Markram heroics put Proteas on top despite day one collapse

Just when you thought the Proteas were unshackling themselves from the batting woes of recent times the old ghosts returned to spook them, allowing the West Indies a path back into the first Test on Tuesday.

South Africa were cruising at tea on 206/1, with Aiden Markram completing a sixth Test century shortly after the interval and debutant Tony de Zorzi growing increasingly confident. The West Indies had looked uninterested throughout the first two sessions, as if disappointed they didn’t get a chance to bat first after Temba Bavuma won the toss.

But a sterling fightback, led by an inspired Alzarri Joseph, and a very bad run-out involving De Zorzi saw the Proteas surrender a position of dominance. By stumps they were 314/8.

By recent standards that total is actually pretty good — it’s the first time they’d reached 300 in a completed innings since Lord’s last year. Batting collapses though, as Tuesday showed, remain a trend.

With Markram and former captain Dean Elgar providing just the third-century stand for the first wicket in the last year, the optimism about the new brand Bavuma and new Test coach Shukri Conrad have been talking about seemed justified.

Elgar, who last batted in the Sydney Test six weeks ago, looked fidgety, but the West Indies’s bowling in the morning was too inconsistent to allow pressure to build. Markram was in fine fettle, driving well, and generally appeared at ease.

Elgar would eventually find his feet, registering a first Test half-century in 11 innings. Post-lunch Elgar was feeling so good about himself he was unfurling ramp shots as if in search of a T20 contract.

He got carried away with the stroke, didn’t realise Jermaine Blackwood — who’d dropped him earlier on 10 — had been posted to a fine third man, offering a catch the West Indies fielder did well to snaffle.

De Zorzi’s was an innings that started with two outside edges for four and included a glorious flowing cover drive off Shannon Gabriel. He too looked comfortable, playing well in support of Markram, who went to his first Test century in two years, raising his bat to accept the applause of an understandably sparse crowd.

Markram had unleashed his full array of sparkling stroke play, pressing South Africa’s innings ahead at a scoring rate of close to four an over. That would have pleased Conrad, who is preaching a more positive approach with the bat in the national team, and for those at domestic level looking to win a place in the Test side.

The tone of the day changed 20 minutes after tea and it was all down to De Zorzi’s inattentive running. Pushing for a third run, he failed to look at Markram and had to put the brakes on mid-pitch, switched his bat from his right to left hand, but quick work from West Indies wicketkeeper Joshua da Silva to pass an errant throw onto the stumps caught De Zorzi centimetres short.

The wicket energised the West Indies and Joseph in particular. He trapped Bavuma lbw second ball, a delivery that didn’t appear to move much but beat Bavuma for pace.

Three overs later he got Markram with a magnificent 145kph yorker that even someone who’d batted for more than four-and-a-half hours, as Markram had, couldn’t catch up to. As disappointed as Markram was to get out, especially at that stage, his 115 continued this latest revival of the career of one of the most talented batters this country has produced.

Just three weeks ago, he made a century in the semifinal of the SA20 at this venue to help guide his Sunrisers Eastern Cape side to the final of that tournament. Those were a pivotal few weeks that helped make up Conrad’s mind about restoring him to the Test side.

The West Indies by that stage were more focused than at any point during the day. Heinrich Klaasen made quick-fire 20 and mistimed a pull against Shannon Gabriel and then Senuran Muthusamy didn’t offer a shot to Kemar Roach and was given out lbw. The Proteas lost 5/50 in 13.3 overs.

Muthusamy was one of five changes to the Proteas starting XI from the side that was lucky to hold on for a draw in Sydney. De Zorzi and Gerald Coetzee made debuts, the former somewhat surprisingly, while Muthusamy’s presence too is a little strange.

He is certainly not a better bowler than Keshav Maharaj, and with the Proteas wanting to have a slightly longer batting line-up it seemed his batting that earned him the nod. Whether a first-class average of 31.16 justifies that selection remains to be seen.

For now the Proteas will hope the tail can scrape together enough runs to allow the bowlers to target some areas on the pitch that occasionally demonstrated inconsistency in bounce on day one.