Share

Oval: Great place for tons, Proteas!

Cape Town – South Africa have been unusually century-shy over the course of their last five Test matches, spanning the completed three-game series in New Zealand and half of the ding-dong current one in England.

Statistics, or at least these particular ones, don’t lie: the Proteas have only converted one score of 50 or more among their 20 registered in that period to three figures; yes, that amounts to a strangely flimsy conversion rate of five percent.

The lone century-maker in the spell under scrutiny is opening batsman Dean Elgar, who made a key 140 – earning him the man-of-the-match award – in the drawn first Test against the Black Caps at Dunedin.

There were four other half-centuries by South Africans in that Test, a further two in Wellington and three in Hamilton.

The inability to transfer good starts into tons has seeped into the first two Tests against England, which is locked at 1-1 (one convincing triumph each) going into Thursday’s third encounter at The Oval, starting at 12:00 SA time.

So far in the series, Proteas batsmen have notched 10 half-centuries, but the only ascent to a ton has instead come from an Englishman, their captain Joe Root, whose leadership is naturally under considerably deeper scrutiny than his own form after the battering his charges took at Trent Bridge.

Root scored 190 in England’s victory at Lord’s, a result (by 211 runs) which significantly came by a not dissimilar margin to those first-knock runs he amassed.

As off-colour as the Proteas were in that Test match, ultimately the weight of Root’s 234-ball vigil made the biggest difference in the contest, and only served to indicate how one batsman getting properly knuckled down and then prospering fully can influence outcomes in the five-day format.

It is not as though batsmen falling under the current SA crop are traditionally averse to making centuries: before the NZ series or the ongoing one for the Basil D’Oliveira Trophy, there was a pretty well-established habit.

For example, in the triumphant three-Test series in Australia during last summer, as many as five tons flew off SA blades: 141 by JP Duminy and 127 from Elgar in Perth, 104 by Quinton de Kock in Hobart, and 118 from Faf du Plessis and Stephen Cook’s 104 in Adelaide.

Admittedly on home soil and against a limited Sri Lankan side in the same season, there were also five by South Africans across the clean-swept three Tests: one each from Messrs Cook, Elgar, De Kock, Duminy and Hashim Amla.

Speaking of Amla, he seems especially primed, as the senior figure in the Proteas ranks, for the possibility of getting to three figures again at The Oval, where his 311 not out in the last English-staged bilateral series of 2012 is the stuff of folklore – still the only time a South African has made a “treble”.

He would get another ton – 121 in the final Test at Lord’s - en route to the 2-0 victory (with one draw) then, and there were also weighty centuries along the way from Jacques Kallis (182 not out), Alviro Petersen (182) and Graeme Smith (131).

Amla is gradually building a personal head of steam on the present tour, considering his successive innings of 78 and 87 in the Nottingham win.

The Oval has an attractive reputation - if you are a batsman, that is - for allowing really major scores by individuals, something confirmed in the last Test staged there.

In the 2016 series between England and Pakistan, the visitors earned a 10-wicket triumph, based strongly on veteran (now retired) Younis Khan’s 218 and a supportive 109 from Asad Shafiq; Moeen Ali also landed a century for the losing side.

But if beefy scoring is an enduring Oval hallmark, matches also tend to move fairly quickly there, allowing for a good possibility of results: there has only been one draw in the last nine Tests at the Kennington ground.

England have a ropey record at The Oval in recent times … one win, a draw and three reverses from their last five Tests, beginning with South Africa’s thumping win on that prior-mentioned 2012 trek.

*Follow our chief writer on Twitter: @RobHouwing

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Should Siya Kolisi keep the captaincy as the Springboks build towards their World Cup title defence in 2027?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes! Siya will only be 36 at the next World Cup. He can make it!
25% - 1142 votes
No! I think the smart thing to do is start again with a younger skipper ...
30% - 1327 votes
I'd keep Siya captain for now, but look to have someone else for 2027.
45% - 2026 votes
Vote
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE