ACS Overseas First-Class Annual 2017

South Africa in 2016/17 In the year immediately before the period now under review, South Africa had slipped from first to fifth in the ICC rankings, and this Annual laid the responsibility firmly at the door of the batsmen. So you might think that in a year in which they lost the services of the world’s leading quick bowler after less than 13 overs of the international season, and when they had to face (among others) away series with Australia and England, they would not be too optimistic about their chances of success. But that’s the thing about the current South African side – they are for ever confounding expectations. The result was that by March 2017 they had worked their way back to second place in the rankings, after successive series wins first in Australia, then at home to Sri Lanka, and finally away again in New Zealand. The keys to their success were the return to form of the principal batsmen and the development of a balanced bowling attack that – even without the injured Dale Steyn – was a match for any in the world. In the whole of 2015 their batsmen had not managed a single century partnership in any of the eight Tests they played, and although a revival of sorts was evident by the end of the 2015/16 season, it was not until 2016/17 that this bore real fruit. Leading the way was opener Dean Elgar, with a tally of 1,025 runs in his 13 Tests over the period now under review. He was followed by a line-up featuring Hashim Amla, happily now returned to form, the hugely promising Temba Bavuma, the reliable captain Faf du Plessis, and – late in the order until he was finally promoted to number 4 in the series in England – the thrilling Quinton de Kock, whose 946 runs were second only to Elgar. He was proving a fine wicketkeeper too, a regular taker of spectacular and unlikely catches. As for the bowlers, with Steyn absent it fell to the fit-again Vernon Philander and (for the last two series) Morne Morkel, and to the ever-improving Kagiso Rabada, to lead the way; and lead they did, with 41, 30 and 58 wickets respectively, all at averages in the low-to-mid twenties. Moreover, South Africa at last seem to have found a reliable spinner in slow left-armer Keshav Maharaj: dependable both as a wicket-taker and as a run-checker, as demonstrated by his figures of 32 wickets in the last two series, again at an average of around 25 and at an economy rate of almost exactly 3. South Africa confounded the pundits when they took a 2-0 winning lead in their series in Australia in November 2016, thus securing their third successive series win in that country - for comparison, this is a feat not achieved by England since the 1880s. In the first Test at Perth things looked to be going Australia’s way when they were 158-0 in reply to South Africa’s first-innings 242, but their eventual first-innings lead was only two runs. South Africa’s second innings reached 540 thanks to centuries from Elgar and J.P.Duminy; then the bowlers, led by Rabada (5-92) and aided by a breathtaking run-out by Bavuma, secured an untroubled win. Things were even more comfortable in the second Test, which lasted less than 200 overs and less than seven sessions. Batting frailties returned in the final, dead, match of the rubber, a day/night match in which just about the only South African highlight came when du Plessis displayed his tactical inventiveness by declaring before the close on the first day, to allow his bowlers to have a go – unsuccessfully as it turned out – at the Australian openers under lights. Back home over the New Year, a weakened Sri Lanka side was easily dispatched 3-0, with two victories by over 200 runs and a third by an innings and 118. The following series in New Zealand in March was dominated by rain, which prevented potentially close finishes in two of the three matches. South Africa were easy winners of the only decided game, but had the rain not intervened the series could have gone either way. 349