Ken Borland

Proteas captain Dean Elgar said on Thursday that “If we want success then we need consistency in selection” as he indicated that much the same South Africa team will take the field at St George’s Park on Friday for the second Test against Bangladesh.

For the first time since 1970, South Africa played two frontline spinners in a home Test during last week’s thumping win over Bangladesh in the first Test in Durban, and Elgar said he expected conditions to be similar. So Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer look set to both play again and even struggling all-rounder Wiaan Mulder remains in contention for the starting XI.

“If we want success we need consistency in selection and it’s normally a similar sort of pitch here as it is at Kingsmead,” Elgar said. “So I don’t think there will be many changes.

“I like the adaptability of our attack and I would love to have used Wiaan more. But when we saw the conditions, we decided to keep the pressure on with our world-class spinners.

“It might be different here in PE, especially if the ball swings, and then we’re more likely to use Wiaan to showcase his skills. The wind is a massive factor and it hasn’t stopped blowing since we got here.

“If it comes over the scoreboard then the locals call it the ‘Swing Wind’. But the players need to adapt to whatever circumstances come their way and the seamers might have a lot more work in this Test,” Elgar said.

Bangladesh, meanwhile, have apparently lodged a formal complaint with the ICC over the Proteas’ alleged sledging during the first Test, which they say was ignored by the South African umpires.

Elgar, in typically hard-nosed fashion, said the tourists have to harden up to the realities of Test cricket.

“It’s not justified what they said towards the South African side. We do play hard, but we were just giving back what we got. And there was certainly no swearing, we do everything with dignity.

“They need to harden up and play at the Test level of intensity. It’s Test cricket and they must dry their eyes. There’s a lot that’s not seen, there are off-camera incidents as well.

“But we would not intentionally intimidate a young player with language, but with skill. When I started Test cricket, the environment was much harsher than it is now.

“We still want to win though, so if some mind-games can help you with that then why not use them? Maybe Bangladesh got caught up in the moment a bit … ” Elgar said.

The Proteas are going to take a lot of confidence from their form in the last eight months, having won Test series against the West Indies and the No.1-ranked Indians, drawn with the reigning world Test champions in New Zealand, won 13 out of 16 T20 internationals and also hammered India 3-0 in an ODI series.

So there are definite signs of regrowth in a team that seems to have turned the corner under Mark Boucher and Dean Elgar.

In a month’s time they will be playing another Test series as they host Bangladesh in Durban and Gqeberha, and coach Boucher is keen to keep climbing the World Test Championship table, having already taken crucial points off the two finalists of the previous edition. The 12 points gained this week in Christchurch move South Africa into fourth place.

“It’s been a tough couple of months without a lot of time at home with our families and then there’s Bangladesh, which will be another tough series,” Boucher said.

“We are still very much in the World Test Championship and we will take confidence from this series in New Zealand and learn from our mistakes in the first Test. But it’s clear we are heading down the right road.”

Given the enormous resilience the team has shown in coming back from 1-0 down against both India and New Zealand, it was only fitting that Boucher should pay tribute to his captain Elgar for his leadership.

“Dean talks a lot but he follows it up with action,” Boucher said. “We knew we would be under pressure in the second game and we chatted about walking towards the challenge, not running away.

“We understood what was required in the second Test and there were a couple of brave calls like Dean winning the toss and batting first, and then batting the way he did. It’s not as if he was batting No.5.

“He’s the opening batsman and he fronted up and walked straight into the pressure. He’s been fantastic and I know the team really look up to him and back him in a very strong way.

“The way we lost the first Test was very disappointing. The guys showed a lot of character though and there was no panic, just the realisation that we just did not rock up for the first game,” Boucher said.

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.

The Sharks were utterly dominant in the scrums but failed to take full advantage of that edge and were held to a 22-22 draw by the gutsy Stormers as they conceded a final-minute penalty try in their United Rugby Championship match at Kings Park on Saturday.

The Stormers, trailing 15-22, were hard on attack and had a two-man overlap against a 14-man Sharks team when fullback Aphelele Fassi’s deliberate knock-on killed the move and he was the last defender, leaving the officials with little choice but to award the penalty try which earned the visitors a share of the spoils.

The home side were also extremely wasteful in terms of their goalkicking, as they only succeeded with three out of their eight shots at goal. Starting flyhalf Boeta Chamberlain only kicked three out of seven, but he did at least slot an impressive 47m drop goal on the stroke of halftime, following a goal-line drop-out by the Stormers.

It put the Sharks 11-3 up at the break and was important as the home side were already struggling to make their dominance count on the scoreboard.

The Sharks started in superb fashion as they won a penalty, set the lineout and then, after a ruck deep inside the Stormers 22, wing Makazole Mapimpi joined the line, but instead of knifing through on his own as he usually does, he threw a long pass out wide for outside centre Lukhanyo Am to stroll over for the opening try after just four minutes.

The Sharks stayed on attack but were then penalised five times in a row by referee Marius van der Westhuizen and the first time they infringed inside their 22, Am was yellow-carded for offsides. Flyhalf Manie Libbok put the Stormers on the board from the resulting penalty.

A massive scrum by the Sharks earned Chamberlain a penalty (8-3), but three minutes later he took too long over taking another shot at goal and the penalty was overturned. He then missed another scrum penalty, so it was relief all round in the Sharks camp when he did slot his drop goal.

The Sharks also made a great start to the second half with a splendid try. Prop Ox Nche’s leg-drive got him half through a tackle, but his skill in throwing a long pass out wide to Fassi at the same time was the key factor. Fassi then put through the perfect grubber for Mapimpi to show why he is the Finisher Supreme.

Chamberlain missed the conversion but added a 51^st-minute scrum penalty to lift the Sharks into a commanding 19-3 lead.

But the Stormers kept nipping at their heels and metaphorically kicking them in their shins as they staged another late charge after their impressive win over the Bulls last weekend at Loftus Versfeld.

Warrick Gelant once again sparked matters as his little shimmy and lovely offload in the tackle to Damian Willemse saw the fullback provide a great finish through two tackles for the try.

A Chamberlain penalty put the Sharks 22-8 ahead after 65 minutes but the Stormers thoroughly dominated the closing stages.

They got their rolling maul going well and earned their first penalty try in the 69^th minute when replacement prop Khutha Mchunu came in on the side a couple of metres from the line to kill the momentum. Van der Westhuizen awarded a penalty try and a yellow card.

With three minutes remaining, the Sharks were actually down to 13 men as wing Sbu Nkosi clattered into the back of Seabelo Senatla, preventing him from following up his deft grubber, and was also sent off.

Mchunu returned for the final minute, but was not able to prevent the Sharks from suffering a draw that will hurt plenty.

Meanwhile the Stormers will be celebrating seven hard-earned points on the road in the last fortnight.

Scorers

Sharks – Tries: Lukhanyo Am, Makazole Mapimpi. Penalties: Boeta Chamberlain (3). Drop goal: Chamberlain.

Stormers – Tries: Damian Willemse, penalty tries (2). Penalty: Manie Libbok.