Jonny shows he’s a keeper
Safe hands of Bairstow steady England
JONNY Bairstow accepted before this third test that his wicketkeeping was a ‘work in progress’ but he was near flawless yesterday on another day that ended with England just about having their noses in front.
the sloppiness of Cape town that proved so costly to alastair Cook’s men was replaced with a much-improved performance in the field as south africa fought hard to keep a grip on the No1 ranked test status that has been slipping away.
at the centre of it was Bairstow, whose ability with the gloves has appeared below that needed at the highest level and certainly inferior to the batting that has seen him finally establish himself as a test-class performer in this series.
Yet this could be the day that Bairstow arrived as a test keeper just as Cape town was the venue where he showed, with his maiden century, that he could be more than just a temporary replacement for Jos Buttler.
Bairstow caught the first four wickets of the innings, which only Jack russell has done before for England. None could be described as difficult, but they set the tone for a fielding display that was encapsulated by a brilliant piece of keeping by the Yorkshireman to run out temba Bavuma.
and with alex Hales and Moeen ali taking chances in the deep, this was much more like England’s ashes fielding rather than the efforts of Cape town that saw 10 chances missed and trevor Bayliss’s blood boil.
only when Ben stokes just failed to cling on to a difficult chance offered by Chris Morris off the second new ball did England suffer a relapse of the catching virus that was almost as virulent as the sickness bug that hit them in Cape town.
Cook said before play that some of his players had to be dragged from
their ‘death beds’ to play, with the affects of the virus that has swept through the England team proving reluctant to go away.
so he will be satisfied with their efforts, even though he knows this pitch is likely to deteriorate and his top order will not have it easy when their turn comes to face south africa’s attack today.
New south africa captain Ab de Villiers had said that he wanted to make life uncomfortable for England, but he missed the chance to put immediate pressure on that fragile batting on a day that looked made for bowling.
De Villiers decided to bat first, even though south africa left out their specialist spinner in Dane Piedt and saw his side endure a largely uncomfortable day of their own before they rallied to finish on 267 for seven.
Maybe de Villiers was influenced by the fact he only had 10 men at the toss, with Quinton de Kock pulling out after somehow injuring himself at home.
south africa flew in Dane Vilas, but the wicketkeeper did not arrive from Port Elizabeth until the match was well underway.
De Kock damaged his right knee while he was out walking his dogs on wednesday night, making it one of the more unlikely causes of an injury that has kept a player out of a test.
Certainly, de Villiers seems very reluctant to don the gloves again himself, which he would have had to do for most of the first session had he bowled first, while Vilas was making the 620-mile journey by plane, train and automobile.
what de Villiers does enjoy doing is batting and he threatened to take this test away from England with a display bristling with intent until he gloved stokes.
He was not alone in being culpable in his own demise, as England did not bowl nearly as well as they fielded, with only the outstanding steven Finn and stokes producing anything like their best.
Finn dismissed Hashim amla and, for a while, rendered Faf du Plessis a hapless onlooker before enjoying a slice of fortune when the battered du Plessis chipped tamely to deep square leg.
stokes made the breakthrough to remove stiaan van Zyl and also came desperately close to having amla lbw before returning to claim de Villiers.
otherwise, England were ordinary with Jimmy anderson enduring a disappointing day in keeping with a tour that so far has seen him injured in Durban and below-par on his return in Cape town.
with England’s big two having an off day, at least until stuart Broad cut short Vilas’ day, Cook had to make some bowling changes, not least when he turned to ali mid-afternoon and immediately saw him have the obdurate Dean Elgar tidily caught by Bairstow.
when Vilas went, south africa were 221 for seven and England were on top but Morris, along with Kagiso rabada, lifted south africa to a position of near parity.