‘Genius’ AB saves new Proteas batting guru from catching an uber

The Proteas bore the air of a gambler who had put it all on red and won after the first day of the first Test against India at Newlands on Friday.

Having chosen four frontline seamers and then decided to bat first on a green-tinged pitch, they ended the day in a surprisingly good position considering they were 12 for three inside the first half-hour.

AB de Villiers (65) and Faf du Plessis (62) sparked a revival with some brave, highly-skilful counter-attacking batting and, with Quinton de Kock making an equally positive 43 and the bowlers all chipping in, South Africa were able to cobble together a satisfactory 286 all out.

It became a highly pleasing day when Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel each took a wicket as India were reduced to 28 for three in the 11 overs they faced before stumps, with big guns Virat Kohli (5), Shikhar Dhawan (16) and Murali Vijay (1) all gone.

“It was quite an intense day but we’re very happy,” South Africa batting coach Dale Benkenstein said after the close.

“We fought hard in very tough conditions and we had some tough decisions to make. The overhead conditions said bat first, but there was extra grass on the pitch. So we were under pressure up front.”

“At 12 for three it’s not the greatest feeling for the batting coach and if we were allowed our phones I probably would have been looking for an Uber!” Benkenstein joked.

“But the class and genius of AB and the tenacity of the captain [Du Plessis] got us through. One over of batting by AB probably changed the game because he made the bowlers worry about their lengths, and those runs down the bottom were vital, especially in tough conditions. We’ll probably only know how important after tomorrow.”

The one over Benkenstein referred to was Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s fifth, at which stage South Africa were still a parlous 15 for three thanks to the skilful bowler taking wickets in each of his first three overs.

But De Villiers was still able to take 17 runs off the over via four fours.

The first two balls of the over were full away-swingers, but De Villiers was able to drive them through the covers for four.

When the bowler then pulled his length back, the batsman’s speed in judging length and quick hands and feet enabled him to cut fours over and through point.

While Benkenstein admitted he doesn’t “tell AB how to bat”, he has been working hard with the tailenders, a vital aspect of the game especially with South Africa leaving out the extra batsman in Temba Bavuma and going into the Test with five bowlers and Philander batting at seven.

He can be proud of his work too as the last five wickets added 144 runs, more than the top five.

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