South Africa vs. England, 4th Test, Day 2: De Kock Notches Up Maiden Ton
The fourth and final Test of the series between England and hosts South Africa at Centurion is shaping up to be an intriguing affair.
So far, the weather has played along, and the thunderstorms that threatened have stayed at bay. After being dismissed by England for 475, South Africa grabbed two quick wickets to leave England 138 for two at stumps on Day 2.
While South Africa were batting, the pitch looked mostly flat, but with England, it's looked two-paced in places. There's also been just a hint of turn for spinner Dane Piedt. There's plenty of time left in the Test to try and force a result, but it's going to take really hard work from South Africa's bowlers to do so.
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Quinton de Kock Shows Some Emotion
Quinton de Kock reminded everyone why he could be “South Africa’s Adam Gilchrist” with a fine maiden Test century off just 104 balls. While some batsmen might get a bit tetchy when they get to the 90s, De Kock had none of that. He took on Moeen Ali and slapped consecutive fours to take him to 99 and calmly brought up his century with a single.
The celebration that followed was quite unlike De Kock. On previous occasions when he’d scored hundreds for fun in limited overs cricket, the young wicketkeeper would simply raise his bat. This time, there was a lot of pomp and air punching. The maiden century clearly meant a lot to the 22-year old, who was dropped from the South African Test side after a poor effort in Bangladesh.
De Kock scored three hundreds with the A-team following those failures, but it wasn’t enough to see him return to the Test squad for India, and it wasn’t until the second Test in England that he had earned a return to the squad.
On that return, he managed to get himself out in the most frightfully unnecessary way possible on a very flat deck.
At the Wanderers, he missed out through injury, so he’d been waiting for this moment for a long time.
Why De Kock had to wait so long to make his return is another question South Africa’s selectors will have to answer.
South Africa’s Tail Puts On Quite a Show
The South African scorecard made for quite peculiar reading. South Africa had three centurions—for the first time since December 2014 at this same ground—but the next highest score was 35 from Temba Bavuma as they amassed a total of 475.
The tail played a huge part in getting the Proteas to that total, with Kyle Abbott, Piedt and Morne Morkel combined spending nearly three hours at the crease. Piedt's patience—which lasted for 104 balls and just 19 runs—saw De Kock go from 61 to his maiden ton.
England Back To Dropping Catches
In two of the four Tests, England have suffered from a serious case of butter fingers. This is one of them.
Jonny Bairstow’s keeping was dubious, and even Alastair Cook struggled to hang on to simple chances.
The good news for England is that they have already won the series, so it hardly matters. The bad news, for Bairstow is that his efforts with the bat might not be enough to keep him in the side ahead of Jos Buttler.
Morne Morkel Doesn’t Get the New Ball…Again
Another Test when Morkel doesn’t get given the new ball. In India, Morkel was given the new ball and thrived, but back on South African soil, he’s not been given a crack with the new cherry.
Even Piedt bowled ahead of him on Day 2. Morkel does sometimes struggle with his length and can often bowl too short too often, but when he is given extra responsibility, he thrives.
It’s strange he has not been trusted to lead the attack, but he has done well in playing a containing role here at Centurion.
All information obtained firsthand.
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