Dean Elgar, captain of the Proteas, criticized his team’s weak batting performance, which resulted in a 2-1 series loss to England at The Oval on Monday.
South Africa only reached 200 once in five attempts, with their 326 at Lord’s in the opening match of the series delivering the lone victory.
In addition, the batting performance has been abysmal, with scores of 151 and 179 at Old Trafford and 118 and 169 at The Oval. This resulted in two crushing innings losses of 85 runs and nine wickets, respectively.
Throughout the series, only opener Sarel Erwee managed a half-century, much alone a century, by a South African.
“A good first innings helped us at Lord’s, but we’ve failed in that department. First-innings runs are so important in the United Kingdom. “You need to score runs,” Elgar stated.
🚨 RESULT | ENGLAND WIN BY 9 WICKETS
England concludes the third Test to secure consecutive victories and a 2-1 series lead over South Africa. #ENGvSA #BePartOfIt pic.twitter.com/TOkAo07lQ
12 September 2022 — Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA)
“Difficult decision (about selection), it didn’t work in this game, but those guys have had many eye-opening experiences. Many lessons for these players. The grind will be challenging.
“I have to give credit to our bowlers; they accomplished everything asked of them, but it all comes down to our batting.”
Ben Stokes, captain of England and player of the series, lauded his team’s ability to grind out a victory even when their backs were against the wall.
“This has been a fantastic series for our team. There has been no truly outstanding solo performance. Different individuals have raised their hands. Toss is something you want to win, but you must still execute. Test cricket is determined by who executes their strategies the best. You attempt to manage bowlers like Jimmy (James Anderson), Broady (Stuart Broad), and (Ollie) Robinson. It is a matter of understanding when I must bring out their greatest performance. They have been remarkable,” stated Stokes.
He also remarked that the only way to achieve long-term success is to maintain trust in the system’s foundations.
“For me, clarity is essential. There is a reason why we have been able to perform there. With the game being shorter, our primary objective was to secure a win. We will always play in a manner that will entertain the audience. It is crucial to provide men time to perform. (Ollie) Pope shown his capabilities. The credit goes to (Alex) Lees and Zak (Crawley). Opening is quite difficult in England. “Don’t undervalue how they set the tone,” added Stokes.
“They (Anderson and Broad) are outstanding. I feel really fortunate to have two of the best seam bowlers in the world. They continue to show up day after day, and they continue to have faith. Many young cricketers will look up to them as role models.”
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