Towering Theunis alone against spin
Of all the facts and figures that will swirl into the consciousness in the wake of SA crashing to another comprehensive defeat in Sri Lanka‚ one matters most.
Theunis de Bruyn faced only 61 fewer deliveries in SA’s second innings in Colombo than all his teammates combined.
It matters less that slow leftarmer Rangana Herath took 6/98‚ and less that Sri Lanka won by 199 runs with a day and more to spare.
Even less that SA have now lost just three of their past 19 series on the road‚ going back almost 11 years.
It is more important that all of those reversals have happened in less than three years‚ but De Bruyn’s feat still towers. “He showed it’s possible to get runs in these conditions‚” Faf du Plessis said after the Sri Lankans wrapped up their win inside an hour after lunch on Monday.
Runs? They’re not nearly as important as balls faced for batsmen in the subcontinent.
De Bruyn made 101‚ his maiden century in his 12th Test innings. Four deliveries after reaching his century with a tickled four to fine leg offHerath‚ De Bruyn shouldered arms to a ball that left the bowler’s hand looking like it would turn away from the right-hander and gave no hint as it travelled through the air that it would not.
But it did not zig after pitching. Instead it zagged towards De Bruyn‚ whose bat remained high and mighty even as the clatter behind him told him‚ rudely‚ his day was done.
Earlier‚ De Bruyn was the epitome of the patience and discipline SA have sorely lacked.
He did not play in the first Test in Galle‚ but of those who did Dean Elgar and Temba Bavuma showed that they had‚ in the modern player’s phrase‚ “taken learnings”: Elgar was there for 80 balls in the second innings and Bavuma for 98.
De Bruyn? He faced 232. / The Blitzboks cannot be accused of choking‚ especially in light of the way they won the World Series for a third time earlier in 2018. But their semifinal elimination against England at the World Cup in San Francisco on Sunday was an uncharacteristically poor performance.
However the Blitzboks bounced back from their 29-7 loss to England, which denied them a place in the World Cup final for the first time since 1997, with a stirring bronze medal win over Fiji.
The Blitzboks were back to their best in the 24-19 victory after a badly timed slump against England.
The quest for World Cup glory, though, will have to wait four more years.
New Zealand‚ as they often do in big tournaments‚ won the Melrose Cup 33-12 against England‚ to add to their Commonwealth Games gold medal.
But for SA it was a case of what might have been. Neil Powell’s team went into the semifinal high on confidence after resounding wins over Ireland (45-7) and Scotland (36-5).
They started strongly against England, with Selvyn Davids scoring first to give SA a 7-0 lead. But the number one seeds crashed out through a catalogue of errors‚ which England ruthlessly punished.
They were beaten at the breakdown and while they appeared to be on the wrong side of some 50-50 calls‚ there was no doubt the Blitzboks were second best.
It was a poor performance‚ perhaps one of the worst this season‚ in their 69th game over nine months.
SA were starved of possession and as a result were stressed on defence‚ allowing England to score five tries.
“If you can’t get your hands on the ball, you are always going to be on the wrong side of the result‚” Powell said.
“We conceded three penalties at rucks that led to turnovers for England and they made us pay from those mistakes. If you don’t hang on to your ball, you are going to suffer.”
Powell said the team were happy with the medal‚ although not the colour.
“What is most pleasing for me is the fact that‚ after that disappointment against England‚ we came out firing against Fiji and outplayed them to finish the season on a very strong performance‚” Powell said. /