Ken Borland

South Africa were too good for India in the second Test at the Wanderers, even the tourists’ coach Rahul Dravid making that admission, but the Proteas know they will need to execute a similar game-plan even better at Newlands, where the third and decisive Test starts on Tuesday.

South Africa won a thrilling second Test by seven wickets, chasing down a daunting target of 240.

“We weren’t complacent at any stage, the players were very switched on and right until the last day, we were winning the game. But South Africa played better than us on the last day,” Dravid admitted.

“We know South Africa are a very good side in their home conditions, even though the rankings might tell something else. It was always going to be a very tough series, but we have no excuses.

“We were outplayed in this Test and South Africa fully deserved the win,” Dravid said.

Proteas captain Dean Elgar, the hero of the victory with his epic 96 not out in the final innings, was already looking forward to taking their momentum to Cape Town.

“This was a massive positive move, a step in the right direction,” Elgar said. “It was a confidence-booster for a lot of players, but there are still going to be a lot of challenges in the next Test.

“We were pushed to different boundaries and the guys came up with some massive plans in tough conditions. We are emphasising the basics and we focused on the areas that weren’t good enough.

“We will have the same kind of plan for Cape Town, our game-plan is not going to change much,” Elgar said.

Dravid did mention the injury to paceman Mohammad Siraj, who strained his hamstring on the first evening, and having to bowl with a damp ball in the final session after it had rained for much of the fourth day, as also playing a role in their first defeat in six matches at the Wanderers.

“Losing Siraj and him not being 100% fit right through set us back a bit. We weren’t able to use the fifth bowler as much as we would have liked.

“And then the outfield was wet which made the ball wet. We rely a lot on swing bowling, but the seam just got wet and softer. But the South African batsmen played really well and cashed in on their opportunities.

“We kiss the pitch more, we pitch the ball up and look for swing. But the Proteas have a slight natural height advantage and that extra height on an up-and-down pitch made a little bit of difference.

“We saw quite a few balls spit up and hit the gloves, the pitch seemed to misbehave a bit more for them,” Dravid said.

There is little chance of Dean Elgar leaving the Proteas to become a T20 mercenary because his white-ball ability is, frankly, under-rated, but the nuggety left-hander is surely worth his weight in gold to the South African Test team.

Since making his debut in Perth at the end of 2012, and bagging a pair, Elgar has worked his way into the hearts of Proteas Test fans and is now the captain tasked with rebuilding the team to the sort of former glories they were in when he was first chosen.

For someone with such tenacity and bounce-back-ability – the tougher the situation the better Elgar seems to bat – it was perhaps fitting that his Test career should start with two ducks against the fearsome Mitchell Johnson.

Elgar certainly leads from the front on the field, putting his body on the line and valuing his wicket as greatly as anyone. But it is off the field where it seems he is also having a major impact. Never afraid to speak his mind, the 34-year-old is a no-nonsense cricketer, he plays the game hard and he expects his team-mates to do so too. Soft excuses are not tolerated and he is gradually dragging the best out of a Test team that has been gutted, in the years since he made his debut, by the retirements of Smith, Amla, Kallis, De Villiers, Du Plessis, Philander, Steyn and Morkel.

Test cricket is far from the sanitary, gentlemanly environment of the past and the second Test between South Africa and India at the Wanderers was a spicy affair. Stung by their poor performance in the first Test, it was good to see the Proteas willing to fight fire with fire. There was no standing back against the world’s No.1-ranked side.

That willingness to fight was shown by rookie Marco Jansen not backing off against Jasprit Bumrah; by Rassie van der Dussen, who put a difficult time behind him and also withstood the verbal volleys of wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, the man who dismissed him in the first innings when he claimed a catch on the bounce. Temba Bavuma was a cool head in the tense closing stages and refused to be rushed at the crease by the Indian bowlers running in before he was ready.

With Elgar fighting so hard at the other end, it was easy to see why his team-mates were inspired.

It has been a disappointing last year for the South African batting line-up as a whole, but there are runs to be had in the third Test starting at Newlands on Tuesday, with the pitch expected to be the best for batting the Proteas would have experienced for a long while.

There are still question marks over Aiden Markram and fans of Kyle Verreynne are expectant that he will soon make a Test score to match the three ODI half-centuries he has already scored.

But Bavuma and Elgar look in fine fettle, Van der Dussen and Keegan Petersen have the confidence of scores to their name, and the bowlers are a potent unit when they fire together.

You can forgive the Proteas misreading the Wanderers pitch and playing Keshav Maharaj, who only ended up bowling two overs in the match. He is bound to have a much greater role in Cape Town and we may even see him bowling alongside another left-arm spinner in George Linde.

Batting at No.7 still seems a slot too high for the talented Jansen and Linde has similar all-round credentials to Wiaan Mulder, so if conditions suit he could be in line for his fourth Test cap and first at home.

For now, a magnificent effort by the Proteas deserves to be celebrated while the anticipation builds for the decider at Newlands.

Dean Elgar underlined his value as a captain who not only leads from the front but demands the best from his players as he led South Africa to a remarkable seven-wicket win over India at the Wanderers on Thursday.

Elgar’s pride, bravery and determination were on full public display for over five hours in the second innings as his great innings of 96 not out ushered the Proteas to their target of 240 on a rapidly deteriorating pitch, the sixth highest run-chase in South Africa’s Test history, and coming against an attack many consider to be the best in the world.

But what was not revealed until after the game was Elgar’s courage in confronting his players, even someone like Kagiso Rabada, South Africa’s one unarguably world-class performer and almost akin to royal game in these sensitive days when the national coach is in the firing line for saying the wrong things when he was a player.

Elgar pressed his premier strike bowler’s buttons when he told him his performance was not up to scratch. Rabada might not have been enraged, but he responded with a rampant burst of three wickets in three overs on the third day that brought South Africa roaring back into the game.

“I don’t play for personal accolades, it’s always team over my own performance for me, but it does feel nice to contribute in a big way,” Elgar said after his heroic, series-levelling innings.

“My goal is always to influence the environment and lead from the front. It makes it easier then for the others in the changeroom to trust what you’re saying. It was more tough love than a rocket when I went to KG.

“I told him that he is immensely respected, but he was not conducting himself very well in terms of performance – he’s an incredible bowler when his tail is up. And he responds well to those chats, he goes away and thinks about it.

“He undersells his value in the team a bit, maybe he’s a bit too relaxed, but his contribution to the team is huge. The whole side was pushed to different levels and they responded brilliantly to certain requests I made,” Elgar said.

The captain himself may not be one of the most dazzling of batsmen, but he is certainly amongst the most trustworthy in the game when it comes to digging in and putting his body on the line.

“It’s a Test win for South Africa first and foremost, the team has fought long and hard for this sort of victory,” Elgar said. “I wasn’t looking at the end result today, I knew we had to start well in the first half-hour.

“We had to respect their areas but capitalise if there were loose deliveries, and we earned a few balls to put away. It didn’t feel like we had a lot to gain this afternoon, we might have lost four wickets and then we’d be in big trouble.

“But I said to myself that I had to be there at the end as a senior batsman and the captain. I’m glad it finished today because it was highly stressful and intense, you don’t expect anything else against India.

“They should stop hitting me now because I don’t get out! I draw on that pain, some call it stupid, some call it brave. But if I put my body on the line then others can be expected to do it too,” Elgar said.

Captain Dean Elgar, with the help of Rassie van der Dussen and Temba Bavuma, tamed a wretch of a Wanderers pitch as he led South Africa to a remarkable seven-wicket win in the second Test against India on Thursday.

Chasing a daunting target of 240 on a deteriorating pitch, opening batsman Elgar shepherded his team to victory with 96 not out, a magnificent display of patience, composure and ability to absorb pressure.

South Africa had to not only deal with a top-class attack on a pitch offering variable bounce and movement off the surface, but also the agony of having to wait until 3.45pm before they could resume their innings on 118/2. It had rained for most of the day at the Wanderers, sprucing up the pitch and also ensuring that the Proteas had to bat under completely overcast skies.

But the lengthy delay seemed to affect India’s focus more than South Africa’s. The Indian bowlers were poor on the fourth afternoon and they just could not bowl the number of deliveries in the right areas in order to create the wicket-taking opportunities that were undoubtedly there.

Elgar and Van der Dussen showed tremendous judgement and positivity as they added 57 runs in 14 overs on Thursday afternoon. Van der Dussen, considering the worries over his form, showed great temperament as he made a vital 40 off 92 balls in just over two hours at the crease.

Van der Dussen eventually fell to the sort of delivery everyone was warning about on this wearing pitch – back-of-a-length, rising sharply and jagging away – and try as he might to keep it down he could not help but send a low catch to second slip.

He left the scene with 65 more runs needed and vice-captain Bavuma then joined his skipper, a partnership that was always going to provide much grit and plenty of composure.

Failure has no parents, but perhaps the pivotal moment in South Africa’s highest ever fourth-innings run-chase at the Wanderers, and their sixth best in Test history, came when Bavuma, yet to get off the mark, drove firmly at Shardul Thakur, popping up a return catch. The bowler had it in his right hand, briefly juggled, and then the ball popped out.

Victory then came with astonishing ease and Elgar and Bavuma (23*) added 68 in little more than an hour, needing just 85 deliveries to finish a job most expected to be beyond this Proteas batting line-up.

The South African team can be immensely proud of how they stayed in the contest and, when conditions were at their toughest, they prevailed.