A battered and bruised Dean Elgar did not leave anything to chance. Elgar held the game by the scruff of the neck and led South Africa to their first ever Test victory in their backyard Johannesburg against India, ending the 29-year-long wait. He could not reach his 14th Test century but finished the game in style and stayed unbeaten for 96.
After hours of delay due to incessant rain, South Africa started Day 4 on a positive note. From the score of 118/2, Elgar and Rassie van der Dussen took the attacking approach to put Indian seamers under pressure with 122 more runs to score. Indian seamers tried too much and even ended up leaking runs via byes and wides as they tried to pitch it short in frustration.
Mohammed Shami provided India the much-needed breakthrough by forcing an edge off Dussen’s bat. He scored 40 runs off 92 deliveries including five boundaries. The two shared an 82-run partnership for the third wicket.
While India looked for a cluster of wickets, in-form Temba Bavuma played with patience. Bavuma was often beaten outside off stump or hit on his body but did not play a rash shot. Elgar too had luck on his side as he survived a few good deliveries from Shardul Thakur. The Proteas skipper did not let Indian bowlers find an opening and scored a string of boundaries to narrow down the difference.
Towards the end, Mohammed Siraj tried to distract Elgar with a few words on follow-through but the veteran southpaw shrugged it off with a wry smile.
India had played South Africa in five Tests before the second Test of three-Test series. From 1992 to 2018, Johannesburg was an overseas fortress for India as they won two Tests whereas three ended in a draw.
What happened in 2018?
It was a similar setting in 2018. Elgar was leading from the front in the 241-run chase. However, that time he did not find any firm support from the other end apart from half-centurion Hashim Amla despite having the likes of then-skipper Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers. Elgar remained unbeaten for 86 as he ran out of partners in the run chase.
