2 days Ago
Why do we like Test cricket? Crisp technique, stroke play that’s pleasing to the eye, resilience and patience - some of the hardest physical and emotional attributes of a player are tested to an extreme in a format where time can seem endless and suffocatingly short for two sides at the same time. That’s why underdog stories, redemption arcs and tales of defiance are so popular in the game’s purest form. Ask South Africa.
The Proteas finished day two of the one-off Test against India, having lost four wickets for 236 on the board and still trailing by a Herculean 367-run margin in the first innings. If you’re a South African player or even a fan, it’s easy to feel a bit overburdened by uncontrollables. Imagine having a weak spin attack for a Test to be played on what was shaping up to be a dust bowl.
Imagine coming into the game with your best pacer (Marizanne Kapp), not bowling due to injury management, your second-best pacer (Ayabonga Khaka) miles away from red-ball cricket after a potentially career-threatening injury, and a serious dearth of spin resources. Add a complete lack of a red-ball base in your nation to this. The baggage is fairly heavy and was tied up neatly with a bow when India hounded an unsteady bowling contingent en route to a mammoth score of 603.
But then, Sune Luus and Marizanne Kapp happened. Two warhorses who have time and again pulled unreal shifts for their nation did it once more as they defied India through the day. After Laura Wolvaardt.
