Johannesburg - South Africa claimed a stunning seven-wicket win in the second Test against India as Dean Elgar played a captains innings leading the team to victory.
INNINGS: Dean Elgar makes batting look like extremely hard work. He plays and misses often. Ends up in weird positions. He gets hit on the body - a lot. But he stays at the crease. He really puts a very high price on his wicket. And his teammates, and the South African public will love him for it. His 96* will rank as one of the greatest innings by any Proteas player.
COMPOSURE: India lost theirs collectively on Thursday. They quite rightly came to the ground, expecting to win. Conditions - the pitch, the light, the target for South Africa - were all in their favour. They’ve won a number of matches in the last year and are understandably high on confidence. But that also breeds expectation, and when it didn’t go their way Thursday, they lost their composure. All that silly sledging from Siraj and Pant, would have been noted by the Proteas. The home team have gotten under their skin. Cape Town could get tetchy.
CELEBRATION: The South African change-room only really started to liven up when the required runs shrank to under 10. Then the cheering grew louder, the smiles widened and hands were clapped more enthusiastically. Only Rabada stayed serious. Then Elgar hit Ashwin through midwicket, punched the air, hugged Bavuma and the whooping and hollering could ensue. What a special win this was.
SOPPER: Having waited all day for play, the ground staff here did a heck of a job getting the field ready for play. There was a momentary worry, a few minutes before play was set to start when one of the ‘super soppers’ refused to start. Fortunately curator, Evan Flint found a can of petrol to fill up the tank and get the machine moving again.
KIARA: Quinton de Kock and wife Sasha, welcomed the new addition to the family on Thursday with the birth of baby Kiara. De Kock quit Test cricket last week, stating he wanted to spend more time with his family.
TWITTER: “Seen a few over time, but that is One of SA cricket’s greatest test wins!” - Graeme Smith. He’s played in some of those, so knows what he’s talking about.
@shockerhess
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