Faf du Plessis has reached the end of his innings as a Test player for South Africa. Picture: Getty Images
Whatever way you try to spin the story of the Proteas’ thrashing in the first Test against Pakistan in Karachi on Friday,
it was a display which had very few highlights for SA cricket fans.
The reality is that spin bowling – as produced by the wizards of the art in Pakistan and neighbouring India – has once again proven the nemesis of our national cricket team.
Granted, the hosts on the subcontinent are past masters at preparing low and slow wickets to suit their twisty attacks, but our batsmen never showed the application needed to see off the merchants of guile.
ALSO READ: De Kock admits Proteas’ batting was woeful in defeat to Pakistan
The figures speak for themselves: Pakistan spinners Nauman Ali and Yasir Shah shared 14 wickets between them and put the Proteas to the sword.
Our own spin bowlers – Keshav Maharaj and George Linde – managed just four between them.
On the other hand, the match marked an applause-worthy moment as Kagiso Rabada took his 200th Test wicket, becoming the third-fastest bowler in history – after Pakistan’s Waqar Younis and our own Dale Steyn – to reach the milestone.
The defeat does leave a feeling of disappointment but in this strange, spectator-less Covid-19 sports world, it doesn’t seem to really matter all that much, does it?
READ MORE: Spin battle was the key against the proteas, says Pakistan’s Babar
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