This series went from lip-smacking competitive to lop-sided in just a session of the third Test when Ben Stokes lined up Keshav Maharaj and Kagiso Rabada earned a ban for venting out at the…well, stumps. From 1-1 and a lot of anticipation, the series suddenly wore a 3-1 expression as gloomy Protea fans watched in dismay at their side’s complete disintegration.
If you are beginning to follow the news just right now in this series, you wouldn’t guess the scoreline is 2-1 with a Test match to go. Yes, South Africa can still level the series from here on, a fact that seems to have been missed by everyone from the media to the Proteas setup where dejected faces and droopy shoulders have become commonplace.
As we head to the Wanderers and the infamous Bullring for the final Test, here is a glance at what’s in store.
Big Vern’s final Test
Vernon Philander has been a mainstay in South Africa’s Test bowling attack ever since he trudged in to destroy an Aussie batting line-up at Newlands in 2013. The subtle seam movement, the extravagant appeals and the grittiness with the bat will be a huge miss for the Proteas at a time their Test team is grappling with finding the right players. Nevertheless, the Big Vern deserves a big send off and if it’s not his mates, it could well be he himself who arranges for the celebrations. The Wanderers is a pace bowler’s dream and Philander is known to thrive on such wickets. It isn’t exactly Newlands, where he has a stupendous record, but if it’s any consolation, the curator at Newlands during his epic first Test is the curator at Wanderers now.
Although Newlands is his home ground, it's quite fitting that @VDP_24's final Test is at The Wanderers, where the groundsman Evan Flint, who prepared the 1st Test wicket he bowled on at Newlands, prepares the Test wicket in his final Test. All the best VDP 👏👏
— David Brooke (@BrookeBack13) January 23, 2020
With no Rabada, the onus of carrying the pace bowling unit will be on him in his final Test. Can he bow out on a high?
The other good bye
It’s Philander’s final Test, not exactly Faf du Plessis’. However, the South African crowd will not see their skipper in whites again as the Titans poster boy has declared that this would be his final home Test. South Africa aren’t scheduled to play at home in Tests until late in the year by when du Plessis has decided he would be retiring. The middle-order batsman has been woefully short of runs in Test cricket although he did show fervour to overturn those recent numbers with a decent knock at Port Elizabeth. South Africa will need more than that from him here as their floundering batting unit searches for an anchor.
The new-look team
South Africa have three new additions in the squad from the last Test with the most prominent one being the returning Temba Bavuma. The Black African player has been the subject of a lot of debate in the country after he was omitted recently from the Test team, frustrating the black community who questioned his omission over du Plessis, who has a poorer record on paper. Bavuma, though, went on to make a spectacular hundred in franchise cricket and is back manning the middle-order for this all-important Test match. Beuran Hendricks, the left-arm pacer, could replace Dane Paterson or Keshav Maharaj, who might be deemed surplus to requirements on a quick wicket. Rassie van der Dussen was confirmed as the new no. 3 by du Plessis on the eve of the Test.
England have team combination worries
England have a few selection conundrums of their own although their camp has been a hell a lot more silent than South Africa’s. Jofra Archer returns from an elbow injury and suddenly England aren’t sure how to fit him in. That they could potentially play Mark Wood and Jofra Archer in tandem is exciting for England aren’t known to go with that kind of pace in Test matches. But playing the two could mean one of Sam Curran – one of England’s top two wicket-takers this winter – or Dom Bess – who was impressive at Port Elizabeth – sitting out. But with Joe Root’s off-spin doing a decent job against the brittle Proteas line-up, and Joe Denly’s leg-spin also being available, Bess might be left on the bench.
Mature de Kock?
Quinton de Kock was appointed as South Africa’s ODI skipper in the gap between the two Tests. It is also notable that the wicket-keeper batsman is the highest run-scorer for South Africa since 2019. De Kock has been the sole aggressor – and the only one to put pressure on the opposition bowlers – in Tests of late for the Proteas. Can he continue his swashbuckling ways or will additional responsibility in another format force de Kock to go subtle? The last thing South Africa want is him walk into the shell the others in the top-order seem to struggle to break out of. However, he has promised to be “street-smart” as a skipper although he would not try and push for Test captaincy right now. Pleasingly, de Kock has managed to maintain that he would do things on the go rather than delve and plan too much.
“There will be some sort of planning you have to do, some homework,” he said. “You always have Plan A, Plan B and if those two don’t work, I like to come up with things on the field. You have to make decisions on the go, especially in the heat of everything,” he said before the Test.