THE THIRD TEST PLAYS
BLOEM BONE COLLECTOR
He finished with 24 wickets, brutalised poor Azhar Ali (dismissing him four times) and claimed three ‘five-fors.’ “It’s nice to have a guy who can bowl at serious pace, there is good skill in that he can get steep bounce off a good length and ultimately it was assisted by the wickets we play on. It’s scary at times to see him bowling at 140 plus and skimming passed the guys’ helmets, its intimidating but good that he’s in your side.” – Dean Elgar on Duanne Olivier, pictured, the Man of the Series.
DIFFERENCE MAKER
Quinton de Kock, according to Mickey Arthur anyway. “Both batting units have battled in this series, the difference has been Quinton de Kock at seven. He played some unbelievable matchchanging innings, he was exceptional in the first innings at Centurion, and then came in here in a difficult situation and got a hundred.” De Kock finished as the top run-scorer in the series with 251 runs.
GRITTY RUNS
Temba Bavuma and Hashim Amla came in for high praise from the Proteas coach Ottis Gibson for their efforts. Neither scored a hundred in the series, but their half-centuries came at critical times. It is the way it will be for the South African batsmen, who are happy to sacrifice ego and averages if the team wins.
KEEPING UP
De Kock’s catch of Babar Azam was the 17th dismissal by the wicket-keeper in the third Test, setting a new record for dismissals by keepers in a single Test match. De Kock finished the match with seven catches and Sarfraz Ahmed 10, which was a new record for Pakistan in the Test arena.
SON OF A PITCH
There’s been a lot of talk about pitches in this series. “I’m all for home ground advantage, all you want is consistent bounce, the wicket can have as much grass on as you want, but consistent bounce is the key. We saw certainly at Centurion and in Cape Town there was inconsistent bounce on day one. I don’t mind it on day four, that’s a normal Test wicket, but the shouldn’t be inconsistent bounce on day one.” – Mickey Arthur. The Wanderers, was hard, but bounce was more consistent for the most part and there were far fewer complaints from both teams about the pitch for the third Test.
FORGOTTEN MAN
South Africa’s second highest wicket-taker in Test cricket last year was relegated to drinks carrier in the last two Tests. “Keshav understands where we are going and understands his role in the bigger picture of the Proteas at the moment. His turn will come. Durban and PE are places that spinners generally come into the equation more than here,” said Ottis Gibson. So Maharaj will start against Sri Lanka. Maybe, if the pitches aren’t made green.