{"id":1399,"date":"2020-12-27T19:24:45","date_gmt":"2020-12-27T19:24:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/south-africa\/?p=1399"},"modified":"2020-12-27T18:11:10","modified_gmt":"2020-12-27T18:11:10","slug":"lots-of-runs-but-still-no-hundreds-for-proteas-in-first-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lots-of-runs-but-still-no-hundreds-for-proteas-in-first-test","title":{"rendered":"Lots of runs but still no hundreds for Proteas in first Test"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – South-Africa<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>PRETORIA \u2013 It\u2019s been three summers since South Africa had what could be described as a dominant batting line-up.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no surprise that in the 2017\/18 season, messrs De Villiers and Amla were still part of the Test side, while Aiden Markram was playing like a future superstar. That season across nine matches, South Africa scored a total of 11 Test hundreds. It should be noted that six of those came against Bangladesh, who weren\u2019t equipped to bowl in South African conditions.<\/p>\n

But the other five all came against Australia\u2019s attack \u2013 the same four blokes currently regarded as the best in the world.<\/p>\n

Since then South Africa\u2019s batting hasn\u2019t been good. Test hundreds have been like hen\u2019s teeth. In 14 Tests since the series in Sri Lanka in July 2018, the Proteas have managed a grand total of five hundreds. Two of those have come from Quinton de Kock.<\/p>\n

With a bowling attack that\u2019s as inexperienced as the one South Africa is carrying in this game, the onus is on the batsmen to provide some security and to create some kind of path from which winning can still be sought.<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka\u2019s attack is not experienced either and like South Africa did on the first day and for half an hour on Sunday, the tourists too offered lots of scoring opportunities. The chance was there, to get hundreds, but South Africa, in particular the opening batsmen didn\u2019t take them.<\/p>\n

Markram\u2019s been in a rich vein of form domestically and for most of the more than two hours he spent at the crease on Sunday he looked positively dreamy. Cover drives were delivered on bended knee, with an artistic flourish of his blade. There was a breathtaking backfoot cover drive off Lahiru Kumara and \u2018KP-esque\u2019 whip through midwicket that provided further reminders of his glorious talent.<\/p>\n

One other positive feature had been the manner in which he left the ball…until he didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

He succumbed to impatience against Vishwa Fernando and his body language as the ball was snaffled by the gully fieldsman spoke to Markram\u2019s anguish.<\/p>\n

Dean Elgar too was left a broken man, needing his bat to hold him up as the Sri Lankans celebrated his wicket after he struck a half volley straight back to the bowler Dashun Shanaka.<\/p>\n

Elgar\u2019s was a less picturesque innings than his younger mate, but the fact he hit 16 fours \u2013 one a stonking pull off the hard working and occasionally troublesome Lahiru Kumara, was indicative of his comfort at the crease. The opening pair at least ended one disconcerting streak \u2013 their 141-run partnership was the first century stand for the first wicket for the Proteas in three years, covering 22 Tests.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was nice to have that partnership with Aiden,\u201d said Elgar, who made 95. \u201cWe\u2019ve been doing quite nicely at domestic level so it was good to carry that form with us to the international arena.\u201d<\/p>\n

With over 700 runs scored in the first two days \u2013 although no batsmen has made a hundred yet \u2013 it might be tempting to think the pitch is flat. Far from it, Elgar explained. \u201cI think there\u2019s been some good batting, but also a lot of poor bowling.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is still a lot of assistance out there for the seamers and quite a lot can still happen especially with the new ball. It\u2019s certainly not as flat as the scores suggest,\u201d Elgar added.<\/p>\n

Only Quinton de Kock of the homeside could be said to have succumbed to skill from an opposition bowler as he became Wanindu Hasaranga\u2019s first Test wicket when he edged a top-spinner to first slip.<\/p>\n

So South Africa remains without a Test hundred since De Kock\u2019s 111 against India in October last year.<\/p>\n

The onus thus switches to Temba Bavuma \u2013 technically efficient as usual \u2013 and Faf du Plessis, to take advantage on Monday of the good starts they\u2019ve made.<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka are down to nine men at the moment too, with Dhananjaya de Silva out of the series with a torn left thigh muscle and Kasun Rajitha, bowling just 2.1 overs before leaving the field with an unknown ailment. There\u2019s still lots of time left in the match and if the two batsmen can get South Africa passed Sri Lanka\u2019s total, a path to victory is still in sight for the hosts.<\/p>\n

SCORECARD<\/b><\/p>\n

Sri Lanka 396 all out<\/b><\/p>\n

(Dinesh Chandimal 85, Dhananjaya de Silva 79, Lutho Sipamla 4\/76, Wiaan Mulder 3\/69)<\/p>\n

South Africa 317\/4<\/b><\/p>\n

(Dean Elgar 95, Aiden Markram 68, Dasun Shanaka 1\/56, Vishwa Fernando 1\/59)<\/p>\n

South Africa trail by 74 runs<\/b><\/p>\n

@shockerhess<\/p>\n

IOL Sport<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. PRETORIA \u2013 It\u2019s been three summers since South Africa had what could be described as a dominant batting line-up. It\u2019s no surprise that in the 2017\/18 season, messrs De Villiers and Amla were still part of the Test side, while Aiden Markram was playing like a future superstar. That season across nine […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":1398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,17],"tags":[274,315,275],"class_list":["post-1399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nLots of runs but still no hundreds for Proteas in first Test - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"PRETORIA \u2013 It\u2019s been three summers since South Africa had what could be described as a dominant batting line-up.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lots-of-runs-but-still-no-hundreds-for-proteas-in-first-test\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lots of runs but still no hundreds for Proteas in first Test\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"PRETORIA \u2013 It\u2019s been three summers since South Africa had what could be described as a dominant batting line-up.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lots-of-runs-but-still-no-hundreds-for-proteas-in-first-test\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-27T19:24:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2020\/12\/img-5fe8ce15c246f.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"651\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"366\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lots-of-runs-but-still-no-hundreds-for-proteas-in-first-test#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lots-of-runs-but-still-no-hundreds-for-proteas-in-first-test\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Lots of runs but still no hundreds for Proteas in first Test\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-27T19:24:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lots-of-runs-but-still-no-hundreds-for-proteas-in-first-test\"},\"wordCount\":777,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lots-of-runs-but-still-no-hundreds-for-proteas-in-first-test#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2020\/12\/img-5fe8ce15c246f.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Africa\",\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lots-of-runs-but-still-no-hundreds-for-proteas-in-first-test#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lots-of-runs-but-still-no-hundreds-for-proteas-in-first-test\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lots-of-runs-but-still-no-hundreds-for-proteas-in-first-test\",\"name\":\"Lots of runs but still no hundreds for Proteas in first Test - South Africa\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lots-of-runs-but-still-no-hundreds-for-proteas-in-first-test#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lots-of-runs-but-still-no-hundreds-for-proteas-in-first-test#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2020\/12\/img-5fe8ce15c246f.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-27T19:24:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"PRETORIA \u2013 It\u2019s been three summers since South Africa had what could be described as a dominant batting line-up.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lots-of-runs-but-still-no-hundreds-for-proteas-in-first-test#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lots-of-runs-but-still-no-hundreds-for-proteas-in-first-test\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lots-of-runs-but-still-no-hundreds-for-proteas-in-first-test#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2020\/12\/img-5fe8ce15c246f.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2020\/12\/img-5fe8ce15c246f.jpg\",\"width\":651,\"height\":366,\"caption\":\"Lots of runs but still no hundreds for Proteas in first Test\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lots-of-runs-but-still-no-hundreds-for-proteas-in-first-test#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Lots of runs but still no hundreds for Proteas in first Test\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/\",\"name\":\"South Africa\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Lots of runs but still no hundreds for Proteas in first Test - South Africa","description":"PRETORIA \u2013 It\u2019s been three summers since South Africa had what could be described as a dominant batting line-up.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lots-of-runs-but-still-no-hundreds-for-proteas-in-first-test","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lots of runs but still no hundreds for Proteas in first Test","og_description":"PRETORIA \u2013 It\u2019s been three summers since South Africa had what could be described as a dominant batting line-up.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lots-of-runs-but-still-no-hundreds-for-proteas-in-first-test","og_site_name":"South Africa","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2020-12-27T19:24:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":651,"height":366,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2020\/12\/img-5fe8ce15c246f.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lots-of-runs-but-still-no-hundreds-for-proteas-in-first-test#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lots-of-runs-but-still-no-hundreds-for-proteas-in-first-test"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Lots of runs but still no hundreds for Proteas in first Test","datePublished":"2020-12-27T19:24:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lots-of-runs-but-still-no-hundreds-for-proteas-in-first-test"},"wordCount":777,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lots-of-runs-but-still-no-hundreds-for-proteas-in-first-test#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2020\/12\/img-5fe8ce15c246f.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-South-Africa","South-Africa"],"articleSection":["all news","homepage-english","sport"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lots-of-runs-but-still-no-hundreds-for-proteas-in-first-test#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lots-of-runs-but-still-no-hundreds-for-proteas-in-first-test","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lots-of-runs-but-still-no-hundreds-for-proteas-in-first-test","name":"Lots of runs but still no hundreds for Proteas in first Test - South Africa","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lots-of-runs-but-still-no-hundreds-for-proteas-in-first-test#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lots-of-runs-but-still-no-hundreds-for-proteas-in-first-test#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2020\/12\/img-5fe8ce15c246f.jpg","datePublished":"2020-12-27T19:24:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"PRETORIA \u2013 It\u2019s been three summers since South Africa had what could be described as a dominant batting line-up.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lots-of-runs-but-still-no-hundreds-for-proteas-in-first-test#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lots-of-runs-but-still-no-hundreds-for-proteas-in-first-test"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lots-of-runs-but-still-no-hundreds-for-proteas-in-first-test#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2020\/12\/img-5fe8ce15c246f.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2020\/12\/img-5fe8ce15c246f.jpg","width":651,"height":366,"caption":"Lots of runs but still no hundreds for Proteas in first Test"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/lots-of-runs-but-still-no-hundreds-for-proteas-in-first-test#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Lots of runs but still no hundreds for Proteas in first Test"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/","name":"South Africa","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1399\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}