South Africa ‘block’buster keeps Test alive

Purists believe that the art of grafting and defensive batting is what one aspect of Test cricket is all about. On Sunday, South Africa displayed plenty of it as they threatened to take the fourth and final Test to a draw after being set a daunting 481-run target.

South Africa knew there was nothing left in the series for them having lost matches in Mohali and Nagpur, but the feeling of returning home with some confidence seemed to propel them to fight. It was gritty, resolute batting as the visitors battled it out in the final two sessions to take the game into Day Five.

At stumps, the visitors were 72/2 in their second innings that came off a staggering 72 overs, still 409 runs in deficit.

In the morning, India declared their second innings at 267/5 following Ajinkya Rahane’s second hundred in this Test.

History suggests that South Africa are masters in fighting back and pushing for draws from hopeless situations — the famous game against Australia in Adelaide 2012 where they eked out a dramatic draw and Faf du Plessis’ marath-on seven hour and 46 minute knock against India at Wanderers in 2013 being some examples. And even thou-gh this series had done nothing so far to suggest the same, it was a different South Africa that one witnessed on the day.

Blocking everything that came their way and resisting the temptation to score was the hallmark of this effort by the Proteas. It was Test cricket in its purest form, and the tactics took India by surprise, who at stage looked good to finish off things within three days.

Skipper Hashim Amla led the way — he took 46 deliveries to get off the mark — and the rest have followed his cue. The South Africa skipper (23 batting, 207 balls) now has the lowest strike rate for any batsman who has faced at least 200 balls in a Test innings, but it was a day he would be very proud of himself. It was the time spent in the middle, and not runs, that mattered on the day.

Opener Temba Bavuma (34, 117 balls) was exemplary in giving company to his skipper and their second-wicket stand of 44 runs off 154 deliveries left India skipper Virat Kohli searching for answers. R. Ashwin (2/29) was the only one among the wickets as the home batsmen bowled 43 maidens on the day.

AB. de Villiers walked in when the Proteas were 49/2 in 42.4 overs, and showed just what makes him the most complete batsmen of modern times. De Villiers’ 31-ball 100 in one-dayers had mesmerised the world, and on Sunday it was his ability to block and grind in the team’s cause that stood out.

Amla’s defence was foolproof. He left all good length deliveries and even resisted those that had runs to offer. He offered his front foot to everything that kept low, playing a chanceless knock. The pair’s only concern was staying at the crease as de Villiers (11 off 91 balls) too resisted going for the shots. Their unbroken third-wicket stand of 23 has come in 29.2 overs.

The opening session belonged to Rahane, who became the fifth Indian batsman to score two hundreds in a Test, joining the elite list of Vijay Hazare, Sunil Gavaskar, Rahul Dravid and Kohli. Kohli fell on 88 but Rahane played a swift knock reaching his hundred in 206 balls. He scored quickly picking up sixes off Imran Tahir and Dean Elgar as India declared at 267/5, five overs before lunch.

Scorecard India (Ist innings): 334 South Africa (Ist innings): 121 India (IInd innings, o/n 190/4): M. Vijay c Vilas b Morkel 3, S. Dhawan b Morkel 21, R. Sharma b Morkel 0, C. Pujara b Tahir 28, V. Kohli lbw b Abbott 88, A. Rahane (not out) 100, W. Saha (not out) 23 Extras: (lb2, nb2) 4 Total: (for 5 wkts decl., in 100.1 overs) 267 FoW: 1-4, 2-8, 3-53, 4-57, 5-211 Bowling: Morkel 21-6-51-3, Abbott 22-9-47-1, Piedt 18-1-53-0, Tahir 26.1-4-74-1, Elgar 13-1-40-0 South Africa (IInd innings) D. Elgar c Rahane b Ashwin 4, T. Bavuma b Ashwin 34, H. Amla (batting) 23, A.B. de Villiers (batting) 11 Extras 0 Total (for 2 wkts, in 72 overs) 72 FoW: 1-5, 2-49 Bowling: Ishant 12-7-16-0, R Ashwin 23-13-29-2, Jadeja 23-16-10-0, Yadav 9-6-6-0, Dhawan 3-1-9-0, Vijay 2-0-2-0.