Woesful batting puts Proteas on back foot
2ND TEST, DAY 2 South Africa 222 and 128 Sri Lanka 154 and 60/2
ANOTHER day, another dreary batting display by the Proteas.
It’s a good thing the next Test they’re scheduled to play is only in October. It’s not a good thing that next Test is in India, where the batting crumbled in 2015.
It also can’t be a good thing that many of the concerns about South Africa’s World Cup prospects are about the batting.
But the World Cup can wait. So can India.
There is a Test to be completed in Port Elizabeth and a series that needs saving, and for that the South African team must once more lean on their bowlers.
It’s been thus for too long, and for that there are a number of reasons; pitches prepared solely to aid South Africa’s quicks, poor technique (the result of trying to adjust to those difficult pitches), a lack of confidence among the batsmen, bad selection, a batting coach who can’t seem to correct the faults, and opposition bowlers who’ve thrived in conditions they hardly ever get to see at home.
Sri Lanka bowled well again yesterday, the second day of the second Test. But well enough to roll South Africa for 128 in 44.3 overs in the second innings? Certainly not. In fact, 18 wickets fell on the second day, and for the most part it was down to some very bad batting.
The Proteas are in the midst of a terrible batting slump that hasn’t been helped by playing on pitches which heavily favour seam bowling when they play sides from the sub-continent.
The confidence is shot; Dean Elgar is having trouble locating his off-stump; Hashim Amla actually got a start on Friday but failed to turn it into something substantial; Temba Bavuma – playing at No 4 again – frittered about for 49 minutes to make six; Aiden Markram lobbed a half volley to midwicket; and Quinton de Kock, the side’s most in-form player, couldn’t decide whether to attack or defend, did neither and gave an easy catch back to the bowler.
Only Faf du Plessis stuck it out, made 50 not out and gave his side a semblance of a chance.
Suranga Lakmal’s accuracy and cunning saw him rewarded with four wickets, while Dhananjaya de Silva’s part-time off-spin was too crafty for Amla, debutant Wiaan Mulder and Dale Steyn.
Needing 197 runs to become the first Asian team to win a series in South Africa, Sri Lanka’s openers, Dimuth Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimane started confidently, adding 32, before Kagiso Rabada had the latter caught behind, playing away from his body for 10. The Sri Lankan captain then fell to Duanne Olivier’s first delivery, getting sucked into a shot to a ball angling across him which he could only edge behind to De Kock.
Oshada Fernando and Kusal Mendis saw the tourists through to the close without further damage and they will return today needing just 137 runs for a historic series win.
They must certainly not play with the devil-may-care approach they showed in the first innings.
They were for the most part too loose and allowed the South Africans to take a 68-run lead on the first innings.
Rabada finished with four wickets, Olivier three, Keshav Maharaj one and there was a maiden Test wicket for Mulder, which came with a lovely delivery that seamed away off the surface and found the outside edge of De Silva’s bat. Niroshan Dickwella’s fortuitous 42 was Sri Lanka’s top score.
But they were then able to take advantage of South Africa’s horror show to leave themselves on the cusp of what will be one of the greatest achievements in Sri Lankan cricket today.