Dean Elgar joins Desmond Haynes; 2nd cricketer to carry bat thrice

Dean Elgar had earlier carried his bat versus England and India respectively.

Dean Elgar has his way of piling runs on the board. He is a tentative starter who often gets beaten in the early overs. His bat turns in his hand at times, but he manages to check his shot at the last moment to surpass the slips. In addition, he cops nasty blows and looks uncomfortable for most parts. Nonetheless, what he does best is to move on quickly despite all hindrances and apply his mind fully while taking guard for the next ball. As a result, Elgar became the first South African, and only second overall, to carry his bat thrice in Test cricket. Elgar joins Desmond Haynes in this rare feat. Elgar got to the personal milestone, courtesy an unbeaten 141, during Day Two of the third Test versus Australia at Cape Town.

Player	Runs	Total	%	Team	Against	Venue	Season	Runs	Count
Bernard Tancred	26*	47	55.3%	South Africa	England	Newlands	1888-89	26	1
Jack Barrett	67*	176	38.1%	Australia	England	Lord’s	1890	67	1
Bobby Abel	132*	307	43.0%	England	Australia	SCG	1891-92	132	1
Plum Warner	132*	237	55.7%	England	South Africa	Old Wanderers	1898-99	132	1
Warwick Armstrong	159*	309	51.5%	Australia	South Africa	Old Wanderers	1902-03	159	1
Billy Zulch	43*	103	41.7%	South Africa	England	Newlands	1909-10	43	1
Warren Bardsley	193*	383	50.4%	Australia	England	Lord’s	1926	193	1
Bill Woodfull	30*	66	45.5%	Australia	England	Exhibition Ground, Brisbane	1928-29	30	1
Bill Woodfull	73*	193	37.8%	Australia	England	Adelaide Oval	1932-33	73	2
Bill Brown	206*	422	48.8%	Australia	England	Lord’s	1938	206	1
Len Hutton	202*	344	58.7%	England	West Indies	The Oval	1950	202	1
Len Hutton	156*	272	57.4%	England	Australia	Adelaide Oval	1950-51	156	2
Nazar Mohammad	124*	331	37.5%	Pakistan	India	University Ground, Lucknow	1952-53	124	1
Frank Worrell	191*	372	51.3%	West Indies	England	Trent Bridge	1957	191	1
Trevor Goddard	56*	99	56.6%	South Africa	Australia	Newlands	1957-58	56	1
Jackie McGlew	127*	292	43.5%	South Africa	New Zealand	Kingsmead	1961-62	127	1
Conrad Hunte	60*	131	45.8%	West Indies	Australia	Queen’s Park Oval	1964-65	60	1
Glenn Turner	43*	131	32.8%	New Zealand	England	Lord’s	1969	43	1
Bill Lawry	49*	107	45.8%	Australia	India	Kotla	1969-70	49	1
Bill Lawry	60*	116	51.7%	Australia	England	SCG	1970-71	60	2
Glenn Turner	223*	386	57.8%	New Zealand	West Indies	Sabina Park	1971-72	223	2
Ian Redpath	159*	346	46.0%	Australia	New Zealand	Eden Park	1973-74	159	1
Geoff Boycott	99*	215	46.0%	England	Australia	WACA	1979-80	99	1
Sunil Gavaskar	127*	286	44.4%	India	Pakistan	Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad	1982-83	127	1
Mudassar Nazar	152*	323	47.1%	Pakistan	India	Gaddafi	1982-83	152	1
Sidath Wettimuny	63*	144	43.8%	Sri Lanka	New Zealand	Lancaster Park	1982-83	63	1
David Boon	58*	103	56.3%	Australia	New Zealand	Eden Park	1985-86	58	1
Desmond Haynes	88*	211	41.7%	West Indies	Pakistan	Karachi	1986-87	88	1
Graham Gooch	154*	252	61.1%	England	West Indies	Headingley	1991	154	1
Desmond Haynes	75*	176	42.6%	West Indies	England	The Oval	1991	75	2
Alec Stewart	69*	175	39.4%	England	Pakistan	Lord’s	1992	69	1
Desmond Haynes	143*	382	37.4%	West Indies	Pakistan	Queen’s Park Oval	1992-93	143	3
Mark Dekker	68*	187	36.4%	Zimbabwe	Pakistan	Rawalpindi	1993-94	68	1
Michael Atherton	94*	228	41.2%	England	New Zealand	Lancaster Park	1996-97	94	1
Gary Kirsten	100*	239	41.8%	South Africa	Pakistan	Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad	1997-98	100	1
Mark Taylor	169*	350	48.3%	Australia	South Africa	Adelaide Oval	1997-98	169	1
Grant Flower	156*	321	48.6%	Zimbabwe	Pakistan	Bulawayo	1997-98	156	1
Saeed Anwar	188*	316	59.5%	Pakistan	India	Eden Gardens	1998-99	188	1
Marvan Atapattu	216*	428	50.5%	Sri Lanka	Zimbabwe	Bulawayo	1999-00	216	1
Russel Arnold	104*	231	45.0%	Sri Lanka	Zimbabwe	Harare	1999-00	104	1
Javed Omar	85*	168	50.6%	Bangladesh	Zimbabwe	Bulawayo	2000-01	85	1
Virender Sehwag	201*	329	61.1%	India	Sri Lanka	Galle	2008	201	1
Simon Katich	131*	268	48.9%	Australia	New Zealand	The Gabba	2008-09	131	1
Chris Gayle	165*	317	52.1%	West Indies	Australia	Adelaide Oval	2009-10	165	1
Imran Farhat	117*	223	52.5%	Pakistan	New Zealand	Napier	2009-10	117	1
Rahul Dravid	146*	300	48.7%	India	England	The Oval	2011	146	1
Tino Mawoyo	163*	412	39.6%	Zimbabwe	Pakistan	Bulawayo	2011	163	1
David Warner	123*	233	52.8%	Australia	New Zealand	Bellerive Oval	2011-12	123	1
Cheteshwar Pujara	145*	312	46.5%	India	Sri Lanka	SSC	2015	145	1
Dean Elgar	118*	214	55.1%	South Africa	England	Kingsmead	2015-16	118	1
Kraigg Brathwaite	142*	337	42.1%	West Indies	Pakistan	Sharjah	2015-16	142	1
Alastair Cook	244*	491	49.7%	England	Australia	MCG	2017-18	244	1
Dean Elgar	86*	177	48.6%	South Africa	India	New Wanderers	2017-18	86	2
Dean Elgar	141*	311	100.0%	South Africa	Australia	Newlands	2017-18	311	3

Elgar scored 45.3 per cent of runs during South Africa‘s 311 in the ongoing Cape Town Test. He added two vital stands with Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers. The striking fact of his innings was that he found the middle of the bat since the beginning, and looked swifter — even more than de Villiers. From 254 for 7, Elgar’s stubborn resistance pushed the total beyond 300.

Earlier, Elgar had carried his bat against England (in 2017) and India (in January). Before him, Haynes had achieved this feat; twice against Pakistan and once versus England. The ones who have attained this feat twice are Glenn Turner, Bill Lawry, Bill Woodfull and Len Hutton.

Elgar’s quote before the ongoing Test

“It’s been a little bit frustrating. I actually feel that I’m batting nicely. I’m getting through all the tough parts and I’m letting myself down with silly, stupid and uncharacteristic kind of dismissals,” Elgar told ESPNCricinfo.