Published: Jan 14, 2019, 10:35 PM (IST)
Edited: Jan 14, 2019, 10:35 PM (IST)
South Africa coach Ottis Gibson said his side’s clinical Test series sweep against Pakistan was “just according to plan”. Fiery pacer Duanne Olivier’s 24 wickets in the three Tests proved to be the difference, but Ottis reckons the hosts’ batsmen were the unsung heroes.
“We did exactly what we set out to do,” Gibson said at the post-match press conference on Monday after South Africa won the third and final Test by 107 runs at the Wanderers. (ALSO READ: Olivier sparks South Africa to sweep of Pakistan)
“To those before us and those to come, today, tomorrow, we'll play as one. To the TEAM!” #Itsmorethancricket #ProteaFire 🇿🇦🔥 pic.twitter.com/oBirs2zWVR
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) January 14, 2019
“We wanted to play four fast bowlers, and the way we played, the pitches suited four fast bowlers. The four fast bowlers did a fantastic job. Batsmen struggled for runs, but they still scored: we got two hundreds in the series, and all in all, mission accomplished.”
Gibson highlighted the contribution made by Temba Bavuma, who scored 172 in the three Tests in tough conditions. “As bad as people have said the wickets have been, we got two quality hundreds and quite a few fifties,” Gibson said.
“Temba Bavuma was outstanding in this series. He never got a hundred, but the job that he did. Hashim Amla in both innings in this match, and especially on the third day, we could easily have been bowled out but for the way Hashim played. And then Quinny (Quinton de Kock) scored a brilliant hundred as well. (ALSO READ: South Africa climb to second spot in ICC Test rankings)
“I keep saying to the batters ‘when the wickets are like this, you don’t need to score 500’. If we get 262 in the first innings, with our four fast bowlers on a fast bouncy track that’s a great score, because we know that we can knock a team over for under that, which we did. It’s been tough for the batters. They might complain outside the dressing room, but inside the dressing room none of the batters are complaining about the pitches. We’re just getting stuck in and trying to get as many runs as we can get to give our bowlers the chance to operate.”
Tough pitches meant that not all of South Africa’s batsmen have been able to cash in. Stand-in captain Dean Elgar made just the one half-century, while Theunis de Bruyn fell short of a half-century by one run. Zubayr Hamza scored 41 on debut in the first innings but registered a duck in the second. (ALSO READ: Glad to be contributing to the team’s cause: Duanne Olivier)
“The guys are quite new,” Elgar said. “Theunis is inexperienced at this level, and Hamza came in on his Test debut, and that’s always going to be tough. The pressure and intensity that you face at Test level is going to be higher than what you’re used to at domestic level.
“You’ve got to have a few inexperienced guys around because they’ve got to take the game forward in a few years’ time. So, it’s important that we carry those guys around. They need to play, that’s the only way you get experience. Unfortunately, you do have to go through a few failures in your career, but it’s about how you bounce back from those failures going forward.”
Elgar maintained that as far as the Proteas are concerned, “scoring more hundreds”, regardless of conditions, was a goal moving forward.
“I don’t think we played at 100 percent throughout the series,” Elgar said.
“I always thought we were maybe at 70, 75 percent throughout the series, so for us to get close to 100 percent is another goal for us. I’m sure a lot of guys would agree with what I’m saying that we haven’t played our best cricket. But we’re still winning, so I can’t wait for when we’re actually in that 90 to 100 percent bracket. I can’t wait to see what we can achieve.” (ALSO READ: I have worked on a few technical things: Quinton de Kock)
“We will certainly continue to play this brand of cricket, because it is successful, and ultimately that’s what we want to be,” Gibson said.
“We want to be successful, and if it’s working for us then we’ll continue this trend.”
