Not 'best', but most 'important' Test win?

Imperfect Proteas lurch from one win to another

The Boxing Day Test victory at the MCG in 2008 has been challenged as the most important in South Africa’s Test history. The cricket in that match was of a much higher quality with Dale Steyn’s 10-fer and J-P Duminy’s 166 in just his second match, but the Boxing Day victory against Pakistan in 2024 might well prove to be more important. Time will tell.

There is, of course, the final itself. That could usurp both in historical significance. History will judge. But, for now, Temba Bavuma and his team will, and deserve to, celebrate a most imperfect but gloriously exciting win. It did not earn them a first ever Test series win in Australia, but it was worth a place in the ‘biggest’ Test match in the world.

“It’s still a bit surreal, I’m not sure I’ll be able to put my emotions into words. Just seeing the guys in the change room, families able to enjoy the moment with us, it shows us what everything means and why we do what we do. Not just for the country but for our families,” an unusually emotional captain said after the thrilling two-wicket win.

“It’s been a tough journey for this group, but it reflects the talent and character amongst us. It’s a bit more sentimental for the guys who’ve been around the longest… seeing KG play like that at the end, he probably wasn’t at his best with the ball but he recognised that he had an opportunity to do something special for the team, and he did,” said Bavuma about Rabada’s match-winning 31* and the 51-run ninth wicket partnership with Marco Jansen.

“We haven’t been super-dominant or clinical and ruthless, but we’ve made sure that the results has been in our favour. We don’t boast batsmen with averages over 45, most of us are mid to late 30s, which kind of shows that everyone has to make a contribution to get us over the line.

“Our bowling line-up has changed almost every series, so if you put all of that together, as much as we’d like to be more clinical – like me scoring more runs to help Aiden score more in the first innings - that would have put us in a much stronger position. It’s not ideal cricket that we’ve been playing, but we’ve been finding a way.

“I’m not really an emotional person but I am taken aback by it. I was hiding and sulking in the toilet and didn’t come out until we needed about 15 runs. Kyle Verreynne was shouting, and it was positive shouting, so I popped my head out to have a look,” he said, his whimsical grin not preventing a dose of reality, even amongst the emotion.

“We’ve always had a bit of ‘softness’ about our game but, the more experience we gather the better we will cope with those situations. In big games you need your big players to stand up, and they did. Aiden, Marco, KG – they have all done that in this match,” Bavuma said.

Rabada has 21 scores in excess of 20 in in his Test career, seven of which are 30+ and a career best of 47. But none come close to his 31* from just 25 balls in this game.

“We all know the talent KG has with the bat – when he came off the field I just jumped on him, no words. I’m just so pleased he scored those runs, how he scored them I couldn’t care, to be honest. You never know which KG you’re going to get with the bat – the one who tries to play all ‘correct’ or the one who played like he did today. All I want to do is give him the freedom to play the way he wants to,” Bavuma said.

Coach Shukri Conrad is a master at putting his feelings into words and his keel was as even as usual, despite the happiness. His team had been 99-8 and then 116-8 at lunch requiring 148 to win and secure their place in the WTC final. Did he speak to Rabada (10*) and Jansen (5*) during the break?

“I just told them to choose their own method but that, if we got close, I didn’t want to start fiddling around, just back yourselves throughout and go balls-to-the-wall. Keep doing what you set out to do.

“There were so many emotions…we arrived in the morning believing that we needed a big partnership between our big batters. Then we lost three wickets on 99 and you think ‘it’s pretty much gone now.’ But then we needed 32 at lunch and you think ‘that’s only eight fours.’ Your mind plays all these tricks on you…

“They were very clear in their approach – Marco was unbelievable with his intensity and KG looked like Brian Charles (Lara) at times. You just can’t script that, you can’t put it into words.

“We were brave and bold, some would say stupid, to bowl first. Usually you really don’t want to bat last here, but we felt we could make a big impact on the match with the ball on the first day.

“The WTC weighs on you, you really want to get to the final, and that’s what matters, but we need to be a lot more resilient and clinical. We saw what pressure did to some of our players but they will grow enormously from the experience.

“We are so much better than we showed in this match, but we want this team to never know when they are beaten and we want the opposition to know that, too.

“People abroad will be shouting ‘but they had an easy draw.’ Well, I’m not going to apologise for that. I’m thrilled that we can be at Lord’s next year,” Conrad said. There will be many, many South Africans making plans to be there in support. And many young boys and girls will be inspired by these men in white.

Conrad’s coaching philosophy? “Leave the egos at the door and play for each other. Find solutions rather than delve too deeply into problems. Everybody is pulling in the same direction and we just get on with things. Keep it simple.”