Poor Proteas bat themselves into a hole
DURBAN: Hashim Amla, who top-scored with 53, acknowledged that South Africa’s first-day total of 236/8 in the first Test against New Zealand was “not a great position to be in on a standard Kingsmead pitch”.
“A number of us got in and unfortunately we didn’t capitalise on our starts and go on and get us a bigger total,” he said.
“Test cricket is all about getting big hundreds and we didn’t achieve that. We had some good batting spells but we weren’t able to build on them.”
Amla congratulated the Kiwi pace bowlers, saying their early spells had made it difficult for the South African openers, who resisted for the first hour.
He refused to lay the blame for a modest score on the conditions.
“We know that big totals don’t come easy at Kingsmead. There may be a time when a ball has your number on it, but we were unable to get through and make it big.
“Sometimes we had to grind it out, while at other times we were able to score freely, but nobody really built on their starts.”
Amla, who modestly said he thrived on a succession of bad balls in his innings, didn’t exempt himself from blame, saying he could have “covered” Trent Boult’s wicket-taking delivery more effectively.
Talking about Quinton de Kock’s run-a-ball 33, Amla would only say that the lefthander was a naturally aggressive batsman and that he played better that way.
“If he hadn’t got out, we might have been in a very good position at the end of play. Sometimes you are going to get out playing that way. As he gets more experience, he’ll work out what the better (shot-selection) options are. He gave our innings momentum but unfortunately he wasn’t able to see it through.”
The Proteas may have enjoyed an inspirational “culture camp” to get the team back on the rails after damaging series defeats against India and England, but their batting still has a flakiness that needs to be addressed.
The opening day of South Africa’s first “winter Test” was surprisingly entertaining, albeit in front of a tiny crowd of just over 2 000, but the Proteas will regret a number of soft dismissals against a disciplined but far from formidable New Zealand attack.
A total of 236/8 in largely batsman-friendly conditions was disappointing as the Kingsmead pitch played remarkably well on a sunny day in which 77.4 of the 90 overs were bowled after play started half an hour late because of a damp outfield.
If just one of the top-order batsmen had gone on to compile a century, the Proteas may have been satisfied with a decent day’s work after they had won the toss.
Amla, who struck 10 flashing boundaries in his delightful fifty, and JP Duminy – promoted to No 4 to maintain the left-right combination – featured in a half-century partnership before Duminy flapped at a short delivery from Neil Wagner and topedged the ball to long leg.
And that was basically that.
New Zealand still have to bat, but they can congratulate themselves on a good start to their attempt to win a first Test series in South Africa.