Lyon looks to maintain edge over Elgar in Cape Town

IF you are looking for an example of the difference between the best and worst of Nathan Lyon’s career, South Africa opener Dean Elgar is as good as any.

One of Elgar’s highlights is the 127 he scored against Australia at the WACA in 2016, helping the visitors complete a come-from-behind Test victory. Lyon recorded innings figures of 0-146, the worst of his 76-Test career.

The off-spinner was low on confidence and on the cusp of being dropped, his cause not helped by a batting order that repeatedly collapsed in a fiveTest losing streak.

Fast forward to now and Lyon is creating apprehension in the mind of Elgar, having caught and bowled the batsman twice in this series.

“I don’t know what he’s trying to do, hitting me through square leg twice . . . I bowled five balls and got him out twice,” he said. “But I also I bowled 20 overs in the first innings (of the second Test) and couldn’t get him out once.”

Elgar is worried about the nature of his dismissals to Lyon but also the fact they have come in the tweaker’s first over of the innings. “I’ve handled it quite crap,” he said.

The four-Test series, tied at 1-1, continues in Cape Town tomorrow.

The world’s leading Test wicket-taker in 2017 suggested he would take confidence out of the final innings of the second Test.

The 30-year-old dismissed Elgar and A.B. de Villiers as the Proteas, chasing a target of 101, completed a six-wicket win in Port Elizabeth.

“There are a couple of little things that we can hopefully put into play for a certain number of their top-order batsmen,” Lyon said.