South Africa vs Australia 2014: 2nd Test, Day 2 - AB de Villiers and JP Duminy shine on a slow pitch

AB de Villiers and JP Duminy

On a slow surface at Port Elizabeth, not many would have expected this kind of performance from South Africa. Having lost key wickets on Day one, South Africa desperately needed AB de Villers to play a big innings.

For that, he needed a good support from JP Duminy. The surface was on the slower-side, and the ball was not coming on to the bat quickly. Therefore they needed to be patient to push Australia on to the backfoot.

That’s exactly what happened as AB de Villers and JP Duminy’s 149-run stand for sixth wicket helped South Africa post 423 runs in the first innings. It was a disciplined batting performance from AB de Villers. He’s a good player of spin-bowling. He’s also a good player off the backfoot which is important on a sluggish surface.

When the ball is gripping, you can’t use the front foot to score the runs. You must have good backfoot defence to handle the spinners. AB de Villers possesses this special characteristic, and therefore, he made an impact in this Test match.

AB de Villers was also careful in leaving the ball outside off-stump. In the first day of the Test match, Australia pacers were not able to get life out of the dead pitch. They were not deriving lateral movement off the surface. So, they were concentrating on the line and length to out think the batsmen.

The ploy gave room for AB de Villers to judge the ball carefully which was pitched around the off-stump area. Since the surface had no movement, AB de Villers took full advantage of those deliveries.

However, Aussie pacers were getting some movement off the pitch yesterday when they took the second new-ball. They also brought in variations which made life difficult for de Villers and Duminy. Therefore AB de Villers was watchful against Ryan Harris and Mitchell Johnson.

Once the ball got older, de Villers started dominating the bowlers. He didn’t allow Johnson to bowl a long spell. He perhaps knew Johnson would hardly make an impact in this Test match. The good thing about de Villers was he was not pre-meditated against Johnson. He allowed the ball to bounce, and then selected the shot.

In addition, whenever Johnson deliveried short-pitched deliveries, de Villers was quick to go on to the backfoot and pull the ball. Thus Johnson had less impact in this Test match.

On the other hand, JP Duminy also played an important role along with de Villers. He was the man who unsettled Johnson today when Australia took the second new-ball. He struck three blistering boundaries of Johnson in the 87th over and forced Clarke to think out of the box.

By smashing Johnson, he forced Clarke to bring the spinners which has been Duminy’s strength. Duminy has solid technique against spinners. He can adjust his footwork depending on the kind of lengths. However he was finding it difficult to handle Lyon initially because of the slowness in the wicket. The ball was stopping and coming on to the bat. But soon started picking Lyon’s length quickly.

Considering the situation, Proteas needed at least one of them to stay till the end Both, however, scored centuries and helped South Africa post a score that could create problems for Australia. Even though de Villers was dismissed in the 124th over, Duminy stayed at the wicket and batted patiently. Had he been dismissed, Australia would have fancied their chances.

If Duminy and de Villers played a crucial role with the bat, Veron Philander and Wayne Parnell played an important role with the ball. They extracted life out of a dead pitch. Philander was bowling at good pace of 140kph and the ball was moving around with pace which made life difficult for Australia stroke makers.

Chris Rogers struggled to face Philander and Dale Steyn who were deriving movement off the pitch. The problem for Australia was they were not able to land the ball in full length area. But Steyn and Philander were constantly landing the ball fuller, and the ball was moving from the area.

It will be difficult for batsmen to judge the movement when it is pitched full. Thus Rogers was lbw to an incoming delivery of Philander and soon South Africa claimed the wickets of Doolan, Shaun Marsh and Michael Clarke.

The second day belonged to the ruthless Proteas and will be looking for a massive win to draw the series. Australia need something special to come back into the match.