It promised to be a fascinating series & I haven't been disappointed. The two best Test cricket sides in the world facing off – India number 1 touring 2nd ranked South Africa. India fresh off handing Sri Lanka their biggest defeat in Test history with captain Virat Kohli imperious in that three Test series averaging 152, including two double centuries, one century & a fifty in only five innings. South Africa having made short work of Zimbabwe at home, bowling them out twice within two days after batting first.
Much of the speculation heading into the 1st Test in Cape Town centred around the Proteas' 11. The Indian side was seen as settled but a fit Dale Steyn meant South Africa had an embarrassment of riches in their pace bowling stocks. Morne Morkel looked in ominous form with five wickets in the 1st innings against Zimbabwe. Kagiso Rabada, the 22 year old firebrand, was coming off a 2017 in which he took 54 wickets (second only to Nathan Lyon). Vernon Philander has a career bowling average of 22, testament to his uncanny accuracy & relentless consistency. Then there was Keshav Maharaj, the left arm orthodox spinner making an impressive start to his international career, who took five Zimbabwe 2nd innings wickets. Who would miss out?
The story as told by the host South African commentary team was that Dale Steyn heard whispers during the lead-up that he might be the man to miss selection. He was coming off a serious injury & it was mooted that an all-rounder such as Chris Morris might be a safer option. Steyn obviously didn't take kindly to this talk, as the word is that he tore in & fired searing heat-seeking missiles at his team-mates in the nets all week, rendering himself impossible not to pick. Never underestimate the heart of a champion.
India for their part also selected an unusually bowler heavy side – Ravi Ashwin at six, young all-rounder Hardik Pandya at seven.
South African cricket fans - & fans of cricket for that matter – should thank their lucky stars that AB is back, & boy was he the man for this situation. With the unflappable du Plessis at the other end, de Villiers counter-attacked. A lesser batsman, a player less sure of himself or his place in the team, would likely have gone into his shell & looked to merely survive the onslaught. Not AB. He slashed & he carved with astonishing audacity, throwing his hands at anything with any width. With an eye like a dead fish & the smile of a man in his element he hit Kumar for three boundaries in an over, got to 23 off only 17 balls & the pressure was suddenly back on the bowlers. The Indian seamers looked rattled, their bowling got a little ragged & the match had turned. AB made 65 off 84 balls, du Plessis 62 & with solid contributions down the order, the Proteas got to 286. A total which on that pitch & after that start was enough to put the contest on an even keel. Kumar was the pick of the bowlers for India with 4 wickets.
The cricket was sensational, I was hooked, and we hadn't even got to the bit I was looking forward to most – South Africa bowling. Philander opened the bowling with Steyn and in the fifth over Vernon drew an edge from Murali Vijay. Next to go was Shikhar Dhawan, who skied a pull shot back to Steyn for the caught & bowled. Steyn was back baby! The Cape Town crowd gave him a rousing reception and you couldn't have wiped the smile from Steyn's face. Soon after that Kohli fell, sparring at a short ball outside off from Morkel, nicking it behind to de Kock. India finished an eventful day 3/28.
South Africa continued to surge ahead in the game on Day 2, as their four pronged pace barrage cut India down for 209. It would have been a lot worse too, if Pandya hadn't struck a defiant and aggressive 93 off 95 balls. It was an innings in stark contrast to the approach the other Indian batsmen took. Cheteshwar Pujara batted 92 balls for only 26 runs, Rohit Sharma 59 balls for only 11 runs & Vijay only made one run off 17 balls. On this pitch, where the seam movement and sheer quality of the attack meant a ball could have your name on it at any moment, the approach was too staid & the Proteas were able to nag away until the wickets inevitably fell.
Bad news for South Africa was a new injury for Dale Steyn – a bruised heel saw him ruled out of the rest of the series. As Dale is my favourite active cricketer it was a shame to see him out but I was buoyed by the fact that a: he bowled well – around the 140km/h mark with his customary shape, & b: he should recover in time for the series against Australia.
Vernon Philander – aka “Pro”, “Big Vern” or “V-Dawg”, according to Wiki – had other ideas. He took six wickets in a masterful display of seam bowling. Philander bowls in only the high 120s but he has uncanny knack for catching the outside edge when the ball seams away. However, if the ball seams in, he so often beats the bat for an LBW. He bowls with very little variety, yet batsmen seem incapable of getting on top of him. To my eye he's the closest thing cricket has had to Glenn McGrath since the lanky elephant killer from Narromine gave it away. McGrath bowled a bit faster & with more bounce, but Philander bowls with similar accuracy & presents the seam beautifully.
Worth noting too, while I've seen many a pot-shot at Philander's pot-belly, big Vern is actually the workhorse in the attack. He will toil away for long spells and into the wind for his team. Philander was man of the match (I would've picked de Villiers) & South Africa won by a fairly comfortable 72 runs.
The series moved to Centurion for the 2nd Test and it was soon apparent that this pitch was a different beast. This was a wicket much friendlier to batsmen and Markram, Amla and du Plessis all cashed in with half-centuries. Markram's innings was an impressive one, what he does particularly well is take toll of poor balls with well-timed, low-risk cricket shots. India surprised me by dropping Kumar, who I thought was their best bowler in Cape Town. Ishant Sharma came in and toiled away for three wickets but for mine Jasprit Bumrah was their best bowler in this Test as he bowled accurately at a good pace of 140+ with his awkward action.
Day 1 was full of comical mistakes as India fluffed a number of chances in the field. They dropped three very catchable catches, plus another chance where incoming 'keeper Parthiv Patel failed to move for a chest high edge that flew by only a metre or so to his left. If you're not going for that as a keeper, throw your gloves in the bin mate. Patel looks a relatively poor gloveman to me.
South Africa looked likely to pile on a mountain of runs at 3/246 but after du Plessis ran Amla out, de Kock went for a duck, and so did Philander after inexplicably ignoring Faf at the other end barking no with a “stop” hand up. Philander must've had blinkers and ear muffs on because next thing he was standing next to his captain watching himself get run out 22 yards away. There wasn't much of a yelp after that amd the Proteas were wrapped up for 335.
India's first innings at Centurion was the Virat Kohli show. Kohli reminds me of Ricky Ponting – both in demeanour and at the crease. Like Ponting was, Kohli is an abrasive, often belligerent character in the field. As it did with Ricky, Virat's intense competitiveness often sees him push the envelope when it comes to the spirit of cricket. Indeed, Kohli was fined 25% of his match fee in this match after an outburst in which he threw the ball down in disgust at the fact the outfield was wet and thus negating attempts to scuff one side of the ball. Batting-wise, Kohli is like Ponting in that he's probably just as vulnerable as any specialist batsman at the start of his innings. However, if you don't get him out within the first 20-30 balls, look out. Once he gets a read on the pitch and the bowlers he's usually in command the rest of the way. So it was for Kohli in this innings – he never looked like getting out, he was a class above with 153 off 217 balls. He and recently crowned world number one ranked bowler Rabada had a terrific duel, but Kagiso could not break through.
India helped the South African cause tremendously with some soft dismissals. Notably, Pujara managed to run himself out attempting a tip & run off his first ball faced and Pandya ran himself out by not grounding his bat. Thanks to Kohli, India made 307, only 28 in arrears.
While Centurion was undoubtedly a flat pitch, I should say it wasn't dead like the tracks we suffered during the recent Ashes. There was life there for the bowlers. It's a lovely thing to watch Test cricket on dedicated cricket grounds and on proper cricket pitches.
In four innings India has produced only two good knocks. Therein lies the rub in the series. The Indian seamers have been quite impressive – it's been the batsmen that have let the side down. And so it was in the fourth innings at Centurion. India capitulated to fall for 151, losing by 135 runs. Debutant fast bowler Lungi Ngidi took six wickets in the innings and was Man of the Match for South Africa, just in case they haven't got enough gun pacemen already. Pujara managed to run himself out again – what a wretched series for him so far, 49 runs in four innings. AB de Villiers took an amazing low catch running in at fine leg and then decided to kick and chase the ball for a try. It's lovely to see AB happy. He's a gift from the sporting gods, this man. South Africa 2-0.
It’s stumps on Day 2 of the Third Test in Johannesburg and the match is fascinatingly poised with the bowlers once again on top with both teams dismissed for under 200 in their first innings, and India 1/49 in their second. It'll be interesting to see how much resistance the Indians put up in this final innings in the final Test of a lost series. Traditionally India's strength is its batting, but that's been far from the case in this series. Their bowlers have toiled manfully & bowled well, but they're outmatched by the array of fast bowling talent South Africa has at its disposal.
Whatever the case, I'm looking forward to the last three days of this Test. As an enthusiast of bowling more than batting, South Africa are a particular pleasure to watch. The coverage is also a pleasure to watch – the commentary team in South Africa is excellent. They're understated, articulate, knowledgeable and don't carry on with the kind of buffoonery their Channel 9 counterparts do in this country.
But I'm especially looking forward to the four Test series when Australia tour in March. Now that will be intriguing. South Africa should beat India 3-0 and I'm tipping they'll account for the Aussies as well. While the South African batting can be vulnerable and they still rely on de Villiers too much, the Proteas' bowling – on proper pitches - will be too good for most of the Aussie batsmen.
My tip: South Africa 3-1
Follow James on Twitter: @ichymochek