Proteas opener Dean Elgar says that the SuperSport Park wicket is a challenging one to bat on despite the quick rate of scoring both sides have achieved on the two days of play.
Sri Lanka were bowled out for 396 early on the second day and South Africa responded by reaching 317/4 by stumps. Tellingly though no batsman has scored a hundred with Elgar’s 95 the best effort so far.
Elgar says batting is no picnic at SuperSport Park
Elgar insists that while SuperSport Park is an unforgiving venue for bowlers it presents plenty of challenges for batsmen as well.
“You’d think it’s actually quite flat but it’s not. There’s been quite a lot of assistance for the bowlers in the last two days,” Elgar said after the second day. “I don’t think the scores are a reflection on how the wicket is playing. It’s been a combination of good batting and poor bowling.
“At SuperSport Park, for bowlers, the margins are so small. If you miss your mark, you are going to go for runs,” Elgar added. “If you ball a fourth-stump line, you are going to have a bit of reward. We know the nature of the wicket at SuperSport Park – it’s a good place for bowlers to bowl. There’s quite a lot of assistance for the seamers.
“You can’t just go out and smack from the first ball, you have to be calculated. We had a good day with the bat, set up by the openers, as we are supposed to do. Of late, Boucher hasn’t spoken about being overly aggressive. He knows we still need to apply ourselves.”
Elgar has enjoyed the benefit of starting his international season with his franchise opening partner in Aiden Markram, who came into the match in superb touch, as well as playing on the pair’s home ground of SuperSport Park.
The pair’s 140-run opening wicket stand gave the Proteas an edge as the second day progressed.
Titans to the fore
Elgar is happy that some of his work during the long layoff has paid off and is eager to kick on and enjoy a great season.
“We have been batting quite well domestically in the last couple of months,” he said. “It’s good to know I have put into play internationally what I have done domestically. There has been a lot of hard work building up to this.”
The Proteas will resume their innings on the third morning still trailing Sri Lanka by 79 runs with six wickets in hand.
