Proteas’ misfiring top-order need to up game markedly

THE blindfolds were on. The rifles had been loaded. The trigger just needed to be pulled, and South Africa’s innings, and probably their hopes of survival in the second Test in Wellington, would have been extinguished.

But in almost fairytale fashion the Proteas found two saviours in the form of Quinton de Kock (91 off 18 balls, 10x4, 3x6) and Temba Bavuma (89 off 160 balls, 9x4) who rescued the day, and possibly the series, by swinging their blades with a huge amount of skill and power.

De Kock was the chief aggressor, but the accuracy of shot of Bavuma during their 160- run partnership in only 38.4 overs of destruction needs to be appreciated too. It meant South Africa closed the day on 349/9 after having been 94/6 at the lunch break.

“We knew the pressure was on us. The mindset was to somehow shift the pressure onto them. I didn’t want to get bogged down, so the only way forward that I knew was to play my natural game,” De Kock said. “I was obviously a little bit more aggressive than usual, but it was something that needed to be done.”

Their performances of the duo are to be lauded, but if the Proteas are to win this Test and ultimately the series – and there are no assurances that that will actually happen – then the men coming before them will need to improve their performances dramatically.

Successful Test sides are formed around the strength of their top-order batsmen. To expect to win Test matches from 94/6 on a consistent basis is foolhardy.

The chilling reality is that the top-order’s failures are not only limited to Wellington. Last week in Dunedin the Proteas were also reduced to 22/3 and 39/2 at the University Oval before Dean Elgar donned his superhero cape in both innings.

There was some relief in the familiar conditions of home against a lacklustre Sri Lankan attack, but this only partially papered over the cracks that had appeared during the earlier Australian series.

South Africa were 81/5 in the first innings in Perth, followed by 76/4 in Hobart and 117/5 in the day-night Test in Adelaide. All of this has meant that the Proteas have only passed 400 on only one occasion – the massive 540 in the Waca second innings when Elgar and JP Duminy struck vital centuries – in eight innings on foreign soil this past season.

The fact that South Africa have lost just one Test from seven starts – not including this on-going Wellington battle – is a credit to the lower-order resilience. We have seen individuals contributing at crucial junctures lower down, and of course there has been the brilliance of the Proteas attack.

Captain Faf du Plessis acknowledged it was an issue within the team in the build-up to this second Test, and would not have been pleased with yet another failure from the team’s senior batsmen.

“As a batting unit we have been good at stepping up; different guys in different series. There has been a hundred in every innings that we have played but for me we haven’t had that consistency that I often ask for from the batsmen,” the skipper explained.

“One hundred in a series from each guy is not enough, it’s about raising the consistency bar. In every series, we rely on two batters to make a play in the top six, that needs to be better, we need four out of the six batters firing.”

The natural inclination would be too change the personnel, with especially opener Stephen Cook and JP Duminy under increasing pressure to find some form of consistency if they hope to continue in their crucial positions.

Likewise, a senior player like Hashim Amla will know that a batsman of his stature, class and experience cannot be satisfied with a luminous century littered between strings of disappointments.

However, the answer may not lie in getting the guillotine out right now with only three innings remaining in this Test series. Instead the Proteas’ brains trust must hope that, like De Kock and Bavuma did yesterday, the challenge is embraced.

● Australia all- rounder Glenn Maxwell doubted whether he would play Test cricket again but he is now looking to emulate his captain Steve Smith, the 28-year-old said yesterday.

Australia compiled a series- high 451 in their first innings in the third Test, with India reaching 120/1 at the close on the second day.

Mitchell Marsh’s shoulder injury ahead of the third Test in Ranchi opened an unlikely door for Maxwell, who had played the last of his three Tests in the United Arab Emirates in 2014. Australia’s limited-overs specialist grabbed the opportunity with both hands, swopping pyrotechnics for patience to register his maiden Test century.

“I didn’t want to waste the opportunity, didn’t want to make it my last Test, that’s for sure,” Maxwell told reporters after scoring 104 and featuring in a series-high 191-run partnership with Smith.

Maxwell, nicknamed “The Big Show”, has become a key part of Australia’s limited- overs sides, but many people believed he lacked the temperament to succeed in Test cricket.

“I was in a place where I doubted whether I’d play Test cricket again, whether I’d have a chance to put the cap back on,” he said.

He celebrated his return in style and looked overwhelmed after bringing up his hundred, embracing Smith in a bearhug and kissing the badge on the helmet.

“I thought about it all night. I went through about 300 to 400 different scenarios that could’ve happened the next day, most of them weren’t good,” he said. “So much emotion fell out of me as soon as I got that hundred. Even thinking about it now I’ve got a frog in my throat.”

Maxwell knew he would have to transform himself if he were to nail down the number six spot and he drew inspiration from his captain who is now the team’s batting mainstay. “When he came into the team, he was a leg-spinning all-rounder batting at eight or nine. So what a turnaround he’s had.

“I know that’s a long way off, but I’d love to be able to follow in his footsteps and change my career from what I started as as well.”