Alarmingly inconsistent batting continues to haunt the Proteas as they fight to save Test
LONDON: South African captain Faf du Plessis said before this Test he wasn’t concerned at the lack of hundreds from his batsmen in the past four and half matches, citing green pitches as an excuse. That may just be an attempt by the captain to take the pressure off his batsmen – but it’s not worked in this match.
With the exception of Temba Bavuma, whose temperament and technique have made him an important cog in the middle order, Quinton de Kock, whose contributions from the No 7 position often pulled the side out of the mire last summer, and Dean Elgar, whose resilience has been allied to consistency in the last 18 months, South Africa’s batting can’t be said to be secure.
They’ve tried to change openers – Elgar’s had five different opening partners in the last 22 Tests – shifted around the middle order, moved from seven front-line batsmen to six in this series and now shifted De Kock from No 7 to No 4 to try and solve the problem with that inconsistency, but nothing’s worked.
The fact is: Whoever becomes South Africa’s next coach has an enormous task on his hands to fix the team’s batting which has been alarmingly inconsistent over the last two years.
In India in 2015 it was easy to explain away the problems given the raging turners prepared for two of the Tests there. It was also a long tour, and the South Africans were simply worn down.
There’s been some bad selection – Stiaan van Zyl was retained far too long as an opener – while JP Duminy was given a few too many chances. Of course the natural question to ask is, who in domestic cricket can be picked, and in truth both of those options – Theunis de Bruyn and Aiden Markram – are already in this squad. As is Heino Kuhn, the form batsmen on the domestic scene in the last two years.
South Africa have struggled to notch up big totals in the last couple of years going past 400 only six times in 22 Tests – two of those coming against Sri Lanka at home last summer.
England’s bowlers deserve credit for the accuracy and consistency they’ve shown here. They kept Hashim Amla in a vice-like grip throughout his 49 minute stay at the crease yesterday, relentlessly attacking his off-stump, although as Graeme Smith pointed out on radio commentary, he didn’t feel that South Africa’s most experienced player was assertive enough.
Kuhn’s jumping around too much, Amla’s under pressure because he’s usually arriving at the crease too early, while De Kock is growing accustomed his new position and Du Plessis has shouldered arms to two straight balls in this Test.
While the decision to utilise De Kock at No 4 on the surface seems a good one, it may be one spot too high in the order given he will be exposed to fresh bowlers and a harder ball, all while carrying a heavy workload as the wicketkeeper.
In this Test he’s been dismissed twice when aiming to hit the full moving ball to midwicket, closing the face and in the first innings getting caught in the gully off the leading edge while in the second dig yesterday he was bowled by Ben Stokes. If Elgar (72*) and Bavuma (16*) Bavuma pull off a dramatic rescue act, they’ll be celebrated, but that doesn’t mean South Africa’s batting foibles would have been solved.