Elgar 'keeps things simple' in emphatic Proteas victory

Dean Elgar enjoyed an unforgettable penultimate test match in his storied career with a player-of-the-match innings of 185 and a glorious victory by an innings and 32 runs against India at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Thursday.

Batting conditions were especially tricky on the first two days but Elgar said the secret was to “…keep things as simple as possible.”

“Focus on the ball, play straight, play late and be great,” said Elgar with a chuckle.

“It doesn’t always work, especially on a juicy wicket like that, but to be able to contribute to a total which allowed our bowlers to take 20 wickets is really great.”

Dean Elgar signed off at his home ground with one of his best Test knocks ever 🌟#SAvIND pic.twitter.com/ywfTYu0sAt

— ThePoppingCrease (@PoppingCreaseSA) December 28, 2023

India were bundled out for just 131 in 34.1 on the third afternoon with Kagiso Rabada (7-91) and debutant Nandre Burger (7-83) both claiming seven-wicket match hauls while Marco Jansen collected 3-36 on the final day to add to his brilliant, career-best innings of 84 not out in South Africa’s first innings total of 408 in reply to India’s opening day total of 245. 

“You need four fast bowlers and a spinner, potentially, to take 20 wickets which is how you win a test match and a series. KG was amazing and then Nandre came to the fore – ‘Plank’ (Jansen) struggled a little bit but you can still reap the rewards by putting the ball in the right place and he ended up with wickets as well which was great,” Elgar said.

“You can’t win a two-test series if you don’t win the first one, we’ve achieved that but we know the Indian team, on their day, are extremely difficult to match, or beat, but I’m pretty sure we’ll have a few days off to enjoy this – there are a couple of guys who’ve never experienced it before – but we’ll be mindful as we head to Cape Town because they will bounce back,” Elgar said.

INDIA VOW TO FIGHT BACK

Indian captain Rohit Sharma was downcast but realistic after a calamitous final day which had started with the two teams both believing that victory was possible – although not without a fourth day’s play.

“Different (Indian) teams have been here before and failed to get over the line, our batters were challenged at different times in the game and we failed to adapt. We saw that it’s a high-scoring ground with a lot of boundaries scored playing shots, but you’ve got to understand the opposition, what sort of bowlers they have and the lengths they hit and bring everything into your game plan,” Rohit said.

“Clearly we didn’t bat well on both occasions which is why we stand here with this loss. There were some positives, not a lot when you lose a game inside three days, but the way KL (101) batted in the first innings showed a lot of us what you need to do on that kind of pitch,” Rohit said.

“A lot of our bowlers haven’t been here before so I don’t want to be too critical on them, but we will regroup and we’ll fight back hard. It’s tough after a loss like this but, as sportsmen, we go through these kind of times and you need to pick yourselves up and get ready for the next challenge – which is in Cape Town,” Rohit said.

Injured captain Temba Bavuma, who damaged his left hamstring on the first day, did not appear at number 11 in what might have been a futile attempt to accompany Jansen to three figures with a belated statement from team management saying the risk of further damage to his injury was unacceptable.