Proteas captain Dean Elgar has spent much of the series pumping up the tyres of his team-mates, telling them how good they are, but now that Australia have won the rubber, he said on Tuesday, on the eve of the third and final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, that it was time for the team to make amends.
Well-beaten in both Brisbane and Melbourne, Elgar has made it clear that there is still much to play for and he expects his team to do everything in their power to restore some pride.
“There’s nowhere to hide in Test cricket and the top five need to find a way to execute their batting disciplines,” Elgar said. “Whatever we do in terms of selection, hopefully we provide a better spectacle than in the first two games.
“There’s also a lot for us still to play for – the World Test Championship final is a massive incentive – and we should be playing every Test like it is our last.
“But talk is cheap, we need to go out and perform and really make amends. It’s very frustrating because these are really talented players, but it just hasn’t gone our way.
“We want to go home with a lot of pride restored and so there’s still a lot to play for, as well as our position in the World Test Championship. It’s about how we rise up to the challenge and grasp the opportunity,” Elgar said.
Cynics would say whatever changes South Africa make to their XI will be like putting mag wheels on a skedonk. But the Proteas have to make at least one change due to Theunis de Bruyn returning home for the birth of his daughter.
“The only options in our squad in terms of batsmen are Rassie van der Dussen and Heinrich Klaasen,” Elgar confirmed. “Rassie has played for an extended period at Test level so he’s more experienced, while Heinrich is immensely talented and maybe deserves an extended chance.”
South Africa could well make a second change, bringing in a second spinner – Simon Harmer – but Elgar intimated that the off-spinner would have to replace another bowler.
“We need to have another look at the pitch, but Simon is definitely in the mix because Sydney has been low and slow, with a bit or turn, recently, so that might force our hand,” the captain said.
“But Keshav Maharaj is still our number one spinner and I’m still a 6/5 fan, that’s what I’m thinking. But all options are on the table, although playing seven batsmen makes it a massive ask for the bowlers.
“They’ve had a big workload, especially in the last Test when they racked up big numbers of overs. So it’s a big ask to have just four bowlers, especially only three seamers,” Elgar said.
The Proteas cricket team have already surrendered the series to Australia, soundly beaten in the first two Tests, and they have certainly been accessories to their own demise, so hopefully they can reverse that trend and spare their blushes in the third and final Test that starts in Sydney in the early hours of Wednesday morning (SA time).
While South Africa’s recent batting performances have been a crime against the decorated legacies of great batsmen that have represented the country before in Australia, like Jacques Kallis, Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla, the line-up for the third Test simply have to dig deep within themselves and supplement whatever technical skill they can muster with tremendous determination and a bloodyminded refusal to give their wickets away.
As impressive as the Australian attack have been, there have been too many soft dismissals; avoiding run outs will help for a start.
The South African batsmen have the talent to be performing much better, they just need to show more mental steel. Which is tough to do when the team has taken a battering and confidence is low.
But there comes a time when a line in the sand has to be drawn and an attitude of “over my dead body” adopted; a New Year’s Test seems a most apt time for this to happen.
The time has come for the Proteas to belatedly be impertinent guests and produce some much-needed defiance when the third and final Test against Australia starts at the Sydney Cricket Ground in the early hours of Wednesday morning (SA time).
The series is gone after the Australians ran roughshod over the Proteas in Brisbane and Melbourne but, astonishingly given how poor their recent form has been, South Africa are still in contention for a place in the World Test Championship final. But victory in Sydney is vital, not just to keep that door open, but also to arrest what has been a humiliating slide in the performance of their batsmen.
While a return to the nastiness of the 2018 series is not wanted, there is a feeling that the Proteas have been too nice, a bit too soft, with their opposition and it is time they stood up and refused to be bullied.
It took one of the youngest players in the squad, 22-year-old Marco Jansen, to voice the necessity for the Proteas to show some mongrel.
“We know everyone is giving their best, but we all need to try and figure out what we can do as an individual for the betterment of the team,” Jansen said on Monday.
“You’re not always going to get hundred partnerships or two batsmen getting centuries so you score more than 500 and win; sometimes it might be about taking five blows to the body or bowling seven consecutive overs.
“Whatever you can do as an individual, sometimes a 70-run partnership can be the matchwinning one. We need to try and recognise those small moments that all add up and can make a big difference.
“We have the skill. It’s just about making a mental shift, a conscious decision to put your hand up and do whatever it takes to influence the team in a positive way,” Jansen said.
A confident Australian team spares nobody and South Africa need to show the same ruthlessness.
“We need to try and see those moments when the opposition is not comfortable, not shy away, and go even harder,” Jansen added. “We have no choice now, we have to take a difficult situation and turn it into a positive.
“We can choose either to run away or front up, which gives you the best chance of performing. It has not been easy on the field, but we will definitely face the challenge.
“We have three Tests until the World Test Championship final and we want to win all three to have the best chance of qualifying.
“So we are not just thinking this is another game and we can just cruise through. There is still a big goal and purpose for us,” Jansen said.
Marco Jansen took a career-best five for 39 with the ball, and also scored an explosive 47 with the bat.
The Proteas will head to the World Cup with their tails up after they completed a brilliant come-from-behind series win over Australia on Sunday, their 122-run victory in the fifth ODI at the Wanderers being their third on the trot.
Chasing 316 for victory, Australia had their customary fast start as they reached 124 for two in the 20th over, but they then faded away amidst the fall of regular wickets, one of the World Cup favourites slipping to 193 all out before another 15 overs were bowled, thereby surrendering a five-match series they led 2-0.
Marco Jansen was the destroyer-in-chief, revelling in the pace and bounce available at the Wanderers to claim a career-best five for 39 in eight overs. Twelve of those runs technically came off one delivery as he bowled successive no-balls and was hit for a four and a six by Mitchell Marsh. The Australian captain was the main threat in the chase, striking some mighty blows as he powered to 71 off 56 deliveries.
The beanpole left-hander took the first five wickets to fall and is only the second South African to achieve this feat in ODIs. The great all-rounder Shaun Pollock did it twice, also at the Wanderers, against England in 2000 and Pakistan in 2007*.
And then the classy left-arm spin of Keshav Maharaj was too much for the tail as he took four for 33 in 9.1 overs, also a career-best.
Jansen also answered one of the troubling questions surrounding this South African side: Do they have a proper all-rounder to fill the key number seven slot?
The 23-year-old showed his batting ability as he smacked an almost arrogant 47 off just 23 balls, also his highest score in ODIs. He came in with the innings at a crossroads on 212 for five in the 42nd over, Aiden Markram having just fallen for an elegant, high-quality 93 off just 87 balls.
It had been tough going up front for the home team after they were sent in to bat on a tacky pitch which allowed the ball to do a lot. They had been reduced to 103 for four in the 24th over, but the calm and experienced heads of Markram and David Miller (63 off 65 balls) put them back on an even keel and the Proteas then dominated the tailend of the innings.
Another all-rounder, Andile Phehlukwayo, also took the chance to shine although he is not in South Africa’s World Cup squad. At least not yet as injuries to Sisanda Magala and Anrich Nortje could see him get a late call-up. He was playing on Sunday due to Kagiso Rabada resting a sore ankle.
Phehlukwayo finished the innings in sensational fashion, blasting 39 not out off just 19 balls, with four sixes. The left-hander plundered 24 off the last over bowled by Michael Neser to lift the Proteas to an above-par score. They really should have been 292 all out but Australia messed up a golden opportunity to run out last man Lungi Ngidi at the bowler’s end as Phehlukwayo came back for two in the final over.
Coach Rob Walter was measured in his delight, refusing to entertain thoughts that Australia have been sent from these shores with their tails between their legs, but chuffed by how the Proteas bounced back from their five-match losing run including the T20s.
“It’s easy to get caught up in the emotion either side of winning and losing, but it’s important to stay level and understand where we are as a team and what we are working towards.
“The best thing about the series win was that we won in different ways: In Potchefstroom we won through spin, at Centurion through pace and today was an all-round performance. We have progressed and improved in all departments and we’re closer to playing good cricket than we were when we started.
“I would be very careful though to read too much into beating Australia and what it means for the World Cup. Conditions might be very different in India, even though we have won with both pace and spin, and their team will change considerably.
“You’re going to have Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc coming at you and they’ll have a couple of other batsmen too. Plus Australia know how to play at a World Cup,” Walter said.
Before the series, South Africa faced questions over the number seven spot and a potentially long tail when they are batting. Jansen averaged 33.50 in the series and scored at a strike-rate of 125.23 – you can’t ask for much more in that position.
“Marco has such huge potential and we saw a bit of that today in the way he contributed with both bat and ball. But he has so much more in the tank, he’s not even close to his ceiling and I’ll be pushing him to achieve that.
“Andile is part of our broader squad and he showed with the bat how capable he is, that innings was highly influential in the match because chasing 270 is very different to 315. He played a massive role today and got an important wicket. It’s great to see him come in and contribute,” Walter said.
The man of the match plaudit, however, belonged to Jansen. The amiable Potchefstroom product confirmed that he just loves to bat; bowling is more like a job for him.
“My main focus is with the ball and taking wickets is expected of me, that’s my primary role. But I’m happier batting, I enjoy that a lot more, I like batting a lot, so I enjoy the hard work I’ve put into it,” Jansen smiled.
“I’ve improved my options a lot. When I started playing for the Proteas, certain shots were my go-to, like against a spinner I would slog-sweep over cow-corner. Now I feel I can play more off the back foot, I can manoeuvre in the crease. And I’m not just trying to plant my foot and hit every ball for six over cow, I can get the other batsman on strike, I can rotate.
“It’s a bit more responsibility as an all-rounder, but it’s important to go out and enjoy it. Luckily I really enjoy batting and just go out and try and express myself. Bowling feels more like my day job.”
Jansen took both his proper job and his ‘hobby’ to new levels on Sunday and he will go to the World Cup as one of several question marks that have been answered for the Proteas.
They will board a plane to India on Saturday, with both Nortje and Magala having to bowl in the nets in the coming days to prove they are pain-free and able to participate in the World Cup.
*Stats kindly supplied by CSA official statistician Andrew Samson.
2 Corinthians 5:17 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come!”
By committing yourself completely to the Lord, you will become a good person. Our personality yields to Christ’s influence and we grow into the likeness of him.
This will not happen through your own strength, abilities or ingenuity, no matter how hard you try. When you open yourself to the Holy Spirit, your personality is transfigured and your lifestyle transformed.
