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“Test victories are never easy, you still have to win them,” says captain Quinton de Kock.
South Africa have won more competitive test matches against more competitive teams than this one from Sri Lanka, although their fight was tempered by injury and not their own fault, but they will still savor this victory as if it were one of the best.
“A Test victory is never easy. You have yet to win it,” said Quinton de Kock, his temporary Test captain. “We fought hard with the bat. It was very difficult. It still feels good. Our bowlers came back very well in the second inning. They showed what test cricket is all about.”
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After the South African attack awarded the highest score of a Sri Lankan team in this country in the first innings, they rallied to eliminate Sri Lanka 180 to secure an innings victory. But this game was won by the batting lineup, which scored the most runs in an inning at SuperSport Park, and ended 15 months without a singles hitter scoring a hundred.
Former captain Faf du Plessis was the player who broke the century’s drought and fell within a run of his first double-ton in what he called a statement entry to rebut the skeptics. du Plessis is the most experienced hitter on the team and shows no signs of slowing down, instead setting an example for newcomers to the team.
“It’s important to have high-level guys on the team, guys with experience. We always talk about the youngsters coming out, but you need to find that balance between the experience and the youngsters,” said de Kock. “Faf came out and showed his leadership there. He has been in a lot of pressure situations in his life and there was no better person to handle it.”
Similarly, du Plessis was one of the people Kock turned to when he needed guidance on the field in his first red ball game as captain.
Although de Kock has led South Africa in shorter formats, he had never captained a first-class game before, but found the longer format experience comfortable because he had so much support.
“It was a little easier. You have more time to think than in the other formats,” he said. “It helps that I have good leaders on my team. When I need help, I can go to them for advice, like Dean [Elgar], Rassie [van der Dussen], Temba [Bavuma], Faf, they are of great help when I need them.
“I’ve never captained a first-class game, but I’ve been with Faf for most of my testing career and learned a lot from them, so it felt like home. It was pretty simple.”
de Kock didn’t make any obvious mistakes, though some may question aspects of his early inning decision-making, like giving rookie Lutho Sipamla the new ball. Sipamla conceded a lot on his first spell, with three overs costing 28, but improved as the innings progressed and finished 4 of 76 in innings and six wickets in the match to show that the depth of South Africa’s fast bowling is still there. .
“It was just the debut of the Test Match and the nerves. That’s what it all came down to. We talked to him and he came back very well. The way he bowled in the game is the way he’s been playing on the nets. That’s right. what we knew could do, “de Kock said. “It was a great comeback from him with great character shown. He’s an opening pitcher in his debut test, obviously there was going to be a bit of nerves, but once he came back we saw what he can do.”
The same can be said for much of the South African team, which had not played test cricket since January and has endured one of its harshest winters, embroiled in administrative chaos and culture wars. When this test began, the biggest opposition from South Africa was from sections of the public who objected to raising a fist to show support for Black Lives Matter or who felt they should have gotten on their knees. By the time the game ended, the racial debate had died down (for now) and the old adage that results will give people something else to focus on for a while came to the fore.
So while South Africa has won more competitive test matches than this one, they had reason to celebrate the same. And they did.
“Go have a beer,” was Mark Boucher’s instruction to De Kock as they changed seats for the post-game press conference. About two hours after the final wicket fell, the entire team was doing just that, with a fines meeting underway complete with cheers and chants. A victory is a victory, and South Africa will definitely enjoy it.
Firdose Moonda is a correspondent for ESPNcricinfo in South Africa
