You score 100 off 180 balls, not vice versa
PROTEAS captain Faf du Plessis is adamant his team has not suddenly morphed into bad players of spin overnight, despite the Proteas losing badly in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle, or on the basis they were trounced 3-0 by India on their last tour of the subcontinent.
He believes with greater application the visitors can turn around their performances to record a first victory at the SSC ground in Colombo in 25 years, in the match starting today.
“I don’t think we are a team that plays spin badly,” he said. “If you look back and make references where we have had good series against spinners, spin is not something we mentally struggle with. There was a carelessness about our batting in Galle.
“We just need a change of mindset as to what we need to do to score runs. You don’t get to the subcontinent and try and score 100 in 70 balls or so – you score 100 off 180 balls.
“That is the only difference we need to make while still being positive and making sure you make the right decision when good balls are bowled.”
The Galle International Stadium and the SSC could not be more contrasting venues. The former, a picturesque setting alongside the Indian coastline with the historic fort tower overlooking it, while the latter beats to the drone of the capital’s non-stop traffic in its bustling diplomatic district.
But yet for all its aesthetic differences, the exact same challenge awaits the Proteas in the second Test. Confronted with a trial by spin in Galle, masterminded by two crafty operators Rangana Herath and Dilruwan Perera, the visitors fell embarrassingly short.
There were a myriad of reasons for the Faf du Plessis’s team’s abject failure in Galle, but none of it will be excusable if the Proteas don’t markedly improve over the next five days.
And that’s possibly the major factor if South Africa are to achieve success – they simply have to be patient, and try stretch the game out for as long as possible.
“The thing that let us down in the first Test was that we didn’t trust our defence well enough,” Proteas captain Faf du Plessis said. “The important part of playing spin in Test cricket is trusting your defence.
“We need to put pressure back on the spinners, with what you are doing. The guys have worked really hard on their game plan and trying to be positive against spin. You have to also trust your defence – so that’s two parts.
“Trusting their defence was the difference between Sri Lanka and us. Especially, Dimuth Karunaratne, who didn’t take too many risks. He just played with good defence. As a captain, I wanted him to take risks but he didn’t take risks.
“He only started hitting the ball on the air when he was something like 80.”
The batsmen accounted for a cumulative 199 runs, and spent only 28.2 overs in the second innings at the crease, prompting the brainstrust to look closely at lengthening the batting line-up to seven.
Theunis de Bruyn and Heinrich Klaasen are the back-up batsmen on the tour, and although Klaasen was arguably the lone batsman to show great skill and courage in attacking the Indian spinners during the past limited-overs series’ at home, it is most likely that De Bruyn will be handed a crack at Herath and Co.
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