feeling in the world to play my first Major at the home of golf.

“I have fond memories of watching on TV and Tiger Woods, when he won at St Andrews, saying his plan would be to avoid all the bunkers. He was able to not hit a single bunker, which obviously I’ll try to do as well.

“Louis Oosthuizen’s win in 2010 was also very special. So I have a lot of memories of the Open,” Lawrence said.

Lombard was no doubt disappointed that the Joburg Open final round on Saturday was washed out because he would have backed himself to catch his younger countryman, but a spot in the Open Championship was a great consolation prize for the 26-year-old.

“It’s a pity this tournament finished the way it did, but to have the opportunity to play in the 150^th Open and at the home of golf is incredible, you can’t dream of anything bigger. And I’ve played well on that St Andrews course before … ” Lombard said.