Ken Borland

There are no doubt several areas for the Proteas to improve on following their defeat by seven wickets in the first Test against Pakistan in Karachi on Friday, but captain Quinton de Kock chose to focus on the first-innings batting collapse as the root cause of their loss.

Having been able to bat first after winning the toss, South Africa could only post 220 all out as they collapsed from 108 for two. The bowlers fought back admirably to reduce Pakistan to 33 for four at the end of the first day, but excellent batting led by centurion Fawad Alam saw the home side reach 308 for eight at stumps on the second day, with the Proteas dropping a couple of crucial catches in a generally poor fielding display.

A woeful bowling performance on the third morning saw Pakistan’s tail add 70 runs off 74 balls and the Proteas had a deficit of 158 on first innings. Gutsy half-centuries by Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen brought them back into the match, but South Africa lost three wickets in the last five overs of the day. That collapse continued on Friday as they were bowled out for 245, losing their last nine wickets for 70 runs.

Pakistan knocked off their target of 88 with few alarms.

“The first-innings batting was the big cause of our loss, there were some very soft dismissals, just being soft mentally. We adjusted in the second innings and we learnt a lot through Rassie and Aiden to take forward. The bowlers did really well, they showed great aggression and accuracy, but Pakistan just batted very well against us. But only getting 220 in the first innings was where we let ourselves down the most.

“On that pitch it definitely wasn’t good enough, especially when batting first. We’ve spoken about the collapses, but if we knew how to fix it we wouldn’t do it in the first place. We seem to get bogged down and then you try and find a way to score. But Pakistan showed us that you needed to stick in there and dig deep with the way the pitch played. Like Rassie and Aiden did in our second innings,” De Kock said after the chastening defeat.

While Pakistan were boosted by top-class leg-spinner Yasir Shah having a fine game with seven wickets, South Africa’s plan to power up their spin attack with the selection of a left-arm wrist-spinner in Tabraiz Shamsi was scuppered when he pulled out shortly before the toss with a back spasm.

While Pakistan’s left-arm spinner Nauman Ali took seven for 73 in 42.3 overs on debut, Keshav Maharaj had to settle for four for 102 in 34.1 overs, while George Linde only played a bit part with 16 wicketless overs.

De Kock refused to say the spin bowling results made the difference.

“Tabraiz is busy getting fully fit again and we have the players to cover for any injuries. It wasn’t really the bowlers’ fault we loss, the batting made the difference, the way we played their spin in the first innings and the latter stages of the second innings. Pakistan were able to soak up pressure while we gave them our wickets in the first innings.

“We’ll just have to come back mentally stronger in the second Test, our batsmen must play the way Rassie and Aiden did – they took their time, kept the ball on the ground and soaked up pressure,” De Kock said.

With the injury-decimated Sri Lankan side succumbing to an innings defeat midway through the fourth day, it may have seemed there was not much resistance from the tourists in the first Test against South Africa at Centurion, but Proteas captain Quinton de Kock said it was still a hard-fought win and there are plenty of positives the hosts will take from the game.

Sure, Sri Lanka were bowled out for just 180 in their second innings, with only Kusal Perera (64) and Wanindu Hasaranga (59) providing much resistance as they went down by an innings and 45 runs, but rewind to two days earlier and South Africa were certainly under pressure.

Having conceded 396, the third largest first innings total they have ever managed to overcome to win a Test, South Africa made it to lunch on 45 without loss. Openers Dean Elgar and Aiden Markram provided the ideal platform by taking that first-wicket stand to 141, but even then there was a mid-afternoon wobble as the Proteas slid from 200 for one to 220 for four.

And then enter Faf du Plessis with a magnificent 199, and Temba Bavuma and their crucial fifth-wicket partnership of 179, added to with great effect by Wiaan Mulder and Keshav Maharaj.

“A Test win never comes easy and we still had to earn it. We fought really hard with the bat after Sri Lanka came out with plenty of intent. It was quite a difficult pitch and we knew we had to be positive. Aiden and Dean started really well and their momentum really helped the rest of the batsmen. Then Faf showed how important is to have senior guys with experience, we needed that under pressure.

“And then the bowlers came back really nicely in the second innings. A guy like Wiaan Mulder is still a youngster but he bowled with maturity, he showed what he’s about and really added value with the ball. Lutho Sipamla made a great comeback, the first day all came down to his Test debut and nerves, he began to bowl like he has been in the nets and it was great to see that fight from him,” De Kock said after starting his Test captaincy tenure with a win.

De Kock said the presence of other leaders who have been captains in the franchise system in the Proteas team had helped him deal with captaincy for the first time in long-format cricket.

“I’ve never captained before in a first-class game but you do have more time to think about things and it helps to have good leaders in the team around me – guys like Dean, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba and Faf. I’ve been standing next to Faf for most of my Test career so I very much knew what Test captaincy is about.

“People always talk about youngsters coming through but you need a balance. Faf really showed his experience in this Test, we needed that under pressure. He showed his leadership and how to handle that pressure because he’s been through those situations many times before,” De Kock said.

The monotony of Lockdown has sent many people out to lunch but for Quinton de Kock the same simple ‘see ball, hit ball’ approach that makes him such a great cricketer has seen him get through the winter so far in typically phlegmatic fashion.

Named CSA’s Men’s Cricketer of the Year at the weekend, De Kock said he has not hit a single ball since the end of last season, but is comfortable that there is plenty of time for him to launch a reinvigorated assault on the bowlers of the world.

In 2019/20, De Kock scored 536 runs in seven Tests at an average of 38.28, with one century and four fifties, while he has also averaged 38, with one century and four half-centuries, in 15 ODIs in the last year. He also reached fifty four times in eight T20 Internationals, averaging a remarkable 48.42 at a strike rate of 167.

The left-handed wicketkeeper/batsman scored more Test runs in 2019 than any other Protea (713, 216 more than Faf du Plessis), but has set his sights on scoring more hundreds in the coming season.

“I’ve had the world’s best Lockdown, I’ve been very busy doing nothing. I’ve kept up with my fitness and training in the gym, but I’m based in a very remote place [Garden Route] and there’s not much cricket around here. But practice is mostly muscle memory and there’s still so much time before our next game, you could end up hitting balls for no reason. I needed the break and tried to stay away from cricket.

“But in terms of fulfilling my potential, I would only rank myself about 6.5 out of 10. I had too many starts without progressing, I’m tough on myself and to be honest I’d love to convert those starts into even bigger runs. I wanted to come up the order, I’m happy at five for now and I feel that I can score big hundreds there,” De Kock said after also being named Test Cricketer of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year.

One thing De Kock was adamant about is that he is not going to try and take on the Test captaincy as well as his role as white-ball skipper, wicketkeeper and key batsman.

“Mark Boucher and I had an informal chat and I said I wasn’t sure about the Test captaincy. It would be too much to handle, I realise that now, to be wicketkeeper and captain, I don’t need all that stress, I could see that a mile away,” De Kock said.

Laura Wolvaardt was named the Women’s Cricketer of the Year, largely on the back of her superb performances in steering South Africa to the semi-finals of the ICC World T20 in Australia, and the 21-year-old said the Proteas will try their utmost to do even better in their 50-over World Cup scheduled for January.

“Our main focus has been that ODI World Cup for the last three-and-a-bit years and once we start playing again it will be full steam ahead towards that. The T20 World Cup in Australia will always have a special place in my heart, just the way the team played and the brand of cricket we produced was very special. It was incredible how we performed.

“I definitely did not see all this success coming at all at the start of the season, especially my role at five in the T20s, and I’m very glad it went well. It was the magical idea of the selectors to move me there because I’d had struggles in the powerplay up front. It gave me more freedom once the field was spread, I could rotate the strike a bit more while getting set,” Wolvaardt said.

Graeme Smith is now the full-time Director of Cricket for Cricket South Africa for the next two years and one of the first decisions he announced after his permanent capacity was confirmed on Friday is that Quinton de Kock will not be the Proteas Test captain.

Wicketkeeper De Kock is currently South Africa’s captain for ODIs and T20 Internationals, as well as being a key batsman across all three formats. There are few other realistic contenders who are certain of their place in the five-day team. The Proteas are scheduled to play two Tests in the West Indies in July/August.

Smith, the Proteas’ record-breaking captain from 2003 to 2014, said there was the threat of burnout if De Kock was also made Test captain, as well as keeping wicket and being arguably their most important batsman. The 27-year-old De Kock has made it clear that he does not want to give up the gloves.

“There’s no one person right now that we are looking at but I can tell you that the Test captain is not going to be Quinton. So it will be who escalates themselves as a consistent performer, who steps forward and has the respect of the team. Quinton is our white-ball captain but he won’t be doing the job in Test cricket as well.

“We want to keep Quinton fresh and playing well, and to be the captain in all three formats is very challenging. It probably won’t work. Just in terms of workload and mental capacity, being captain in all three formats probably isn’t going to be beneficial. We also have to consider the style of personality and player that Quinton is, and keep him as free and fresh as possible,” Smith said on Friday.

CSA acting chief executive Jacques Faul on Friday hailed Smith for the top-class leadership skills he has shown as the director of cricket in an interim capacity and announced that he had now received a two-year contract.

“It gives me great pleasure to contract Graeme permanently through to March 31, 2022 and I thank him for the willingness he showed to come on board and all the hard work he has done so far. I’m not sure anyone’s administrative career has started off with so many challenges, but he has looked at cricket administration in a different way in a very difficult time.

“We wanted to appoint him permanently from the word go in December, but there was a lot of uncertainty and we both wanted to see if the partnership worked. It has definitely worked well and Graeme’s leadership is vital to us, we’re extremely happy with his performance and he has also played a big role in this Covid-19 crisis,” Faul said.

Smith said he had agreed to become Director of Cricket on a fulltime basis because he wanted to make a difference for the sport in South Africa and get the Proteas back to the top of the world game.

“I would be lying if I said there was 100% certainty when I took on the job because there was so much doubt on all fronts. But operationally I’ve now got to know the staff and there are a lot of hardworking people who are passionate about the game. I feel more invested now, I care about the national team and the business side more than I used to now as well.

“I want to get stuck in and make a difference. We need to make good, consistent decisions over a period of time when it comes to the Proteas and grow our pool of players. We need to maximise our strategies, although our financial position will play a role. The players feel a lot more settled now and we’re having good feedback and conversations with them,” Smith said.