SRI LANKA TOUR IN SOUTH AFRICA, 2020-21
Dean Elgar was undefeated at 92 at Stumps on Day 1, having scored more than half the Lankans on his own © AFP
For the first time in eternity on a major game day at the Wanderers, the surrounding streets did not crackle with the electricity of impending catastrophe. Johannesburg is among the most car-centric cities on the planet. It also has to put up with depressing public transportation. So when some 30,000 cricket-minded jo’burgers take their cars to make their way to Wanderersward, parking is a rare commodity.
Consequently, a small army of independent parking spot seekers emerge on the roadsides around the ground, advertising their services using imaginary bats to play outlandish punches. The competition in their ranks forces them to take one more step on the street, spaces that drivers mistakenly think belong to them. In their arrogance, motorists rush straight down the track at ridiculous speeds without thinking of the threat their mobile killing machines pose to the safety of unorthodox hitting players.
That was not the cause of the poor driving around the Wanderers on Sunday, the first day of the second test between South Africa and Sri Lanka. Because there were no outdoor parking spots. Because, of course, there were no spectators.
But that did not mean that vanguard coups were not attempted. Too many were: in the middle. Whatever the Sri Lankan hitters were trying to do, it wasn’t. The field was not going to suffer such nonsense and the South African bowlers were just as aggressive as the Joburg drivers, but it seems the visitors learned nothing from the blows they suffered at Centurion last week.
If they weren’t pushing aimlessly – Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis, Lahiru Thirimanne, Minod Bhanuka and Niroshan Dickwella – they would be referring for review what they should have known to be edges – Dasun Shanaka and Wanindu Hasaranga – or savagely striking – Dushmantha Chameera , or straying so far from the stumps that the square leg umpire must have considered ordering a pair of steel toe caps. Yes, you, Asitha Fernando. Sri Lanka knew as much about playing short installments as it was about singing the South African national anthem.
In the wake of the four injury-forced changes that tore their XI apart at Centurion, they were expected to fight. Instead, they chose to board a flight. Metaphorically, that is. Or should it really be: they’re out of here after this game, and they played like they’re already in the airport departure lounge.
Having completed their highest total in all of their 32 test innings in South Africa last Sunday, the Lankans quickly crashed to their 10th-lowest effort seven days later. They were eliminated in 40.3 overs, within two sessions, for 157.
By stumps, Dean Elgar, who promised to play a proper test inning, had scored more than half the Lankans on his own, 92 and counting, his highest score on the Wanderers, to lead South Africa to 10 runs of The Lead.
It’s an outrageous thought, but did Karunaratne choose to hit to win the toss to avoid the prospect of moving on? Most likely, he did it to rule out his team having to take guard last on a surface that can veer into the irrational in deterioration and decay.
Maybe it shouldn’t surprise us. Sri Lanka has made less than Sunday’s total twice in their previous four innings in this field. In fact, it could have been worse. Elgar made a catch, off Lungi Ngidi, on the third slip. Temba Bavuma spilled another, in front of Lutho Sipamla, when it was the fourth of six slips.
South African bowlers refused to be infected by all that ineptitude. Anrich Nortje conceded a solo single from his first two overs and Ngidi started with a scoreless hat-trick of overs. Sipamla was also perfect on his first change, as was Wiaan Mulder, whose early assault brought him two no-run wickets in 11 deliveries and 3/1 in 17. At the time Nortje had one wicket. He finished the innings with the best 6/56 of his career. During his second spell he took 3/6 in the space of 36 balls. “We wanted to keep it tight and as simple as possible, and just get in the channel,” Nortje said after the close. “That, and the point balls we got, created opportunities. Hopefully we can keep doing that and not try to do too much.”
In the dozen overs that Nortje and Mulder played in tandem, six wickets dropped to 48. “A guy like that, who can take wickets as well and not just bowling pins, it’s great to have him,” Nortje said of Mulder, who came in the team as a hitting all-rounder. “He’s not just holding onto one finish, he’s adding a lot of value. He can increase the pressure with point balls. Hopefully that will bring us a lot more ground.”
South Africa’s attack bristled with the intention of making up for their weak early-inning performance at Centurion, and they did so emphatically. Still, Sri Lanka initially appeared to have improved its discipline. It was 35/1 in the 13 overs they faced in the first hour, compared to 54/3 in 10.3 overs the last time. But it didn’t last, and the remaining 13.3 overs of the session cost them four wickets for 49 runs. The last five wickets fell for 73 races at 16.3 after lunch.
Kusal Perera’s 60 was the highest score for Sri Lanka © AFP
And to think that Perera’s 60 is the highest score achieved by a Sri Lankan player in the Wanderers and only his second half century here. The other belongs to Karunaratne, who made 50 in a funeral follow-up to a ticket loss in January 2017. This time Nortje caught him from behind by two. But he started out patiently, scooping 24 balls to get off the mark before falling to the 32 he faced.
Not so Perera, who drove the sixth pitch he threw at him, undoubtedly a Nortje half volley, through the covers for four, as expansively as if he had been hitting all day, the ball was old and the player was tired. . There was more of that sort of thing from Perera – the value of 11 limits – before he led Mulder to the cordon. Considering that he absorbed 44 point balls, it could be argued that Perera showed some grip. The problem with his tickets is explained by the fate of the other 23 deliveries he faced, which hit harder than he was wise in all his careers.
On this field and against these bowlers, that approach can only get you so far. But, unlike most of his teammates, he got somewhere. Why did the others fail? “We have to get used to the pace and the rebound,” Perera said. “That’s why I think a lot of our hitters couldn’t make runs.”
Elgar, on the other hand, was a rock-solid orthodox: defend himself or leave the threatening surrender, exploit the flaccid. It’s not a flashy way to play, but the formidable southpaw prides himself on being daring. Plus, adventurous hitting is rarely worth the first day at the Wanderers.
Elgar took few risks and appeared composed during times of trial. Like when Shanaka beat him up with the first installment after the last drinking break of the day. He stroked the fifth ball of the over through the decks to reach his 16th half-century of testing in his 112th inning, and his second-fewest deliveries anywhere: 70. He left the last installment of that over well alone. , which was also outside outside. There is a haiku somewhere.
More poetry was seen in Sri Lankan bowling. Having been sorely disappointed by their hitters, they raged hard against the agony of their team’s hopes of leveling the series. That goal is a long way off, but at least he didn’t back down from his chaotic hitting. They launched with claw and panache, and they did it as a collective.
Rookie Asitha Fernando’s first test wicket was that of Aiden Markram, whose distinctive Sri Lankan dab flew to the second slip. But there would be no unseemly crumbling of an entry, as was seen in the first half of the day. For that, in addition to Elgar, South Africa had Rassie van der Dussen to thank. He took 26 balls to score his first run and 34 to cross the limit, and his 40 unbeaten were the product of 82 balls. But the way Van der Dussen stayed strong and tall between deliveries, swinging his bat high in his hands quickly, almost threateningly, told him he was completely focused. Not that you should tell: he has already shared 114 with Elgar.
South Africa’s work on this entry is not nearly finished, but they are doing it convincingly. Sri Lanka will have to work hard on Monday to try to prevent that from happening. Another session like the third one on Sunday, which yielded 126 races, and the game will be a great help to win and lose.
© Cricbuzz
