Sublime, ridiculous, and in sight of a squared series

Sunday Times - February 23, 2014

TELFORD VICE, St George’s Park

Who are this SA team and what have they done with last week’s sorry incarnation of themselves? They way they have turned their series against Australia around in seven days can’t all be about a pitch on prozac, or the injection of change in the XI, or their unhappy habit of starting a series by tripping over bootlaces they have been slow to tie.

Somewhere between those lines big hearts thump and souls stir deeply. These are proud men who aren’t about to let the respect they have earned slip away at low tide.

A week ago, SA woke to the aftermath of being hammered by 281 runs inside four days in the first test in Centurion. Today, they take a lead of 369 runs into the fourth day of the second test and with it every chance of squaring the series.

Not quite, Michael Clarke said: “We’re behind in the game. That doesn’t mean the game is over.”

Team turnaround or not, Hashim Amla was the major reason for SA’s strong position yesterday. His 93 not out broke a drought of seven innings without reaching 50. It was batting at its most sublime.

We also saw the ridiculous, like the national anthem stopping Mitchell Johnson in his tracks. The last strains, as rendered by the finest brass band in cricket and accompanied by the game’s most tuneful crowd, were draining into the afternoon sky as Johnson steamed in to start SA’s second innings.

Only for Graeme Smith to pull away as Johnson approached. Depending on who you believe, Smith was either distracted by the music or singing himself and intent on getting on a big finish.

Either way, Clarke, who darted from the cordon to within an electrified metre of Smith to find out what the problem was, was not best pleased.

More silliness arrived when a cat skidaddled across the outfield. Like the Australians, it was going nowhere fast.

Still more came when AB de Villiers viciously whipped Nathan Lyon to square leg for four - and immediately apologised to Steve Smith, who was fielding at short leg and had been imperilled by the stroke.

It wasn’t all giddy gaiety. SA took Australia’s last six wickets for 134 runs but also dropped two catches. Wayne Parnell, meanwhile, won’t bowl for up to seven days because of a groin strain.

There was nothing silly about Morne Morkel reinventing himself from Bambi’s blue-eyed brother to a badass bomber of batsman. Not even the madness of clanging Johnson on the helmet was beyond him.

Amla’s relentless attack, complemented by Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers, kept SA on top. Seldom have SA’s batsman dominated as they did yesterday and fielders winced as the ball assailed them.

Amla, Du Plessis and De Villiers showed fine timing and technique. More importantly, they showed heart and soul.