A grind for Proteas, but they are still on top

There are days like this, when the pitch is flat, batting is easy and bowling hurts, that Shukri Conrad really enjoys watching this Proteas team play. 

He wants them to ache, to strain, to delve deep into the well and find the means to attain success. It’s a crucial part of their development, which will stand them in good stead for big challenges, like Australia — in the World Test Championship final.

SA bowled 49 overs in Pakistan’s second innings after correctly asking them to follow on when they were bowled out for 194, which gave them a lead of 421 runs. 

With Pakistan’s opener Saim Ayub missing the remainder of the match after fracturing his ankle while fielding on the first morning, SA have one less wicket to take, but that didn’t make the final session less labour intensive.

Pakistan’s openers, Shan Masood and Babar Azam, deserve praise for the manner they played; happy to be patient, but also taking advantage of several loose deliveries, from a Proteas attack that bowled 82.2 overs in the day. 

Their partnership of 205 was a record for Pakistan against SA, and both were tighter with techniques, particularly Shan, who was out driving at Rabada in the first innings, but on Sunday played that shot more proficiently. 

Shan’s 100 was deserved and sets an example, even for this hamstrung batting line-up, about what is possible on a pitch where there is little sideways movement available for the seamers, and any spin is still slow.

It was Shan’s sixth Test century and the first by a Pakistani batter in SA since Younis Khan and Asad Shafiq, also at this venue in 2013.

Babar, after making 58 in the first innings, continued to look well-organised and smooth. He unleashed a series of flowing strokes, which delighted a nearly 10,000-strong crowd at Newlands.

Then, unfortunately, with 15 minutes’ play left in the day, there was a poor drive against a wide ball from Marco Jansen, which was edged to David Bedingham in the gully, with Babar out for 81, off 124 balls. He hit 10 fours.

SA’s spirits will have been lifted by that late strike, but there will still need to be an interrogation of their bowling plans. While it’s understandable that the extended workload would have caused their intensity to drop a few notches, they also need to resolve an issue with no-balls. 

They have bowled 23 no-balls in this match. Rabada is responsible for 10 of those, but it is indicative of a lack of discipline.

At the start of Pakistan’s second innings, when Rabada bowled a no-ball in his first over, the TV cameras caught Proteas bowling coach Piet Botha smiling through gritted teeth. 

It’s clearly an issue, and not just in this Test match, but for the limited overs team too — which Botha doesn’t oversee. 

The white ball head coach, Rob Walter, has said players are having difficulty dealing with pressure, especially regarding bowling wides in those two formats. 

There is certainly no pressure when your team’s first innings score is 615, and in addressing several issues before June’s finale in London, no-balls will be one. 

Pakistan still trail by 208 runs, and a lot of work awaits the SA bowlers on the fourth day. But their coach wants it this way. Too many of SA’s Tests in the past few months have seen the opposition disintegrate.

Pakistan did so in the first innings here — with one of the day’s highlights being Kwena Maphaka’s first Test wicket in the morning — but they have shown greater fight the second time around. 

Now SA needs to show they can fight back too.