Ken Borland

Rain washed out the second day’s play of last year’s Boxing Day Test against India at Centurion and, while the tourists enjoyed a lunchtime feast including broccoli soup, Chicken Chettinad and lamb chops, Proteas captain Dean Elgar was giving his team some of his famous tough love after a poor first day.

Having allowed India to rattle up 273-3 on the first day on a pitch that assisted the pacemen, Elgar told his team to “toughen up mentally, take responsibility and wear your big-boy pants”.

South Africa did fight back, but that first day had ultimately done too much damage. Their determination did, however, make them the most tenacious of opponents in the rest of the series and they pulled off a thoroughly unexpected series triumph.

It’s the sort of inspirational captaincy Elgar has now become famous for and he believes England’s newly-appointed skipper Ben Stokes will lead in similar vein when they host the Proteas in a Test series in August.

“I wouldn’t call it ‘stubborn’ captaincy but I’d say we are both f****** tough cricketers,” Elgar told The Citizen on Wednesday.

“It’s going to be a battle of feisty characters and Stokes is a world-class cricketer, and we know what he’s capable of because he’s done pretty well against us, albeit just as player.

“But as captain you need to get the best out of your players and it’s going to be interesting to see how he goes with the added responsibility.

“We play with our hearts on our sleeves because we always want to push for the win, but Test cricket comes down to who controls their emotions best. If you let them get the better of you, then the results generally don’t go your way,” Elgar said.

Elgar and Stokes are both left-handed batsmen, but their contrasting styles are very much the yin and yang of Test cricket.

Stokes is immensely strong and provides much attacking thrust to England’s middle-order, while Elgar, as an opening batsman, does not play with the same freedom but the time he spends at the crease can be equally draining for the opposition.

Both Stokes and Elgar have played 12 Tests since the start of 2021, with England’s new captain scoring just 633 runs at an average of 26.37.

Elgar, on the other hand, has been leading from the front since his appointment, with 881 runs at an average of 41.95.

“I don’t dwell too much on individual battles, my focus is on us as a team,” Elgar said. “And I haven’t had a lot of personal interaction with Ben, even though we have played against each other numerous times since an SA A series against the England Lions in 2015.”

South Africa are in firm control of the second Test against Bangladesh with the tourists needing the wee small matter of 386 more runs, having already lost three wickets, for an unlikely series-levelling victory as they head into the fourth day at St George’s Park.

Having quickly wrapped up the Bangladesh first innings for 217 in less than 20 minutes after lunch on Sunday, earning the Proteas a first-innings lead of 236, South Africa then declared on 176 for six to set the visitors a highly-unlikely 413 to win.

That task became even more daunting when left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj removed Mahmudul Hasan Joy with just the third ball of the innings, wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne parrying the catch to second slip Wiaan Mulder. Joy, having scored an epic century in the first Test, completed a pair in the second.

The delivery to dismiss Joy went straight on and bounced a bit more than expected, but in his second over, Maharaj ripped a delivery from outside off-stump into the pads of left-hander Nazmul Hossain Shanto and had him lbw for 7.

And then, on what became the last ball of the day, Simon Harmer obtained sharp turn and bounce, the ball coming off the shoulder of Tamim Iqbal’s defensive bat and looping to second slip. Tamim was out for 13 and Bangladesh were reeling on 27 for three at stumps.

Another solid, positive top-order display saw South Africa easily set up their declaration as they scored at 4.45 runs-per-over, calling time on the second innings in the 40^th over.

Sarel Erwee (41) and Dean Elgar (26) continued their effective opening partnership with a stand of 60 off just 69 balls, and Temba Bavuma (30) and Kyle Verreynne, with 39 not out off just 30 deliveries, both batted brightly.

Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam took three for 67 in 15 overs and fell just short of becoming the first Bangladeshi bowler to take 10 wickets in a Test against South Africa.

Bangladesh had started the third day on 139 for five in their first innings and Yasir Ali made a pugnacious start by hitting the first three balls of the morning, bowled by Lizaad Williams, to the boundary behind square on the off-side.

Yasir and an obstinate Mushfiqur Rahim added 60 for the sixth wicket but the Proteas attack don’t give up and Yasir was eventually caught-and-bowled by Maharaj for 46.

Just five minutes before lunch, Mushfiqur then played an ill-judged reverse-sweep against Harmer and was bowled for 51.

That opened the door for a collapse of four wickets for just seven runs after lunch, spinners Harmer and Maharaj taking three wickets in three overs.

Harmer finished with three for 39 in 10.2 overs and Maharaj claimed two for 57 in 24 overs, while the contributions of seamers Wiaan Mulder (13-7-25-3) and Duanne Olivier (15-4-39-2) should not be forgotten either.

South Africa may have collapsed to just 204 all out in their second innings, but the 69-run lead they had in the kitty has left Bangladesh with a stiff target to chase and the tourists’ batsmen will find no shelter from the Kingsmead pitch either as there is sharp turn on offer and the seamers are also posing challenges in the first Test in Durban.

Needing 274 for victory, Bangladesh had crashed to 11/3 at stumps on the fourth day on Sunday, as Proteas spinners Keshav Maharaj (3-0-7-2) and Simon Harmer (3-1-4-1) caused devastation to the top-order.

South Africa’s batting coach Justin Sammons unpacked the challenges their batsmen faced on Sunday, with conditions likely to only get tougher on Monday’s final day.

“The ball is gripping and it has turned more as the game as gone on. Against seam, the scoring rate is tough to get up if the bowlers hit those probing lengths, hitting straight is not going to give you much reward,” Sammons said.

“And there’s a bit of reverse swing on offer as well, which makes it really tricky. Bangladesh, with the lengths they hit, showed their skill and their ability to make the ball tail towards the end as well.

“Spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz bowled with great discipline and control as well. So we had to bat really well to get to 204.

“But if you dig in then it’s not the sort of pitch you will get blasted out on,” Sammons said.

Although the fading light prevented South Africa from using their pace bowlers with the new ball at the start of the Bangladesh innings, it will be interesting to see if the Proteas go with the successful Maharaj/Harmer combination first thing on Monday morning, or give Lizaad Williams and Duanne Olivier a burst with the shiny ball.

Sammons said there had been some talk about starting with one seamer and one spinner on Sunday afternoon.

Maharaj’s two wickets saw him go past fellow left-hander Paul Adams as the leading wicket-taker among South African spinners post-isolation, with 136 in 41 Tests at an average of 32.93.

Captain Dean Elgar again anchored South Africa’s batting effort as he completed half-centuries in both innings, with his 64 providing a great platform for the innings.

He and Keegan Petersen (36) combined for a 68-run second-wicket partnership, the biggest of the innings, while debutant Ryan Rickelton showed good composure under pressure as he scored 39 not out while wickets tumbled at the other end.

Offie Mehidy (35-6-85-3) and fast bowler Ebadot Hossain (13-1-40-3) combined most effectively with the ball for Bangladesh. Taskin Ahmed, who had to periodically go off the field to have a shoulder injury treated, chipped in manfully with 2/24 in 11 overs.

The umpires insisting that South Africa only use slow bowlers at the start of the Bangladesh second innings due to bad light turned out to be a most welcome development as Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer sent the tourists crashing to 11/3 on the fourth day of the first Test at Kingsmead on Sunday.

Bangladesh are chasing 274 for victory after the Proteas crashed from 116/1 to 204 all out, but the spinners have done terrible damage to their cause. There were some mutters about the South African quicks not being able to use the new ball as late afternoon sun shone brightly over the pitch, but only six overs were able to be bowled anyway before bad light was declared.

Harmer made the first incision when he removed Shadman Islam (0) with his second ball, Keegan Petersen taking a sharp catch at slip, and then Maharaj struck two devastating blows in the fifth over.

First-innings centurion Mahmudul Hasan Joy (4) played down the wrong line and was late in closing the gate as Maharaj speared a delivery into his stumps, and four balls later, captain Mominul Haque (2) got into an awful tangle trying to play the left-arm spinner off the back foot. The left-handed batsman actually got his bat stuck behind his left leg as the ball turned into his right pad and he was given out lbw.

South Africa’s innings was a wobbly affair as they resumed on 6/0 with a 69-run first-innings lead.

Openers Dean Elgar and Sarel Erwee (8) survived a testing first hour and put on 48 for the first wicket before Erwee was trapped lbw by the fast bowler Ebadot Hossain, jagging the ball back into the left-hander.

Elgar and Keegan Petersen added a further 68 for the second wicket and South Africa had built a wonderful platform when they reached 116/1. But Taskin Ahmed, who was struggling with a shoulder injury, trapped Elgar lbw in similar fashion on 64, and Petersen (36) fell to spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz soon afterwards, a lack of pace off the pitch may have been why he gave short-leg a catch.

Amazing catches by Yasir Ali at slip and Shadman Islam at silly point accounted for Temba Bavuma (4) and Kyle Verreynne (6) and gave Ebadot and Mehidy another wicket each.

Although Ryan Rickelton scored a well-disciplined 39 not out, the rest of the batting fell away, including two runs outs. Substitute Nurul Hasan’s direct hit from the cover boundary to catch Simon Harmer (11) short was also a wonderful piece of fielding.

Mehidy took 3/85 in 35 overs, while the feisty Ebadot finished with 3/40 in 13 overs.