Good workout by Test hopefuls
● When they say a week is a long time, this rings especially true for the South Africa A cricket team.
Having lost the opening game against India A in Thiruvananthapuram after two batting failures (164 and 186 against 303), they bounced back this week with a creditable draw in the second four-day game in Mysore.
Having put the Indians in, the hosts scored 417, from where the visitors responded with 400 on the back on Aiden Markram’s 161 and Wiaan Mulder’s undefeated 131. India then made the game safe with 209/3 in their second innings.
India A may have won the series, but batting time was a necessity for Test players Markram, Theunis de Bruyn and Zubayr Hamza.
In the opening game, Markram (nought and four) and Hamza (13 and 44) didn’t do well. Hamza didn’t play in Mysore, but Markram and De Bruyn got stuck in.
All-rounder Mulder though emerged as the star of the red-ball series with scores of 21, 46 and 131 not out, batting at seven to finish as the series' top-run scorer.
Time in the middle is critical
De Bruyn and Markram are critical toporder batting cogs. They were part of the batting unit that malfunctioned in Sri Lanka last year, even though De Bruyn scored a maiden Test ton in Colombo.
Former Proteas batsman and current Cape Cobras coach Ashwell Prince, who was at Cricket SA’s spin camp in India recently, said the crease-time Markram and De Bruyn earned was critical for them.
South Africa have a warm-up game against the India Board President XI in Vizianagaram starting on Thursday, with the first Test in Visakhapatnam on October 2.
“I’m really happy for Aiden because he’s in the Test squad and it’s critical that the Test batsmen go into the series with confidence and runs under the belt,” Prince said.
“Opening partnerships are critical in the subcontinent, so him and Dean Elgar will play a crucial role in setting in the tone when the Test series starts.”
Another significant part of the runs made by De Bruyn and Markram was the tempo at which they were scored.
De Bruyn’s strike rate was a healthy 75.92/100 balls while Markram’s was 63.63/100 balls. With India possessing a potent all-round bowling attack, the transfer of pressure is important.
Prince understands the significance of measured aggression in Asia: “Batting against the new ball is the best time to bat in Asia and there will be higher strike rates against the new ball. When the ball gets softer with the pitch turning more, it gets progressively harder to bat with intent.”