Dean Elgar’s defiant 96 not out saw his South African side claim a famous seven-wicket win against India.
And just like that. The game was won.
A quirk of cricket is the somewhat anticlimactic finale that can accompany a successful run chase. To win by seven wickets is to spend hours in mental anguish. Your whole being is filled with anxiety and nausea as you know from experience that even the slightest of slips at any moment could lead to disaster. But ever so slowly, with each run that is ticked off and every boundary that reaches the rope, the clouds begin to clear and the storm starts to wane. You’re almost home.
As the winning runs are struck, the reaction isn’t that of the reckless euphoria that accompanies a last minute winner in football, but of the deep seated satisfaction of a monumental task completed. You’ve made it, you’re home now. You’ve won.
Whilst the rain had initially postponed South Africa’s charge to victory, once play begun, its effects accelerated it. The feeling in cricket has always been that damp conditions should favour the bowling side. Grey skies being conducive to bowling and all that. But the truth is often reversed. The ball skids on to the bat, the bowlers stretch their expectations and the atmosphere is dulled for everyone on the field bar the two players dealing with 90mph thunderbolts in the dark.
South Africa hadn’t scored a boundary in the 18 overs preceding the close of play on day three. But today they didn’t so much flow, but instead spurt erratically and regularly. The uneven pitch led to a combination of overambitious bowling and the ball leaping off the bat to bizarre areas of the field. Each ball threatened a boundary or a wicket. Which of the two was anyone’s guess.
But whilst the rain may have stopped, India ended up helpless to prevent the flood. With evidence of the tide swaying in South Africa’s favour no more obvious than the three occasions that the ball rose so dramatically off the deck that it flew over the head of the batter and wicket-keeper for five wides.
That Dean Elgar finished four runs short of a century was testament to a man who represents the mantra of being worth more than the sum of your parts. Many innings have been played in history that will have yielded more runs, but few will have been worth as much as this. It also continued a trait of Elgar’s that the great days in his life carry an air of unfinished business. On Test debut, he recorded a pair and his highest Test score is 199. Now, his greatest innings in a South Africa shirt is 96 not out. Even when the job is finished. Elgar has more left in him.
However, it wasn’t just a one man show for South Africa. Aiden Markram’s brisk start to the innings yesterday calmed any early nerves and when he departed the solidity of Keegan Petersen continued to carry the game forward. Their dismissals brought Rassie van der Dussen to the crease and an apparent opening for India. Having failed to contribute so far in the game, van der Dussen was heckled by India’s Rishabh Pant who questioned whether the South African No.4 was playing as a specialist sledger. But through a combination of luck, willpower and technique, Van der Dussen battled for 40 valuable runs before he edged Shami to Pujara at first slip. Whilst 65 runs still remained for South Africa to score, the battle, if not the war, had been won.
With Temba Bavuma now at the crease and the South Africans approaching the winning target, the certainty of their victory became apparent with the increasing tetchiness of the Indian team. India, a side for whom winning has become such a habit, were staring defeat down the barrel of the gun. And they didn’t like it.
The winning runs were finally struck by Elgar as he punched Ashwin through the leg-side for another boundary. And with those four runs, the series was tied and a famous victory secured.
Speaking after the game, a battered and bruised Elgar, who had taken numerous blows throughout his innings, spoke with pride that his side had recorded such a historic victory. One that is even more poignant following the shock retirement of Quinton de Kock after the previous match. Is South African Test cricket on the cusp of dying? Not on this showing.
“It’s always a privilege to represent your country,” said Elgar. “And I’d like to think that those knocks that I take make me extra motivated to go out there and perform. Some will call it stupid, some will call it brave. But it’s something that I’m immensely proud of playing for the Proteas and it doesn’t matter what I go through as there’s always a bigger picture, and the bigger picture is for us to win…I want to show the guys that it’s okay to take a few blows because when you perform like that over four days it’s so worth it. And it doesn’t just speak for me, it speaks for everyone in our squad.”
Regardless of whether it be through bravery or stupidity, through his actions or through his words, Elgar led his side to a famous victory that will live long in the memory for all who witnessed it. And just like that. The game was won.
