First things first. With India thumping the Aussies in the first two matches of the ongoing series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the Proteas are out of contention for the World Test Championship (WTC) Final. The only teams remaining in the hunt for the trophy in the second edition of the purest format of the game are Australia, India and Sri Lanka.
So how close did the Proteas get to being in a position to play for a spot in the final during the two-match West Indies series?
The simple answer is, quite close. The more complicated answer, without going into the exact per centage points, is: a win in any of the 3 matches in Australia and at least a draw in each of the other two matches, would have meant that a clean sweep over West Indies would have been enough to make the final. But let’s not linger on the “what ifs” for too long, and rather focus on how the Proteas ended up fourth on the WTC log as things stand.
The journey for Dean Elgar’s troops started against India in a three-match series at home. India won the toss in the first test and put the Proteas to the sword immediately by putting up 272/3 on the first day. Even a washed out second day wasn’t enough for the home side to recover as India took the match by 113 runs. The one positive was that a debut was given to Marco Jansen who has since cemented his place in the test line-up having taken 41 wickets in 10 matches at an average of 21.65 and a strike rate of 39.7.
Having lost the first test, the Proteas found a way to win the next two matches and keep their record of remaining unbeaten in a test series at home against India. The batting line-up didn’t cross 250, despite Keegan Peterson’s best efforts, in any innings in the series but the bowlers compensated for the failures of the batters. This became a template for how the WTC unfolded for the Proteas.
Next up was a series against New Zealand (NZ) away. From the moment Tom Latham won the toss in the first test and sent the Proteas in, everything went downhill. Sarel Erwee had a debut to forget, but it would be unwise to single him out seeing as the whole team were unable to scrape together 100 runs in the first innings. NZ then proceeded to plunder 482 at over four runs to the over before once again running through the Proteas line-up for only 111 runs. The margin of defeat was blamed on a lack of energy.
Once again, Dean Elgar’s side had to come from behind in the series to get important points. Luckily a different team seemed to show up for the next match. Elgar surprised many when he decided to bat first upon winning the toss after what had happened in the first match, and his batters backed him up. His opening partner - Sarel Erwee only playing in his second test match - struck a maiden international ton as the Proteas fought their way to 364. Another century, this time a maiden one for Kyle Verreynne in the second innings, ensured that the target they posted was out of reach for the Kiwis as Kagiso Rabada took eight wickets for the match, which wrapped the series up at 1-1.
A home series against Bangladesh followed where the spin twins of Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer ensured a comfortable 2-0 series win as they took 16 and 13 wickets respectively on spin-friendly pitches, accounting for 29 out of the 40 wickets Bangladesh lost. Dean Elgar enjoyed his best series of the WTC as he made fifties in three out of the four innings he batted.
Next up was the tour of England where the Proteas finally managed to start on the front foot. It remains the only match England have lost since Ben Stokes has taken over the leadership and
Bazball showed its shiny head. The Proteas didn’t only win, they swept England aside for a victory by an innings and 12 runs, led by seven wickets in the match for Kagiso Rabada, a 73 by Sarel Erwee and handy lower-order contributions from Marco Jansen and Keshav Maharaj.
The memories of the first match triumph quickly faded however as England stormed back to win the series 2-1. England won the second match by an innings and 85 runs, and the last match by 9 wickets. The batting frailties of the Proteas showed up again as they failed to cross 180 in each of their last four innings. None of the Proteas batters managed to average 26 or higher.
That brings us to the tour of Australia. The tour where the last hopes of the Proteas making the WTC final faded away. In the first match the batters once again collapsed for scores of 152 and 99 with only Kyle Verreynne managing to pass fifty. The bowlers tried their best to keep their team in the game, but it was to no avail. They were however unable to do the same in the second match as Australia racked up 575/8 declared, after bowling the Proteas out for 189.
To rub salt into the wounds, an out of form David Warner made a double century. Again, Verreynne managed to score a fifty and Jansen put together his highest test score of 59. Requiring 387 just to make Australia bat again, the Proteas folded for 204 to lose by an innings and 182 runs. Temba Bavuma and Kyle Verreynne were the only two batters to put up a fight.
The third and last match looked to be heading the same way, but rained saved the day for the Proteas as they were two wickets down and still 114 runs away from making Australia bat a second time after they had declared on 475/4. All woes seemed to be forgotten soon though as the SA20 took over for a month of absolute bliss for South African cricket lovers.
With a new coach in Shukri Conrad, a new test captain in Temba Bavuma, and a rejigged batting line-up, the Proteas will hope to put the struggles of the last two test series behind them and start afresh.