Ken Borland

Captain Dean Elgar, with the help of Rassie van der Dussen and Temba Bavuma, tamed a wretch of a Wanderers pitch as he led South Africa to a remarkable seven-wicket win in the second Test against India on Thursday.

Chasing a daunting target of 240 on a deteriorating pitch, opening batsman Elgar shepherded his team to victory with 96 not out, a magnificent display of patience, composure and ability to absorb pressure.

South Africa had to not only deal with a top-class attack on a pitch offering variable bounce and movement off the surface, but also the agony of having to wait until 3.45pm before they could resume their innings on 118/2. It had rained for most of the day at the Wanderers, sprucing up the pitch and also ensuring that the Proteas had to bat under completely overcast skies.

But the lengthy delay seemed to affect India’s focus more than South Africa’s. The Indian bowlers were poor on the fourth afternoon and they just could not bowl the number of deliveries in the right areas in order to create the wicket-taking opportunities that were undoubtedly there.

Elgar and Van der Dussen showed tremendous judgement and positivity as they added 57 runs in 14 overs on Thursday afternoon. Van der Dussen, considering the worries over his form, showed great temperament as he made a vital 40 off 92 balls in just over two hours at the crease.

Van der Dussen eventually fell to the sort of delivery everyone was warning about on this wearing pitch – back-of-a-length, rising sharply and jagging away – and try as he might to keep it down he could not help but send a low catch to second slip.

He left the scene with 65 more runs needed and vice-captain Bavuma then joined his skipper, a partnership that was always going to provide much grit and plenty of composure.

Failure has no parents, but perhaps the pivotal moment in South Africa’s highest ever fourth-innings run-chase at the Wanderers, and their sixth best in Test history, came when Bavuma, yet to get off the mark, drove firmly at Shardul Thakur, popping up a return catch. The bowler had it in his right hand, briefly juggled, and then the ball popped out.

Victory then came with astonishing ease and Elgar and Bavuma (23*) added 68 in little more than an hour, needing just 85 deliveries to finish a job most expected to be beyond this Proteas batting line-up.

The South African team can be immensely proud of how they stayed in the contest and, when conditions were at their toughest, they prevailed.

The frustrating injury to ace fast bowler Anrich Nortje has led to left-arm quick Marco Jansen getting his first call-up to the Proteas ODI squad, but whatever starting XI South Africa choose against India, there are bound to be some disgruntled bowlers.

South Africa and India meet in three ODIs from January 19, following the end of the Test series. With two of the matches being played in Paarl and one at Newlands, conditions should suit the Proteas’ new-found enthusiasm for a strong spin-bowling contingent, with both Tabraiz Shamsi, their leading ODI wicket-taker in 2021, and Keshav Maharaj, the vice-captain, playing.

But India’s batsmen relish taking on spin bowling and there may be a desire to target them with pace. In which case, who do you leave out: Maharaj or Shamsi?

There are also three out-and-out all-rounders in the squad in Andile Phehlukwayo, who bashed a superb 48 not out off just 22 balls against the Netherlands in his last match, T20 World Cup star Dwaine Pretorius and the resurgent Wayne Parnell. But unless one of them bats in the top six, or plays as a frontline quick instead of Lungi Ngidi, there is unlikely to be room for more than one of them at a time.

South Africa’s top six is pretty settled though, with Janneman Malan establishing himself as Quinton de Kock’s opening partner, Aiden Markram slotting into the middle-order alongside Temba Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen, and David Miller continuing as an evergreen finisher.

India announced their squad on December 31 and even though they are without injured players Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, and Mohammed Shami will be rested, it is going to be an exacting task for the Proteas.

As ever, much focus will be on their batsmen and Kyle Verreynne and Zubayr Hamza are waiting in the wings. Hamza seems to have leapfrogged Reeza Hendricks in the pecking order, the national selectors demanding more than an average of 25.68 and a strike-rate of 76.76 in 24 ODIs.

Other players who are out in the cold at present are left-arm seamer Beuran Hendricks, spinner George Linde and Test all-rounder Wiaan Mulder.

Of the second-string squad that was selected for the ill-fated ODI series against the Netherlands at the end of November, fast bowlers Daryn Dupavillon and Junior Dala, and batsmen Ryan Rickelton and Khaya Zondo have also been omitted. Paceman Lizaad Williams is still out injured.

Proteas squad: Quinton de Kock, Kyle Verreynne, Janneman Malan, Temba Bavuma, Aiden Markram, Zubayr Hamza, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Wayne Parnell, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lungi Ngidi, Sisanda Magala, Marco Jansen.

India’s attack, led by the accurate and constantly probing Mohammed Shami, brought the Proteas batting to their knees on the third day of the first Test at Centurion on Tuesday, with the tourists finishing the day with a 146-run lead and nine wickets in hand.

After the entire second day was washed away, the third morning was a great success for South Africa as they took India’s last seven wickets for just 55 runs, dismissing them for 327. Lungi Ngidi once again led the way with superb figures of 6/71 in 24 overs, while Kagiso Rabada backed him up on Tuesday with 3/72 in 26 overs.

The Proteas had reached 21/1 in reply at lunch, losing captain Dean Elgar for just a single, caught behind the wicket off Jasprit Bumrah, who produced a fine delivery angled across the left-hander.

By that stage it was clear that this SuperSport Park pitch is not a 272/3 wicket, which is what India scored on the first day, thanks to a poor bowling effort by the Proteas.

And India showed exactly what South Africa did wrong on that opening day as they attacked off-stump with precision on Tuesday and reduced the Proteas to 32/4 half-an-hour after lunch. Shami did the bulk of the damage as he bowled both Keegan Petersen (15) and Aiden Markram (13).

This carnage happened despite Bumrah, India’s spearhead, having to pull out of the attack in his sixth over after rolling his ankle in his follow-through.

Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock then prevented a total collapse as they added 72 for the fifth wicket. De Kock had been at the crease for 63 balls when a lame horizontal-bat attempt to steer Shardul Thakur to third man saw him play the ball on to his own stumps.

Bavuma stayed at the crease for three hours in compiling a disciplined, skilful 52, before Shami returned to have him caught behind with another beautiful delivery that drew the batsman forward just outside off-stump, and then extra bounce and some straightening off the seam found the edge.

The late efforts of debutant Marco Jansen (19), Rabada (25) and Keshav Maharaj (12) ensured that India had to be satisfied with a first-innings lead of 130 as South Africa were bowled out for 197.

Considering the absence of Bumrah from the attack – he did return at the end to claim the last wicket and finish with 2/16 in 7.2 overs – India will obviously be delighted. Shami stepped up brilliantly to take 5/44 in 16 overs and was well-supported by Thakur 2/51.

Jansen picked up the wicket of Mayank Agarwal (4), caught behind, in the last over of the day, but with the disadvantage of having to bat last, South Africa obviously need to strike quickly and often on the fourth morning. And the discipline of their top-order batsmen will then have to be much better.

The wonderfully aggressive batting of the Free State Knights, led by Rilee Rossouw’s fiery century and the undimmed class of Farhaan Behardien, took them into the semi-finals of the CSA Provincial T20 Knockout as they beat Western Province by just four runs in Kimberley on Tuesday.

Rossouw added 52 off 32 balls with Jacques Snyman (32) for the second wicket, but when Behardien (57 off 29) came to the crease, the Knights really cut loose as 130 runs were plundered off just 66 balls.

Prodigal son Rossouw reached his fabulous century and then hit the last two balls of the innings off fast bowler Nandre Burger for six to finish with 112 not out off just 55 deliveries, allowing Free State to post a massive 223 for three.

Western Province looked well out of the running as they stumbled to 90 for four at the halfway stage, but captain Wayne Parnell was in belligerent mood and kept them in the battle with the innings of his life.

The left-hander battered 80 not out off just 29 balls and took Migael Pretorius for 24 off the last over as Western Province astonishingly finished just one big blow short.

In the other quarterfinal, Division II SWD would like to allege they are not far off the standard of the first division, but their fielding was appalling and four batsmen were run out as they lost to Northerns Titans.

Donovan Ferreira, an uncontracted 23-year-old, was the mainstay of the Northerns total of 192 for five, finishing with a feisty 55 not out off 29 balls, suggesting he might be the long-awaited replacement for Behardien.

Theunis de Bruyn showed his class at the top of the order with 48 off 33 deliveries, and Sibonelo Makhanya (26 off 18) and Aya Gqamane (21* off 10) supported Ferreira well.

SWD looked in the game while Leus du Plooy was blasting 55 off 33 balls, he and Hanno Kotze putting on 82 off 53 balls for the first wicket.

But three wickets fell in the ninth over of the innings, bowled by cunning left-arm spinner and skipper Aaron Phangiso, including Du Plooy being run out by a fine piece of fielding by Simon Harmer.

The rest of the SWD batting imploded, 10 wickets falling for just 56 runs in 11.4 overs, as the Northerns spinners held sway.