Ken Borland

For only the second time under Dean Elgar’s captaincy, South African cricket fans could see a Proteas team take the field without spinner Keshav Maharaj when the first Test against New Zealand starts at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch at midnight on Wednesday, South African time.

The only previous time the Proteas have gone into a game with an all-pace attack under Elgar was against Pakistan at the Wanderers in January 2019, but the gritty opening batsman was just standing in on that occasion for Faf du Plessis.

But since Elgar has been appointed as the official Test captain, he has always had Maharaj in his team, unsurprisingly in the West Indies but also in all three Tests against India earlier this summer on seamer-friendly pitches. The skipper has spoken previously about his reluctance to go into a Test without a spinner, but on the eve of the game in New Zealand, he admitted this was a possibility.

“Whether or not we play the spinner is obviously the hot topic for us, whether there is space for one is one of the bigger decisions we have to make,” Elgar said.

“Conditions won’t necessarily suit a spinner and history shows that a spinner does not have much of a role at Hagley Oval.”

Indeed, New Zealand have confirmed that they will be going into the match with four frontline pacemen and will probably also play two all-rounders who can bowl seam-up in Colin de Grandhomme and Daryl Mitchell.

Apart from settling on the starting XI with coach Mark Boucher and the other selectors, Elgar was also doing the admin on Wednesday of ensuring everyone in the team is on the same page in terms of their mindset going into the Test.

“We’re in a good mental space, although I mighty have answered differently if quarantine had been longer. I’m touching base with the guys and making sure we are all aligned with the goal,” Elgar said.

“The focus must now be more on the team. I’ve spoken to most of the team and the rest I’ll do today, but each guy will be in a different mental space and now we just need to align everybody.

“We knew what we had to fulfill in terms of quarantine, but the last three days have been brilliant, it’s like the players have a new lease on life and we’re all appreciating the outside world more,” Elgar said.

Either way, the Test series is going to see the Black Caps either remedy their terrible record against South Africa or continue their marvellous run at the Hagley Oval.

New Zealand have failed to win any of the 16 series they have played against South Africa, who have won 13 of them. It is the worst record amongst ‘top eight’ nations in cricket.

But the Black Caps have lost just one of their 10 Tests at the Hagley Oval – against Australia in 2016. They have been in rampant form in their last four games there – thrashing Bangladesh and Pakistan by an innings, India by seven wickets and Sri Lanka by 423 runs.

While there would have been some joyous relief for the South African team not to have to play powerhouses Netherlands or India, their FIH Hockey Pro League match against France in Potchefstroom on Tuesday night still ended in defeat as they went down 4-1.

While France are ranked just two places above South Africa in 12^th on the world rankings, they are arguably the most improved side in the game in recent years. So the good news for the embattled South Africans is that they matched France in the middle of the field, but it was in the circles where the European side were just way more clinical.

France went 2-0 up in the first 10 minutes through two deflection goals, but South Africa had also looked threatening, no more so when Bili Ntuli’s reverse-sticks shot came off the post after Bradley Sherwood, who was an encouraging addition to the side, robbed a defender of possession.

The hosts then held France scoreless in the second quarter and were creating enough opportunities for them to feel they could yet njotch their first Pro League win.

But France were just too clinical in the second half, making full use of the opportunities they had. In the 41^st minute, they pounced on one loose pass by South Africa, racing down the right of the field before crossing to the middle, where Gaspard Baumgartner finished the move for his second goal.

France went 4-0 up in the 54^th minute through similar ruthlessness on the counter-attack. A quick overhead from a free hit found an attacker on the edge of the circle, he put in the cross, which was missed by an SA defender, allowing Timothee Clement to score.

It was also a feature of the match that France’s defence remained impressively composed and solid, while South Africa’s tended to make costly basic mistakes every now and then.

South Africa did, however, get on the scoreboard with three minutes remaining when the Cassiem brothers, Mustapha and Dayaan, combined superbly for Dayaan to put the chance away. He had hit the crossbar just a minute earlier when Mustapha had also been the provider.

St George’s Park was the principality of South Africa’s Prince of Leg-Spin, Shaun von Berg, on Tuesday as he consigned the Central Gauteng Lions to defeat against the Boland Rocks in their CSA T20 Challenge match.

Von Berg took a devastating 3/14 in his four overs as the Lions, chasing 161 to win, were bowled out for 116 in just 17.2 overs.

Although Joshua Richards was trapped lbw to the first ball of the innings from left-arm spinner Siyabonga Mahima, the Lions were well-placed on 46/1 after six overs as Reeza Hendricks and Shane Dadswell added 46 off 38 balls.

But Dadswell (29) was bowled by Von Berg’s first ball, mowing across the line, and the seasoned spinner had Mitchell van Buuren caught behind next delivery with a classic leg-break.

Once Mahima (4-0-20-2) removed Reeza Hendricks for a determined 46 off 39 balls, the Lions were 94/6 and Hardus Viljoen and Ferisco Adams, who both also took two wickets in two balls, ran through the rest of the batting line-up.

Captain Pieter Malan was largely responsible for leading Boland to 160/4 after they had been sent in to bat, compiling a steely 71 off 48 deliveries.

Adams (30* off 23) and Christiaan Jonker (20 off 15) provided a good finish to the innings as Boland had enough on the board to be rewarded with an invaluable bonus point.

In the afternoon game, the rampant Western Province side roared to an 84-run win over the North-West Dragons, their fourth consecutive triumph also earning them a bonus point.

Chasing 165, Beuran Hendricks ran through the North-West top-order with superb figures of 4-20, the joint best in the competition so far.

With leg-spinner Junaid Dawood claiming 3/22 in his four overs, North-West were shot out for just 80.

Captain Wayne Parnell took 1/13 in three overs with the ball and two fine catches, one of them a full-length diving effort to remove the dangerous Delano Potgieter off Hendricks.

The left-hander had earlier struck a ferocious 33 not out off just 17 balls to lift Western Province to 164/8, after an incredible collapse in which they lost six wickets for 25 runs left them on 134/8 with just two overs remaining.

The collapse was largely caused by brilliant left-arm spin from Senuran Muthusamy, who also took 4/20, and came after a solid platform had been laid by Jonathan Bird (53 off 44) and Dane Vilas (31 off 20).

New Zealand may be the reigning world Test champions, but the weight of history is against them as they start a two-Test series against South Africa at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch at midnight on Wednesday evening South African time.

In the 16 series played between South Africa and New Zealand since 1931/32, the Proteas have won 13 of them and three have been drawn. Even at home, the Kiwis have only managed to draw two of the eight series.

The absence of the best Black Caps batsman and the regular captain, Kane Williamson, as well as Trent Boult, the fourth New Zealander to take 300 Test wickets, who is missing the first Test for the birth of his third child, levels the playing field even more.

But the Kiwis are the masters of playing in their own conditions, especially since South Africa’s last tour, in 2016/17, when New Zealand probably would have drawn the series 1-1 were it not for the last day of the final Test being washed out.

“I was aware that New Zealand have never beaten us in a series,” Rassie van der Dussen said on Tuesday, “but the team hasn’t spoken about it. We know our teams have been really successful here in the past, probably because conditions favour seam bowling.

“It’s a bit different in this series though, because New Zealand are the defending Test champions and they have been really successful over the last couple of years, especially at home.

“They have played at home a lot and they really know the conditions, which are quite good for seam bowling. There’s not much spin, but there’s quite a bit of bounce and the pace of the pitch needs some getting used to.

“The pitches always look very green and grassy, but the surface is quite hard underneath, which makes for consistent pace and bounce. The conditions favour swing and we know that’s the big challenge,” Van der Dussen said.

The way South Africa’s batsmen grinded their way to victory over India gives them a template for success, however. Their leading run-scorer, Keegan Petersen, has not been able to travel to New Zealand though because of a positive Covid test, clearing the way for Sarel Erwee to make his Test debut.

Van der Dussen said the way the left-hander has accumulated thousands of runs in domestic cricket suggest he will find a way to prosper at Test level as well.

“Sarel is a very experienced domestic cricketer and he has toured with us for the last year. He knows how to bat long and how to score big runs.

“For me, the step up to Test cricket was all about keeping the fundamentals the same, although there is more skill and intensity from the bowlers.

“Debut or not, he knows what his game is about and he has nothing to prove because we know what type of player Sarel is,” Van der Dussen said.