This was a long time coming from the first South African games. Actually, three years. That is the last time the two best South Africans got into a position of over 100, 22 test matches and 43 innings. Since then, South Africa’s beginnings have been more shaky than stable, with the result that inconsistency has plagued the entire lineup.
Specifically, this took a long time for Aiden Markram. Almost two years. That’s the last time he crossed 50 in a test match, against this same opponent eight innings and 22 months ago. Since then, he has battled the top in India and was out with injury last summer, which is why he saw this series as crucial to securing his long-term place on the team.
It’s the early days, but the way he hit today would have contributed to that. Markram’s silky 68 should have become his fifth century of testing and his way back to the locker room after throwing it out proved he knew it. It’s not just that Markram has been in brilliant form or that his last four entries in this field have brought him three centuries and a 75, it’s that both the conditions and the circumstances were right for him to profit.
SuperSport Park is a quintessential test wicket as it starts out offering something for the rapids, then flattens out for the hitters, and then breaks down to allow the spinners to come in on the final days. Their best batting conditions are on days two and three and South Africa will enjoy most of that time in the crease, against a Sri Lankan team that is three men away from the attack they would have liked to present. There can’t be many better situations to take advantage of. Or much worse to bemoan your bad luck, especially when the match, even early in the morning, had gone in favor of Sri Lanka.
In the first hour, Sri Lanka completed its highest total in South Africa and could have expected to be deploying an attack to defend it, but Suranga Lakmal was ruled out of this match with a hamstring problem, Dhananjaya de Silva will not play more part in this match. the series after breaking a quadricep on the first day and Kasun Rajitha, who shared the new ball, left the field in the sixth with what appeared to be a groin injury. That leaves Sri Lanka with two top-of-the-line rapids, a medium pace that would need to throw more than originally planned at Shanaka, and a spinner, on debut. The look on Mickey Arthur’s face as he stepped out of the locker room and into a more empty area of the floor to savor his team’s fortunes said it all.
Under the circumstances, it’s hard to be overly critical of your bowling efforts. Still, while they learned from South Africa’s mistake of bowling too short, they made the opposite mistake and started talking too early, and Markram needed no further invitation to deploy the unit. Confident of its domestic form, its timing and location were perfect. Markram also provides a contrast for Elgar, who takes some time to adjust but, when he does, tends to stick around. That is what Markram will want to do next time. His mistake today was going for one too many big shot, and it’s a mistake that can be rectified.
As for Elgar, there is still a long way to go. A year and a quarter. That’s the last time he scored a hundred, and the last game any South African ever did, in a lost cause in India.
Elgar’s firing may hurt more than Markram’s because he worked harder and longer and was close to a hundred. He also received too many balls on the pads, especially for a player who is so strong on his legs. Almost three-quarters of their careers (71 of 95) came on the bright side and a less exhausted Sri Lankan may have been able to plan better to avoid that.
Like South Africa, they are dealing with some inexperience. Lahiru Kumara is their senior closer in this event, with 20 matches, while Shanaka and Vishwa Fernando have played a total of 11 events. His biggest concern is that Hasaranga is making his debut and De Silva’s injury means there is no backing for him. And like Lutho Sipamla, Hasaranga gave too many gifts. Sipamla came back from that with more control in her last spells on the first day and wiped her tail towards the end of the first hour on the second. Hasaranga also had moments of redemption.
After what may have seemed a long time, but was really only a few hours, it produced a beautiful ball, a topspin effect with extra bounce, which took the advantage of Quinton de Kock and consolidated what turned out to be a mini-collapse. significant. Sri Lanka claimed 3 of 20 midway through the final session to leave South Africa nervous, especially as it was the longest time for Temba Bavuma. Almost five years. That is the last and only time it got a century of testing. Since then, he has been abandoned, retired and at the center of transformation wars and captaincy talk. There’s a lot of pressure and expectation in him to put numbers on the board, and so far, he’s doing his bit.
Bavuma watched the third day with Faf du Plessis and showed good energy to keep the race pace above four and more, an important point because Bavuma has previously been criticized for hitting too slow. Your own hit rate is above 50, which may become less important if you improve your conversion rate, and even less important if you bring South Africa within contact distance of Sri Lanka’s score. Reaching 400 has also been a long time coming.
South Africa had not exceeded 300 once, in any format, since Mark Boucher’s coaching tenure began in 2019. Prior to this match, the most they had achieved was 291 in an ODI against Australia, and in a test match. , 284, a year ago. almost to the day of his most recent victory against England on this very ground. Maybe we can say that winning has taken a long time to win for South Africa as well, but there are three more days and a lot more cricket to play before we can have that conversation.
Firdose Moonda is a correspondent for ESPNcricinfo in South Africa
.
