Africa-Press – South-Africa. Proteas Test captain Dean Elgar admitted their performance in the concluded second Test against Australia in Melbourne on Thursday was pretty weak, saying it was a tough pill to swallow.
The Proteas may have crossed 200 for the first time in eight innings, but they were still crushed by an innings and 182 runs to concede their first series defeat in Australia since 2006.
Elgar, whose lack of form is also increasingly under the spotlight, said their inability to show up for such an important game was made worse by the equitable and fair conditions they were faced with at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Elgar, who scored 26 and 0 as his missing runs in recent matches continue to hamper the Proteas’ batting, understandably said there were more negatives than positives to their dismal showing.
“It was always going to be a tough pill to swallow, but there aren’t a lot of positives. There are few, but the negatives outweigh the positives,” Elgar said.
“It’s a pretty weak performance I’d say, especially in conditions that were really good for Test cricket.
“We’re disappointed in how things ended up. I still wanted to see us with a fighting chance and giving the Aussies a tough time by taking pride in our wickets.
“The way it unfolded was quite disappointing.”
Once the Proteas were dismissed for 189 on the first day, they were in no position to force the Australian bowlers into long spells.
The case was the same in the second innings despite the hosts having injured bowlers in Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green.
SA batted for 68.4 and 68.5 overs respectively across the two innings, which was far from what was needed to push Australia’s bowlers into third and fourth spells.
Australia’s only innings spanned 145 overs, with the bulk of it taking place on an extremely hot second day where the mercury hovered around 35 degrees.
Elgar, without tacitly admitting that their batting has gone walkabout, said they weren’t in a position to push teams into long bowling spells.
“The thing with Test cricket is that you want to push bowlers into third and fourth spells, but we’re not getting there,” Elgar said.
“That’s quite disappointing because I feel that could be a weakness in most batting line-ups when guys get tired from bowling those longer spells.
“We’re not getting there, so it’s difficult to gauge or judge what they might have if they’re not pushed into those longer spells.”
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