Ken Borland

Dean Elgar, as the Test captain, is the new alpha-male in South African cricket but instead of leading with belligerence and bravado, the opening batsman’s greatest show of strength comes from his patience, self-denial and determination.

And these were the qualities that rubbed off on rookie Kyle Verreynne during their crucial 87-run partnership for the fourth wicket on the opening day of the second Test against the West Indies at St Lucia on Friday.

Elgar had lost the toss again and this time South Africa were sent in to bat on a pitch that again provided prodigious movement to the bowlers. The Proteas quickly slumped to 37 for three, before the dogged Elgar, ever the survivor, and Verreynne, in just his second Test innings, dug in and turned the momentum of the innings.

Thanks to their defiance, the West Indies seemed to run out of patience and ideas, allowing Elgar and Quinton de Kock to add another 79 runs for the fifth wicket as South Africa ended the first day on a satisfactory 218 for five. Elgar fell shortly before the close for a determined 77 off 237 balls, a true captain’s innings that shepherded his team to safety.

De Kock, fresh off his brilliant unbeaten century in the first Test, looks ominous again as he is on 59 not out.

Verreynne’s own contribution was 27 off 89 deliveries, important for both the team and his own development as an international batsman.

“I am usually quite free-scoring, I like to score quickly, but I found out in the first Test that that is not the way to go on this pitch. And my chats today with Dean really helped. It’s just my second Test so I don’t have a lot of experience, so Dean was just reminding me to stick to my processes. It was all about time in the middle, it wasn’t important to be scoring runs, we just needed to be there in the middle.

“Dean reminded me of the work I’ve been doing in the net sessions, which has been around adjusting to this pitch and just putting certain shots away. It was fortunate to have the captain at the other end because that really helped me to restrict myself against an attack that is really skilful and they use the Dukes ball to their advantage in quite tough conditions,” Verreynne said.

The Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium pitch once again funded plenty of assistance for the seam bowlers and, challenging as it was, it was a great learning experience for the 24-year-old Verreynne.

“There’s been quite a lot of rain around so the pitch has not seen much sun and it was quite tacky. With it being overcast, there was also quite a lot of swing and then the movement off the pitch became quicker as the sun came out and the pitch dried a bit. You just didn’t get a break out there.

“At domestic franchise level, you might have to get through spells of five overs or so when the bowling is pretty ruthless, but if you can hang around and get through that then you can kick on, you can cash in. But at Test level you can never relax, the pressure is on the whole day. You have to be on it every ball or you’re going to be found out,” Verreynne said.

Proteas opener Aiden Markram said on Wednesday that a “focus on getting your job done” was a major reason for South Africa’s overwhelming success in the first Test against the West Indies at St Lucia, and it is a habit they don’t want to get out of as the second Test looms at the same venue on Friday.

South Africa beat the West Indies by an innings and 63 runs in the first Test in what was one of their best all-round performances for a long time. The bowlers were outstanding and the batsmen fought hard on a lively pitch. It was also the Proteas’ first win on away soil since beating England by 340 runs at Trent Bridge in Nottingham in July 2017, ending a run of nine straight defeats on the road.

“It’s our first away Test win in just about four years, so it was exciting and nice to be a part of. It’s been a long time coming and it will re-instil a bit of belief that we can still compete away from home. We came across a lot of foreign things we had to overcome, like a strong breeze at the ground, and at one end it was quite an uphill run for the bowlers into the wind, and they had a different ball to what they’re used to.

“But for all of us, the focus was just on getting your job done, no excuses and empty the tank. Conditions were difficult, but hopefully we can now win in foreign conditions more consistently. It’s going to be tough to better the performance in the first Test, but I’m positive there is more in us. We’ve set standards that we must now live by and operate at that standard. I’m confident we’ll put up another good fight,” Markram said.

It is often said that teams take on the personality of their captain, and there is no bigger fighter, no one more determined on the field, than new skipper Dean Elgar.

“Dean has been brilliant as captain now for the last three weeks and it’s great to have someone really experienced like him to lead us, a pretty young team. He has realigned everyone and is driving those standards that will more often than not lead to good results. It’s black or white with Dean, you always know where you’re standing and he’s the perfect man for the job at the moment,” Markram said.

Benetton Treviso, the Bulls’ opponents in the Rainbow Cup final on Saturday, may have gone through the European leg of the competition unbeaten, but it is obvious they are a dark-horse club which is an unknown quantity for most South African rugby fans.

The vagaries of the European competition format and the resting of the big guns by clubs like Leinster, Munster and Ulster obviously helped Benetton, who failed to win a game in the preceding season of the Pro14 competition.

They are under the coaching of New Zealander Kieran Crowley, and it is his last game in charge before he becomes head coach of the Italian national side, replacing South African Franco Smith, who is moving to the position of head of high performance. The Benetton players will obviously be keen to send him off on a winning note.

Smith himself played for Benetton, and there is a history of South African involvement at the club. Fellow Springbok Marco Wentzel also pulled on the green jersey of Treviso, as did lock Corniel van Zyl. Michael Lynagh and John Kirwan are the two most famous former players of the 89-year-old club.

Former Stormers and SA A scrumhalf Dewaldt Duvenhage is the current captain of Benetton, who also boast a pair of former Bulls locks in Irne Herbst and Eli Snyman, a former Bulls hooker in Corniel Els and Cradock-born loose forward Braam Steyn, who has played 44 times for Italy.

Second-choice flyhalf Tommaso Allan is the nephew of former Sharks and Springbok hooker John Allan.

In terms of style of play, Benetton are fond of scrummaging and using their physical defence to force turnovers, from which they are quick to counter-attack. They also have a reliable goalkicker in first-choice flyhalf Paolo Garbisi.

So they play a style of rugby that the Bulls themselves favour, although most people are expecting the visitors to be more proficient at it than their Italian hosts. But Benetton did push Montpellier, who went on to win the competition, all the way in their European Challenge Cup quarterfinal in April, losing by just six points.

Benetton will also have a crowd of 1000 spurring them on in the Stadio Monigo, which was chosen as the venue for the final before they qualified, but just happens to be their home stadium.

Following the outstanding support given to the bowlers in the field – especially in terms of slip-catching – in South Africa’s innings win over the West Indies in the first Test, one could excuse Proteas fielding coach Justin Ontong for feeling quite peaceful that all is well in his area of focus.

But that is not the case, Ontong insisted on Tuesday, as he stated the Proteas’ desire is to set even higher benchmarks for their catching and fielding. Much like their great rivals residing in the Pacific Ocean who dominated international cricket while Ontong was playing, South Africa have almost always relied on pace and seam bowling for their successes. And having quality slip fielding to back that up is crucial, just as Australia did with the likes of Mark Waugh, Mark Taylor, Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting in the cordon.

The Proteas were faultless in the slips in the first Test, with Wiaan Mulder (4) and Aiden Markram (3) taking seven catches between them.

“The fielding has come under criticism and there has been a big emphasis on getting it right. The guys delivered what we asked for and the slip-catching was outstanding. We’ve lost Faf du Plessis and Hashim Amla, who played a huge part in the slips, so there was some new personnel in there and on a pitch that was assisting the seamers we knew the catching behind the wicket was going to be a crucial aspect.

“It’s about getting the right guys in the right positions and Aiden and Wiaan were exceptional at second and third and then we have Dean Elgar at first slip. We have set very high standards and hopefully we can maintain those. We’re trying to sharpen the slip-catching again for the second Test. It’s a big emphasis because Test cricket is about taking 20 wickets and to do that you have to hold your catches,” Ontong said.

It seems almost a lifetime ago since South Africa, once the leaders in winning away from home, won a Test series on the road. Should the Proteas win or draw the second Test, they will have their first away series win since triumphing in New Zealand in March 2017.

“The team is longing for a series win, that would be huge because we want to make people back home proud, and we especially want to get some wins away from home. That’s massive for a young team. We are in a very good space at the moment, but we need to keep doing the small things that will make us world-class. The last Test was a big relief.

“What a win it was and we were brilliant in all three departments. It’s quite difficult to follow that but the standards have now been set. We know it will not be so easy from Friday, so even harder work is being done by us this week,” Ontong added.