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Faf du Plessis vividly showed his enduring courage to the Proteas cause by helping the hosts tighten their grip in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Centurion on Monday.
The 36-year-old fired up the first session of the third day game by completing his 10th century of testing, a graceful effort that led South Africa to 435/5 at lunch, a 39 lead.
He had an excellent ally in Temba Bavuma, who helped him score 179 for the fifth wicket, before falling to 71.
The dismissal of the diminutive hitter caused some controversy as he was the victim of his own nobility.
It is true that Bavuma made a cut in the wide delivery of Dasun Shanaka (2/80), but the replays showed that he did not actually hit the delivery.
However, his and Du Plessis’s request is to be commended.
On a SuperSport Park field that is starting to behave erratically, the pair had to endure some awkward moments where some balls took off in lengths that weren’t particularly short.
In the midst of that, however, they still made sure to save an even regular stream of misdelivers distributed by the Sri Lankan attack.
Du Plessis, who will resume at 112, remained strong on the leg side, although his offside play became progressively more fluid, while Bavuma was silky as ever in the wicket square.
The latter’s firing could have provided much-needed boost for injury-ravaged visitors, but Wiaan Mulder made sure the momentum wasn’t drowned out, taking an attacking approach by hitting three limits in his energetic, undefeated 18.
South Africa will hope the pair can continue their quest for a substantial advantage, as the latest hitting on this surface begins to look like an increasingly dangerous prospect.
