The importance of a captain has very much come to the fore after the first two Tests of the ongoing four-match series between England and South Africa. The Proteas had their chances in the first Test too, which they lost by 211 runs, when they had England reeling at 76 for 4 but led by stand-in skipper Dean Elgar, they let the hosts turned the match around.
However, boosted by the return of their regular captain Faf du Plessis, the Proteas gave a clinical performance in the second Test at Trent Bridge as they levelled the series with a thumping 340-run win on Monday (July 17). Throughout the course of the match, South Africa looked in total control, never allowing the hosts to get off the hook. After setting a daunting 473-runs target, the visitors bowled Joe Root & Co. out for a paltry 133 inside 45 overs to avenge for their heavy loss in the first Test.
Speaking after the game, du Plessis rightly singled out the character of the team as the reason behind the remarkable turnaround.
“One was character. The style of play we normally have is one with a lot of character and intensity and good body language,” du Plessis explained.
Some inspired changes in the playing eleven also contributed in the massive win. They droppe out-of-form JP Duminy and replaced Theunis de Bruyn with allrounder Chris Morris who totally justified the inclusion by picking up 5 wickets and scoring 49 runs.
“In the first Test, we played some good cricket but at times that went missing a bit,” du Plessis said. It’s important how long and how well we can do that because it puts pressure on the opposition and then also, when you are under pressure, to make sure how you respond to those moments to get the pressure back on the opposition.”
Du Plessis further said his team was in command of the proceedings at Trent Bridge right from the toss when he bravely took the decision of the batting first on a lively pitch.
“Pretty much from the toss to the last ball that we bowled, we were in control of this Test match,” he said.
“We knew it would be tough but and we are used to making those brave decisions,” he added. “Back in South Africa we prepare green wickets and we’re not scared of batting first. For England to only get one wicket and us to get 56 runs in that session set the tone.”
After the failure with JP Duminy at number 4, South Africa promoted Quinton de Kock at that position and reaped the reward immediately as the wicketkeeper-batsman scored an entertaining 68 in the first innings. And although he failed to get going in the second innings, the team is likely to stick with him at that position.
“It wasn’t a case of making a decision that’s just a once off, I’m a big believer, in giving guys a fair opportunity,” du Plessis said. “We all know that the way he plays is the way he plays, so we are not going to ask him to change that. He’s going to put pressure on the opposition and he’s a good enough cricketer to understand when to adapt his game to play certain situations, so he’ll learn a lot from this.”
The captain also expressed his surprise over England’s stunning capitulation, saying that his team was ready to fight it out till the last session of the fifth day.
“A lot of people might have thought we had enough runs long before we did, but for me it was crucial we got 450-plus to make sure it looked like a really big total because the pitch was still good,” he said. We weren’t expecting it to be easy. We were mentally preparing to take it to lunch or even tea tomorrow.”