In the absence of their bowling spearhead, South Africa’s attack trumped over inexperience and expectations of failure to deliver an advantage to their side
Firdose Moonda in Perth04-Nov-2016A burden shared is a burden halved wrote the author T.A. Webb and South Africa’s three fit bowlers proved his words true on the second day of the Perth Test against Australia. When Dale Steyn left the field in the 38th over, Australia were 76 runs behind with nine wickets in hand. Steyn had cut off the head, by dismissing David Warner for 97, as he said he would, but it was up to Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada and Keshav Maharaj to deal with the body and they needed only one session to do it.For the debutant spinner Maharaj, it was the biggest ask of his career. He completed Steyn’s over and continued bowling from that end until the innings had concluded. It was a mini-marathon – 16.2 overs – with a break for lunch in between but it was a job that needed to be done correctly if South Africa were to come back into the match.His chief responsibility was to create pressure which the fast bowlers would be able to exploit from the other side. Knowing that that this is a seamer’s surface, knowing that if the Australian line-up were going to target anyone it would be him, and knowing that he had never played at this level before, Maharaj did as he was asked and more. He picked up three wickets in the process, including the big one of Steven Smith, a controversial one given how far down the pitch Smith was at the point of impact. Maharaj, however, will not remember it like that. His first Test wicket was the Australian captain, for a duck. That’s the story he will tell his one-year old niece when he calls home tonight.Maharaj is not a great turner of the ball and so did not overcomplicate his strategy. He nagged away with accuracy and trumped the Australians for temperament – the kind that suggests his Test career will be long. Maharaj showed he belonged with bat in hand from the time he bravely saw off a full first ball of 147kph from Mitchell Starc to the time he heaved Nathan Lyon over long-on. His brief innings was ballsy. His bowling was more so.Unlike previous spinners South Africa have tried, and Imran Tahir is one that comes to mind, Maharaj rarely invited the batsmen to take him on. Most of his deliveries were flat and straight, almost all of them were in the same area, as though he knew that ultimately a mistake would come.That allowed Rabada and Philander some space to search a little more and in their contrasting styles, they found the wickets they were looking for. Rabada ramped up the pace and aggression, threw in the odd bouncer, tempted the batsmen with deliveries outside off and hurried them into making mistakes. He bowled Usman Khawaja with a delivery that swung into him at speed and drew a leading edge from Adam Voges with one aimed at the toes. Rabada’s raw talent combined with remarkable maturity at his age makes him a constant danger, even when in the absence of Steyn.Today, he was the perfect complement to Philander, who found the subtle movement that has given him so much success in the past; the kind that demands the batsman’s full attention because even a small lapse can cost him. It was particularly important for Philander to rediscovered his menace in this situation because he was under scrutiny to seize the reins in Steyn’s absence.In only his first Test, Keshav Maharaj showed awareness of the match situation during a tight bowling spell•Getty ImagesPhilander only played two of the three Tests on South Africa’s previous tour to Australia and, with series returns of 4 for 56, did not make much of an impact. There was a general feeling he would flounder in foreign conditions and, with a waning strike rate, was past his best. But he put those concerns to bed and he did it without getting nasty or ugly, as he had threatened in the build-up.His spell that straddled lunch was poetry. The ball nipped in only a touch to beat Shaun Marsh and only a touch more to mete the same treatment out to Mitchell. He moved it away to take Adam Voges’ edge, which flew for four between the keeper and first slip. He came back to nip out the No.10 and 11 batsmen in the space of three balls and keep the lead to just two.Collectively, the bowlers South Africa did the job in the first innings. Now, they will have to do it again in the second, after confirmation that Steyn will not play further part in the series. Philander, Rabada and Maharaj can take some inspiration from how their batsmen managed to plug the gap caused by AB de Villiers’ absence, due to an elbow problem, over an extended period. In the Tests against New Zealand, the experience of JP Duminy and Faf du Plessis made up for it, while, in the ODIs against Australia, the younger crop, including Quinton de Kock, Rilee Rossouw and David Miller stepped up.Professional sportsmen thrive under pressure and losing your spearhead mid-match for the biggest series of your summer is the most pressure an attack can face. But an attack that shares the burden, is an attack that will halve it.
