Ken Borland

The Proteas have passed the test of their character and fighting spirit when put under pressure, especially after losing the first Test, coach Mark Boucher said after South Africa sealed an epic 2-1 series win over India in the third Test at Newlands on Friday.

Chasing a testing target of 212, South Africa won by seven wickets thanks to three successive half-century partnerships between Dean Elgar (30), man of the series Keegan Petersen (82), Rassie van der Dussen (41*) and Temba Bavuma (32*).

Having been beaten so thoroughly by the world’s No.1-ranked side in the first Test at Centurion, it was a remarkable comeback by a team that is still in transition.

“The team showed great character and fight, but that did not surprise me because Dean Elgar is a captain that leads from the front and Temba Bavuma too,” Boucher said after his biggest triumph as coach.

“That fight showed in Dean and Temba’s batting as well, so the guys will certainly follow that. When you have real fighters like that as leaders, then that will probably be the character of the team as well.

“This is a team that is on its own mission and it is a special, driven changeroom to be in. It’s fantastic that the results are starting to come in now. There were lots of ebbs and flows in the last two Tests.

“But we played those pressure moments pretty well and if we lost a session, we didn’t lose it too badly so we were still in the game. We are playing good pressure-cricket at the moment,” Boucher said.

As the new-look Test side’s most notable triumph, the players are going to take away enormous confidence and belief from what is one of the best results for South African cricket sine the return from isolation.

“It was a really hard-fought series, and certainly one of the best, top-five, we’ve ever had in South Africa,” Boucher said. “We lost all three tosses and lots of people wrote us off after the first day of the first Test.

“But we need to see this result through the perspective of where this team is and where India, probably the best team in the world, are. Our youngsters will take a lot of confidence from this.

“There’s nothing like winning games when you know you’ve had to play very, very hard Test cricket. But our feet are firmly on the ground and we know we are not the finished product.

“But from where this team has come from, in terms of the on and off-field stuff, they have been through a lot as a unit. But we have had solid chats and we are a close-knit group that has worked very hard,” Boucher said.

Two things that are obvious in this current Proteas team, highlighted by their tremendous series win over India, is the amount of fight and potential that resides in this squad.

By triumphing over the challenge of an Indian team featuring two of the best fast bowlers in the world in Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah, as well as a side featuring the batting talents of a top six that are all inside the top-35 of the ICC rankings, the Proteas have done their reputation a world of good. For a team in transition to claim the scalp of the No.1 side in Test cricket must rank as one of the best achievements since isolation.

The series win was marked by the arrival of two exciting players for the future in batsman Keegan Petersen and left-arm quick Marco Jansen, whose potential with the bat has already seen him claim the No.7 spot of the typical all-rounder.

The 21-year-old Jansen only made his Test debut in the first Test at Centurion because Duanne Olivier was not yet fully fit for five days of cricket after a bout of Covid. But Jansen has cashed in on friendly bowling conditions in quite remarkable fashion, taking 19 wickets at an average of just 16.47. Only Kagiso Rabada (20 at 19.05) took more wickets in the series.

Jansen’s bounce, pace and priceless ability to move the ball both ways means he has looked right at home in Test cricket and he has also shown the tough temperament you want from your fast bowlers.

Petersen scored just 15 and 17 at SuperSport Park but then found his groove with three crucial half-centuries in his last four innings. And he did all of that in the tough No.3 position, with Aiden Markram’s continued failures meaning he came to the wicket early in every innings.

It led to suggestions that perhaps Petersen’s path into Test cricket should be eased by dropping down the order a bit, but the 28-year-old has emphatically made the No.3 position his own for at least the rest of the summer. The leading run-scorer in the series with 276 at an average of 46, Petersen’s temperament and mental toughness, excelling in tough situations when the pressure was on, has been even more impressive than his slick strokeplay.

With Dean Elgar and Temba Bavuma also having good series and Rassie van der Dussen playing important roles in the two daunting run-chases at the Wanderers and Newlands, it would be silly to contemplate too many changes to the batting order.

One player who might have played his last Test as an opening batsman though is Markram. As talented as he is and as well as he has done previously in the position, a return of 80 runs in his last eight innings is not good enough. Sarel Erwee, who has acted as his understudy for the better part of a year now, was the leading run-scorer for SA A against India A last month and deserves to get a chance in New Zealand next month.

As for Markram, there has been talk of him playing as a middle-order batsman, which would be interesting, but he needs to go back to domestic cricket and force his way back into the team in that position through weight of runs.

Coach Mark Boucher also deserves to have a deeper well of public support for his role in inspiring the team to such a memorable, unexpected triumph.

After a poor performance in the first Test, well done to the Proteas, who were without a key fast bowler in Anrich Nortje, for fighting back and then lasting the distance in what has been a fascinating series. The action has been gripping and the twists in fortune quite riveting.

Long live Test cricket!

“In our minds we will be back in the game if we get Virat Kohli early tomorrow,” Proteas batsman Keegan Petersen admitted on Wednesday after the Indian captain steered his team to 57/2 and a lead of 70 runs at stumps on the second day of the third Test at Newlands.

Having surrendered a 13-run first-innings lead despite Petersen’s defiant career-best innings of 72, South Africa rocked the Indian second innings by removing both openers with just 24 runs on the board. But Kohli (14*) and Cheteshwar Pujara (9*) then steadied the innings. The pair of experienced batsmen shared a first-innings stand of 62, Kohli going on to bat for four-and-a-half hours, scoring 79, and the Proteas know just how important it will be on Thursday morning to nip their current partnership of 33 in the bud.

“We’re a bit behind the eight-ball and these two batsmen have been a bit of a headache for us,” Petersen said. “Virat is one of the best batsmen in the world, he’s shown that time and time again.

“If we can get him early then it will break open the game, in our minds we will be back in it. Taking a few early wickets on Thursday will be key.”

Petersen initially struggled to establish himself in Test cricket, scoring just 76 runs in his first five innings, but he was not helped by having to come to the wicket with less than 10 runs on the board in all those knocks. There was speculation that he should drop down the order in order to ease his passage into the international game, but he has now scored half-centuries in successive Tests in his beloved No.3 position.

“It has been a challenge, the most difficult attack I’ve ever faced, but I like batting at three, I’ve batted there for most of my career,” Petersen said.

“It’s been tough for the openers on the pitches we’ve played on, and Aiden Markram is just going through a rough patch, but he’s a quality batsman who will pull through.

“But if I can make the No.3 position mine, I’d be very happy,” Petersen added.

Scoring 162 runs in his last three innings there suggests he is well on course for that.

Virat Kohli was able to consolidate and defy for more than four-and-a-half hours, but the rest of the Indian batting line-up was broken down by an excellent Proteas attack led by an inspired Kagiso Rabada on the first day of the decisive third Test at Newlands on Tuesday.

India had won the toss and elected to bat first, under gloomy skies with the floodlights on, and they were bowled out for just 223 despite Kohli’s determined innings of 79 in 273 minutes off 201 balls.

Rabada, playing his 50^th Test, was superb and his final figures of 4/73 in 22 overs would have been even better with a bit more luck. The talismanic fast bowler was constantly probing the outside edge from a perfect length and used the short ball to good effect as well. His tussle with Kohli was especially gripping, and Rabada eventually dismissed him to claim the penultimate wicket, having the Indian captain caught behind by Kyle Verreynne, who took five catches on Tuesday.

Left-arm paceman Marco Jansen continued to cement his place in  the Proteas team as he took 3/55 in 18 overs and Duanne Olivier also bowled better than his final figures of 1/42 in 18 overs.

Rabada and Olivier were excellent with the new ball and removed openers Lokesh Rahul (12) and Mayank Agarwal (15) in successive overs.

Cheteshwar Pujara (43) and Kohli then consolidated with a third-wicket stand of 62 before Jansen had Pujara caught behind with a fine delivery that held its line from around the wicket.

Rishabh Pant (27) tried to temper his aggression with the bat, but eventually cut Jansen, getting extra bounce, straight to gully.

When the wind switched to south-easterly, the weather began to clear, but left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj, bowling into the breeze, deceived Shardul Thakur in the flight and had him caught low down at short extra cover by Keegan Petersen for 12, leaving India on 205/7.

South Africa then successfully prevented Kohli, who was batting with the skill of yore, from making hay with the fast bowlers as Rabada and Lungi Ngidi (14.3-7-33-1) wrapped up the innings at 5.16pm.

Proteas captain Dean Elgar, prodding towards mid-on as Jasprit Bumrah angled the ball across the left-hander, was caught in the slips for just three, but Aiden Markram (8*) and Keshav Maharaj (6*) made it through to stumps on 17/1.

The ball is now very much in your court, South African batting line-up.