Last Updated on 2 minutes ago by Charbel Coorey
South Africa face a massive fight to save the first Test against Australia in Durban. The hosts finished day four in trouble at 102/4, still 319 adrift of the 421-run target.
More realistic is the time needed to bat for a draw. The Proteas have produced some fabulous reguard actions over the past 15 years – most notably Faf du Plessis and co. in Adelaide in 2012 – but this batting group still has a bit to prove despite their status as World Test Champions.
Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Stubbs are under pressure with the likes of Marques Ackerman waiting for an opportunity. Rickelton managed just two runs in the Test, while Stubbs’ dismissals also left plenty to be desired. The former was late on a pull shot last evening while Stubbs drove loosely close to stumps.
Kyle Verreynne is another player in need of a solid contribution. There is the option of handing Rickelton the wicket-keeping gloves and shifting him down the order for future Tests.
Keshav Maharaj speaks on South Africa’s batting in Durban
Keshav Maharaj says there is a sense of frustration at the nature of the dismissals in this Test. The Durban pitch has largely been good for batting, but no South African batsman has reached a half-century yet despite multiple scores above 30.
“Guys are a bit frustrated,” Maharaj said at the post-day conference, as quoted by Cricinfo. “It’s probably going to hurt a little bit, but we know that we have the bouncebackability, and capabilities to get back to where we want to be as a batting unit.
“If you look at a lot of our dismissals, it’s probably self-imposed and maybe shot selection [could have been different]. Maybe it’s the transition from white-ball skills where you want the ball to come on to the bat would be what led to some of the dismissals rather than it being good bowling. Without disrespecting anything, we gave a couple of soft wickets.”
The Proteas can still escape and head to Gqeberha with the series locked at 0-0. It’d be a terrific scenario for the hosts given they’ve been outplayed since day one in Durban and are set to have Kagiso Rabada back on deck for the second Test.
However, there is so much work to do. Aiden Markram holds the key as he has batted 115 deliveries. He and Wiaan Mulder have a vital role to play in the first session against an older ball. Get to lunch four down, and South Africa’s belief will grow.
But, the Durban pitch has been playing more tricks, with Nathan Lyon and wicket-taker Matt Renshaw extracting turn. A few deliveries have also misbehaved off the track as Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins in particular have looked threatening.
South Africa will have to channel some of the “blockathon” spirit that the likes of du Plessis, AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla have shown over the years. But who will be able to execute such a plan and put their names up in lights?
Time will tell.
