ZA Cricket

South Africa ensured that India would not conquer their final frontier, as they drew 1-1 in what Peter Siddle would probably have called “a good one-all series win”. Although the Proteas would likely have preferred to win the series outright, a team entering the series with a middle order that had fewer than a thousand Test runs combined can’t be too upset for repelling the number one ranked team in the world (at the time the series started). With all the niceties out of the way… how did the players rank?

Nandre Burger 9 – 2 matches: 11 wickets @ an average of 14
There may not be a cricketer who will have a better month than Nandre Burger ever again. Having been on the periphery of the national set-up for a few years, the 28-year-old made an international debut in all three formats within the span of 13 days. He also got his first Indian Premier League (IPL) contract, proving that there is nothing better for your financial future than playing India at around the same time as an IPL auction. Showed immediate incisiveness on debut, taking the wickets of Yashavsi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill in his first session. Followed that up with a four-wicket haul in the second innings to help South Africa to an innings victory.

Dean Elgar 8 – 2 matches: 201 runs @ 67
They say you should leave when people are asking “why are you retiring?”, rather than “when are you retiring?” In having his best series since the 2021 series against Sri Lanka, Dean Elgar ensured that he would be finishing on a high. His 185 in the first Test was the second-highest score of his career, and probably the most assured he’s ever looked, as he took charge of a game that needed someone to take the game by the scruff of its neck. Was a capable deputy on short notice in the first Test. Had a non-descript second Test, punctuated by what was probably the wrong decision at the toss, considering the scores in a low-scoring Test got higher with each inning – but one daddy century in a two-Test series is worth an A.

Marco Jansen 7.5 – 2 matches: 95 runs @ 47.50, 5 wickets @ 26.40
Initially, it seemed he had not quite fixed the bug that had short-circuited his bowling at the tail end of the 2023 World Cup. But he continued to show his growth and progression as a batsman with a matured and assured 84 not out in the first Test. Was in and amongst the wickets in the second innings of the first Test, but for the most part, has not quite rediscovered the control that made him so threatening. You can’t be too mad, though when a guy averages nearly 50 with the bat and 25 with the ball in a series.

Aiden Markram 7.5 – 2 matches: 113 runs @ 37.66
Aiden Markram scored 113 runs in this series. 106 of them came in one innings. He scored seven and a duck in the other two games. So how can he be a 7.5? Well, imagine you’re taking a course in university, and in the course, you have a project. This project is worth 20% of your year mark. But someone does this course better than the lecturer has ever seen anyone do it. What is a lecturer to do? In this case, I take the fact that Markram scored 106 runs in a match where only 467 runs were scored in total. He scored it at better than a run-a-ball. It’s not an exaggeration to suggest that this might have been the greatest innings ever played by a South African cricketer from a qualitative point of view. So in this “course,” we fudge the numbers and give Markram an A- on the back of that one genius project.

David Bedingham 6 – 2 matches: 79 runs @ 26.33
Scored an enterprising 56 runs on debut, where he showed a lot of promise. A solid technique, and a player who knows his game – the result of having played 87 First-Class games, as the commentators were excited to tell us. An argument can be made that he gave his wicket away in the second innings of the First Test when Aiden Markram needed one person to hang in there with him, driving at a wide one from Jasprit Bumrah – but gets something of a pass as this was apparently the hardest pitch in recorded history or something.

Lungi Ngidi 6 – 1 match: 3 wickets @ 10
Lungi Ngidi may be the poster child for the farcical nature of the Newlands pitch. His first five overs went for 30 runs. His sixth over, he took a triple-wicket maiden. It’s a nod to the modern Test game, I guess, even on a pitch where wickets are tumbling, batsmen will play their shots, and more wickets will tumble. It’s not an exaggeration to say the triple-wicket maiden over was the only good thing that Ngidi did, but it’s a helluva trick, right?

Tony de Zorzi 3 – 2 matches: 31 runs @ 10.33
Not much to say. Got a start in the first innings of the first Test. Helped stabilise the game after the early wicket of Aiden Markram. Two failures in the second game make for a forgettable tour. Was lucky his Virat Kohli drop in the first Test was not more costly.

Kyle Verreynne 3 – 2 matches: 28 runs @ 9.33, 9 catches
Another player who had a forgettable series. Failed to contribute with the bat, but was mostly very neat behind the stumps, with the exception of a few absent-minded moments while KL Rahul sneaked a few byes with the tail in the first Test.

Gerald Coetzee 2 – 1 match: 1 wicket @ 102
Left the second innings of the first Test and was ruled out of the rest of the series due to pelvic inflammation. A bit of a lame duck finish to what could be the greatest year of his life, having made his Debut, broken the national record for most wickets in a World Cup, got married, and made R11 million at the IPL auction. Lacked his usual pace and aggression and was quite expensive while he was on the field.

Keegan Petersen 1 – 1 match: 2 runs @ 2
An incredibly forgettable Test for Petersen. Would have hoped for a chance to make amends on his home ground, especially with Temba Bavuma injured, but it was not to be. After 12 Tests, is only averaging 28.5. Needs to make a big contribution in New Zealand to sure up his role in the team.

Tristan Stubbs 1 – 1 match: 4 runs @ 2
The first player ever to be dismissed twice in the same day on debut, so he’ll be a part of cricket trivia forever. Something of a surprising stat, when you consider how many teams have lost by an innings following on. One for the future, but he had a nightmare debut.

Not rated
Temba Bavuma, Keshav Maharaj
Bavuma was injured before contributing in the first Test, while Maharaj did not bowl in the second Test.