Will cricket wonders never cease?
Spinners claim all 10 wickets for the Proteas - and other musings from Durban
Fading light. Men in helmets crouched all around the bat. Close-in slips answering yelped pleas to ‘KETCHIT!’. Pads being rapped. Fingers going up. Fists clenched and pumped. Batsmen bewitched, then shown the door. The spinners are wreaking havoc.
Warnie and the gang at the Sydney Cricket Ground in the 90s? Murali in his pomp, leading another home triumph in Colombo? Ashwin and company turning England inside out on some Indian dustbowl?
You’d think so, but no. You had to rub your eyes to double-check both the players and the stage. Yes, it was Kingsmead. In Durban. And the spinners for whom the batsmen had no answer? They weren’t from the Asian side on the field. They were South African.
Yeah, it’s been a Test match worth talking about.
The soundtrack to yesterday evening’s little power session by Dean Elgar’s men, during which Bangladesh collapsed to 11/3 at stumps, is not at all unfamiliar for South African cricket followers. It’s just that they’re used to hearing it in the context of their own batting side scratching about on the road to defeat. Almost always away from home. Often at ungodly hours. For me, having grown up at the height of the Warne era, the unique blend of thuds, shuffles and shrieks that comes with many players around the stump mic stirs uncomfortable memories of hopeless night vigils.
But even for the casual observer of Test cricket, what a refreshing change it was to see South African bowlers spinning a web in their own land – and against subcontinental opposition too. When they finished off Bangladesh in less than an hour this morning, it represented the only time South Africa ever managed to bowl a side out using only two bowlers. Never mind two spinners. This was genuinely unthinkable stuff five days ago.
Obviously, much of the credit for that must go to the grounds staff at Kingsmead. It wasn’t the wicket Elgar wanted – and even after today’s win he said this “wasn’t the style of cricket we want to play” – but it was like a breath of fresh air from the Indian Ocean if you were watching the game. A Test, let’s not forget, that still went to day five. On a pitch where seamers also had success. Yet on which centuries (and nineties…) could be scored.
I’m happy enough to let rip when it comes to Durban. The ‘bad light’ issues that no one seems to want to do anything about. The fact that nobody comes to watch, even if it’s Boxing Day. South Africa’s sorry record at Kingsmead. But at last, the Dolphins folk can point to a positive. And maybe it’s one they could build on. How about Durban becoming South Africa’s anomalous spinning track, just like the SCG used to be? That could sell a few tickets – or at least get some televisions turned on. And hey, you can play a little bit longer past 4pm if the spinners are bowling anyway…
Elgar: ‘I’m glad we collapsed.’
Dean Elgar is one of the more enjoyably forthright skippers on the world stage. He’ll often give you something to think about. And he didn’t disappoint in the press conference following the win. While Bangladesh’s captain was formulating some version of ‘taking the positives in defeat’, Elgar offered a novel take on one of South Africa’s sketchier moments: his team’s batting collapse on the fourth afternoon.
“I’m glad it happened,” reflected Elgar. “We were lacking intensity there, and a lot of guys need to wake up and realise that Test cricket demands intensity, whether you have bat or ball in hand. You have to be assertive. Whether it’s body language or even running between the wickets, you can always set a level of intensity.
“It was definitely not a bad thing that it happened like that. Just to expose the guys to that kind of level, of where they were maybe lacking or can be a lot better. We have to be mindful of the inexperience of certain players – there was a guy [Lazaad Williams] on Test debut as well. It’s about exposing guys to that kind of scenario given the style of cricket that we want to play going forward.”
However Elgar and his charges fare going forward – and let’s remember he can’t control the availability of his stars – nobody will be able to say he didn’t have a clear plan and wasn’t looking at the bigger picture.
South Africa’s new spin twins?
In a nation where fast bowlers are still king, it’s an enormous leap to think playing two spinners might become a regular option for South Africa in home Tests. That said, the selection announcement for the match in Gqeberha later this week will be compelling.
Though there is no reason to suspect that St George’s Park will turn like Kingsmead did, the fact remains that South Africa’s best quicks are away at the IPL. Without that reality, it’s entirely possible that only Keshav Maharaj would have played in Durban. Letting Simon Harmer line up alongside him – half a career after his last Test appearance, let’s not forget – may have been seen as bold last week, but turned out to be a masterstroke. Quite apart from the favourable conditions, and quite apart from Harmer’s own contributions with bat and ball, Maharaj has already credited the almost unrecognisably improved Harmer for his input in this match, the first time they had ever played on the same team. Elgar, too, only just stopped himself from suggesting it was a ‘rocket’ for Maharaj. Given that the seamer cupboard remains bare and the opportunity for this spin partnership to gel further, the temptation to pick them both again must be strong.
On top of that, this is a rare opportunity for South Africa to build on a successful opening Test, rather than having to re-think and fight back from behind, like they did against India. Picking the same side will send the right message that starting strong only leads to more good things.
Beware the Tigers
Despite the swift end to proceedings today, Bangladesh deserve their fair share of the Durban gate, paltry though it may be. Last time they played in South Africa, in 2017, they came as minnows and were defeated as expected. (You may recall that series as the one in which Aiden Markram made his name.) This Bangladesh side is not like that. This one offers an intriguing mix of resilience and nothing-to-lose flamboyance.
South Africa knew they were in for as much of a challenge in the Tests as they faced in the limited-overs series. Their visitors had sent out a strong signal of their newfound red ball capabilities on the road with their shock victory in New Zealand just a few weeks ago. And despite what ended up being a big victory margin on paper, they more than lived up to the billing at Kingsmead.
Just as they did in that Mount Maunganui triumph, the Tigers showed a refusal to lie down that has ongoing Test success written all over it. Remember how hard South Africa had to battle to knock them over in the first innings, despite early inroads? It was strongly reminiscent of how the Kiwis kept expecting to open up an end in their first bowl, but instead found a batting side that insisted on building a partnership for nearly every wicket. If you can make it feel like every pair is going to put on 30 or 50, and ‘one brings two’ doesn’t seem to be working so well, you’ve found a fine way to torture a bowling side.
Bangladesh have also shown an impressive capacity to learn fast. Consider how they bounced back from a dreadfully poor opening session with the ball on the first day. The same thing happened in the second half of their aforementioned first innings, as Mahmudul Hasan Joy found his trio of lower-order partners willing to escort him to a fabulous 137.
The ability to adjust and improve your plan, attitude, or both, between sessions suggests coaches who are doing their jobs. If that’s the case, hats off to the visitors’ (mostly South African) backroom staff. Write this side off in the next Test at your peril.
Looking at the bigger picture for the tourists, you get the feeling this is a well-drilled, world-beating side that needs only to iron out the occasional moment that harks back to its ‘minnow’ past. They have the same brilliant, ultra-professional moments every team has – but there’s still the occasional village overthrow popping up too. We saw it at times in Durban, but less so than in their at-times farcical display at Christchurch, where they got pounded in the Test following Mount Maunganui.
All of this – plus Ebadot Hossain’s salutes, of course – is what makes Bangladesh compelling to watch at this stage in its history. Let’s hope the people of Gqeberha turn up in droves for the second round of this absorbing fight.
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