The burden of captaincy is robbing the Proteas of a batting genius in De Kock

A decidedly undistinguished performance by the Proteas saw them lose the first Test against Pakistan by the large margin of seven wickets.

The batting, after posting totals of just 220 and 245, will once again be in the spotlight, but the fielding was also far inferior to that of the home side and the bowlers, while toiling manfully, lost the plot badly on the third morning.

A couple of key catches were missed in Pakistan’s first innings after they had been reduced to 27/4, and there were also numerous ground fielding errors that released whatever pressure had been painstakingly built up by the bowlers.

But Quinton de Kock was probably the biggest disappointment with the bat and his performance as captain also raised question marks.

De Kock has the air of a laid-back dreamer, and would never be described as being full of words, certainly more shy than outgoing and, while there is no doubting his cricketing intelligence, he’s never going to be the most vocal captain.

But the most important reason for being concerned about De Kock as captain is that he does not seem to be enjoying the added responsibility.

De Kock has now scored just 45 runs in four innings as captain.

Worst of all, it seems to have robbed the Proteas of a batting genius who is at his best when playing with freedom.

Pakistan were able to effectively rotate the strike and the intensity, which creates its own pressure that one normally associates with the South African fielding effort, but just wasn’t there.

Speaking of intensity, it was dismaying to see how flat the Proteas were on the crucial third morning.

Pakistan began the day on 308/8, already 88 ahead, and it was vital for the visitors to wrap up the innings as quickly as possible.

But apart from the persevering Rabada, the rest of the bowling was woeful, as the lower-order lashed 70 runs off 74 balls to almost double the lead, vital runs that put the home side in firm control.

South Africa had also lost their way with questionable choices of bowlers and tactics with the second new ball.

Pakistan were 214/6 when it was taken, still six runs behind, but Rabada only had three overs with it and soon it was part-time off-spinner Aiden Markram using it.

The first 14 overs with the new ball saw 61 runs rattled up as the momentum clearly shifted.

But it was the batting that yet again let the Proteas down.

They have scored more than 300 just once in their last 23 innings in Asia dating back to July 2014, so to say they have a problem with spin is an understatement.

Debutant Nauman Ali removed Dean Elgar and Quinton de Kock in the first innings and his left-arm spin ripped through the batting in the second innings as he took 5/35 and leg-spinner Yasir Shah also took seven wickets in the match.

The pitch was certainly conducive to spin but there were several soft dismissals.

I wonder if the Proteas batsmen have full confidence in their skills against the turning ball?

I say that because they tended to get stuck at one end, unable to rotate the strike, and then the ill-judged expansive shot would come, trying to break the shackles with a boundary rather than ticking over the scoreboard by manipulating singles.

Ken Borland

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.