Proteas hoping runs will be easy to find at Hagley Oval

Johannesburg – South Africa start their brief two-match Test series against New Zealand (midnight Wednesday night) knowing they have the bowlers to win, but still unsure if the batters can provide substantial totals.

Rassie van der Dussen made a strong argument in support of his Proteas batting compadres. It’s a point that goes back a few years to the era of Ottis Gibson coaching South Africa, when pitches for Tests in this country were weighted in favour of the Proteas’ strengths – the fast bowlers.

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With the exception of Kingsmead – where South Africa rarely play anyway – most of the main Test venues favour seam bowling. It was the case recently against India, and South Africa won again.

For the batters, it’s become a case of “Do what you can”. It’s meant that their egos, averages and often bodies have had to take a hit, but in the grander scheme of things, home soil has been protected.

However, the absence of Test hundreds does, understandably, rankle.

“As a batter, your currency is runs, and in Test cricket, that currency is hundreds,” Van der Dussen said from Christchurch, where both matches against the Black Caps will be played.

In the 13 Tests the Proteas have played since Mark Boucher took over as head coach, just four batters have made hundreds, and two of those – Faf du Plessis and Quinton de Kock – no longer play Test cricket.

The others are the openers, skipper Dean Elgar and Aiden Markram, the latter struggling in the series against India.

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That particular series featured more of those difficult South African tracks. “In the last two or three years, South Africa has been the toughest place to bat in terms of Test cricket and the nature of how those pitches play,” said Van der Dussen.

“We’ve been up to the task.

We’ve just beaten the No.1 team in the world in those conditions.

Milestones and hundreds are there, and it’s definitely a ‘measurable’. But like in the last series, the way a guy like KP (Keegan Petersen) batted, and by getting even 60s, 70s and an 80 was probably worth 100-plus on a pitch that will play easier.”

No-one can argue that Elgar’s 96 not out at the Wanderers was worth more than numbers on the score-sheet, and the same goes for Petersen’s 82 in the second innings at Newlands. The only two hundreds were made by India, and they left South Africa empty-handed.

While New Zealand is challenging for batters – particularly from the sub-continent – SA’s assessment of the conditions at Hagley Oval sounds optimistic.

“It’s good for seam-bowling.

There’s not much in the surface with regard to spin, but quite a bit of bounce, and the pace is something to get used to,” said Van der Dussen.

“The wickets look very green and grassy, but the surface underneath is quite hard. That makes it consistent in terms of bounce and pace. These conditions suit pace and swing.”

That is something South Africa’s batters are familiar with, and if the bounce is consistent and the movement off the surface not as quick as the tracks were for the India series, it will make life slightly easier for the tourists.

Against that is that they are facing a high-class attack, who, despite missing a key component in Trent Boult for the first Test, know the conditions extremely well.

Tim Southee, Neil Wagner and Kyle Jamieson are a classy trio, with lanky all-rounder Jamieson particularly fond of Hagley Oval, having taken three of his five career ‘five-fors’ there.

This series is shaping up in a similar way to the India series, where two excellent bowling attacks represent their teams’ main strengths, and the outcome will depend on which batting unit survives long enough and makes enough runs.

The Proteas will feature a new No 3 – Sarel Erwee, if Elgar gets his way – while New Zealand will have Devon Conway continuing at No 3, with Daryl Mitchell, who’s played just seven Tests, down to bat at five.

SQUADS

New Zealand: Tom Latham (capt), Will Young, Devon Conway, Henry Nicholls, Daryl Mitchell, Hamish Rutherford, Tom Blundell, Colin de Gradhomme, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Matt Henry, Blair Tickner, Cam Fletcher, Rachin Ravindra

South Africa: Dean Elgar (capt), Temba Bavuma, Sarel Erwee, Zubayr Hamza, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Duanne Olivier, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Lutho Sipamla, Glenton Stuurman, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne

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