Very few people around the world would have expected South Africa to bat out Day 3 of the Visakhapatnam Test against India, especially after they ended the second day on 39/3. Fewer still would have expected them to put India on the back-foot with a positive approach that would leave Virat Kohli painting a forlorn image for large parts of the day. But almost no one would have expected this South African batting line-up to make Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja bowl 41 and 37 overs respectively on wickets that suit the bowlers.
If you get the drift, South Africa came up with an unexpectedly wonderful display of Test cricket to end Day 3 on 385/8. They are still trailing India by 117 runs and are not out of the woods, but they fought hard and showed the kind of character one has come to expect from the Proteas over the years.
Much of what we saw on Friday came down to three individuals: Dean Elgar (160), Faf du Plessis (55) and Quinton de Kock (111).
Now, Elgar had a pretty ordinary tour of India in 2015 — 137 runs at an average of 19.57. Du Plessis was worse, he made 60 runs in four Tests at an average of 8.57 and de Kock wasn’t even there. But on Friday, they showed that over the last four years, they have learned their lessons and grown as individuals too.
For the first time in a long time, hosts India were forced to think by a visiting side. South Africa didn’t just fall down like dominoes, they resisted the charge and fought hard. In the first session, they scored 114/1. In the second, 139/1 and in the final, they added 93/3.
Most runs in a day’s play vs India in India:
374 by WI at Delhi in 1974/75
366 by SL at Mumbai BS in 2009/10
362 by Aus at Nagpur in 2004/05
359 by WI at Kanpur in 1958/59
351 by SL at Bengaluru in 1993/94
346 by SA at Vizag in 2019/20
— Statistics via Cricbuzz
Elgar, known to be a dour batsman, led the charge by adopting a simplistic approach. He trusted his defence and when a bowler erred in line or length, the left-hander wasn’t afraid to punish him.
More than 80% of the runs he scored in the innings were through the leg-side, the highest percentage for any of his 50-plus scores in Test cricket. And never before had he hit as many fours and sixes (18 and 4 respectively) in a Test innings. Both statistics show how he backed himself to the hilt and it worked.
“It’s good to contribute once again,” said Elgar at the end of the day. “Playing in India is very tough. The last time I was here, I was not very experienced. In those four years, I have grown a lot as a cricketer. I have played county cricket, which has helped.”
Elgar added: “You need to defend well against spinners because then you give yourself the best chance of attacking. County cricket with Surrey has helped a lot. I think you have to find your strengths.”
Du Plessis started off by scoring very quickly before settling down. His 115-run partnership with Elgar would have given the South African dressing room immense confidence because of how solid they looked in the middle. The pitch wasn’t doing much but in the past, we have seen visiting sides succumb to just the pressure of playing Indian spinners in India. South Africa did no such thing.
A loose shot brought an end to the captain’s innings but it inspired de Kock to go one step further.
De Kock and Elgar are both left-handers and while Elgar scored a majority of his runs of the leg-side, the keeper-batsman chose to target the off-side. He scored more than 70% of the runs there.
Together, the similar yet different approaches made things difficult for the Indian bowlers. Visiting batsmen usually go into a shell against spinners in India but these two kept the scoreboard ticking along merrily. Their 164-run stand came in quick time and pushed India into an unfamiliar position.
But as good as Ashwin was during the day, Kohli’s captaincy, it must be said, was pretty ordinary. He gave Shami incredibly short two-over spells, his field settings were largely reactive as was the manner in which he used his pacers. Ishant Sharma has been a standout performer for India in the last two years but he wasn’t considered to be good enough for the second new ball too.
India fought back towards the end of the day with three wickets in the last session but South Africa’s fight has ensured that this Test will have an interesting end. And that is more than what many would have hoped for.
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