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Retirement hasn’t quite sunk in with the New Zealand batter focused on bouncing back from the Mount Maunganui defeat against Bangladesh

Alagappan Muthu07-Jan-2022Ross Taylor will soon be spending a lot less time on the cricket field and there’s at least one person who’s going to be fairly happy about that.”My daughter still hasn’t grasped the concept of five-day cricket yet. When I got out the other day she said, ‘Come on, Dad, let’s go home’.”Come Sunday, Taylor will be playing his final Test match of a career that began in 2007. He has seen great highs – hitting the runs that made New Zealand the first-ever Test world champions – and great lows, especially during a captaincy stint that went horribly wrong.”It doesn’t feel like it, my last game,” he said. “It hasn’t really dawned on me just yet. I suppose when you’ve still got one-dayers to go… if it was my last game full stop, then definitely it might feel a little bit different.”Related

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• New Zealand look to bounce back against joyous Bangladesh

• Latham admits Bangladesh 'certainly outplayed us'

• Bangladesh 'crossed all barriers to bring a wonderful win'

New Zealand will play Australia across three ODIs and three T20Is later this year. Perhaps that might be the time Taylor really figures out what it means to hang up those well-worn boots. For now, his focus is on bouncing back from 1-0 down against a fighting Bangladesh in Christchurch.”It’s all to play for here at a ground that we know well. I still think we’re learning how to play in the Mount,” he said. “But we know what to expect a lot more here than we did in the Mount (Maunganui), I think. It’s going to have bounce and carry the whole time. There’s going to be a lot of grass on it. It’s conditions that us batters are used to and I’m sure our bowlers are as well.”So, if we win the toss, we’re more often than not going to bowl and if you’re batting first, you’ve got to scrap through. Sometimes our lower order has got us out of trouble. So just trying to scrap to 200 can be well above par. We’ll just have to wait and see.”New Zealand have played eight Test matches at Hagley Oval. And they have lost only one of them. Mount Maunganui is a relatively newer ground which has hosted only three Test matches so far, and Ebadot Hossain, in particular, used it to throw up a challenge that, in Taylor’s estimation, they weren’t ready for.”They were patient, they brought the stumps into play, they made us hit straight down the ground and a lot of our players probably haven’t faced reverse swing for a majority of their careers,” he said. “It’s probably only been sporadic in the domestic circuit. And they bowled very well with it. Got it going both ways. But here, in Christchurch, the conditions will suit us a lot more than they probably did in the Mount.”So are things falling in place for a memorable Taylor farewell?”As a team, we definitely want to try and turn things around and send him off in a nice, positive way,” team-mate Devon Conway said. “It’s been a real honour to play alongside him even though it’s been sort of five Test matches for me personally but just to be in and around Ross in that change-room, it is an honour.”We spoke about it as the game ended in the Mount last week. We said we needed to try and bounce back and send him off on a positive note and try and remind him as to what he’s done throughout Test cricket.”The last New Zealand player who retired at Hagley Oval went off with a proper bang. Brendon McCullum exited the stage having struck the fastest hundred in all of Test cricket. What’s it like having to be his follow-up act?”Aw, jeepers – he’s set the bar very high,” Taylor said. “Jeepers! As I said, it’d just be good to have a win, I think. Get our first win of the summer under our belt. But in terms of being Bazesque, yeah, I don’t think there’s going to be many people who are going to be able to do what he did in his last match.”If there was one thing that Taylor did want from his final Test, it was to do well for his friends and family. “They’ve been a big part of my career today,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of the young kids that are in the side and I’ve been fortunate now that my kids are a bit older that they’ve been able to see me play, watch Dad go through the ups and downs and they’ve experienced a lot of things that I’m sure if it wasn’t for cricket they wouldn’t have been able to see. So yeah, it’s cool to have them here and hopefully we can turn up and play cool.”And will he miss the grind? “Oh 100%. But there’s aspects that I won’t miss as well,” Taylor said. “But, you know, all good things have to come to an end. I’m just looking forward to this Test match, then hopefully a few more one-dayers, and then on to the next chapter.”

Australia’s assistant coach said Labuschagne reached a level he had never seen before

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Apr-202025:46

‘IPL is No. 1 when it comes to quality of cricket’

The rise of Marnus Labuschagne into the prolific Test No. 3 who dominated the Australian home summer even surprised some who had seen him close at hand.In five Tests against Pakistan and New Zealand, Labuschagne scored 896 runs at 112.00 with four centuries including a maiden double at the SCG. It followed his dramatic return to the Test side during the Ashes as Steven Smith’s concussion replacement at Lord’s and two matches later he was handed the No. 3 spot which he has now made his own.Andrew McDonald watched Labuschagne’s monumental season at close quarters having been appointed as Justin Langer’s assistant coach at the start of the summer. Though he had studied Labuschagne during his time as Victoria’s head coach, McDonald admitted the player who emerged was beyond what could have been imagined.”The real surprise for me, and it’s been pretty well documented, was Marnus. His growth into that Test No. 3 position was phenomenal and great to witness,” McDonald told ESPNcricinfo’s One-on-One series. “I’ve done a fair bit of coaching against him at the state level and had never seen the level he has been able to play at and long may it be the case.”Labuschagne also had his first taste of ODI cricket earlier this year when he made his debut in India on the tour where McDonald stood in for Langer as head coach. Across seven ODIs, Labuschagne is already averaging 50.83 with a strike rate of 94.42 and made a maiden century against South Africa in Potchefstroom.Marnus Labuschagne celebrates his double-hundred•Getty Images

“He was good in the 50-over game batting in the middle order, him and Steve Smith, he’s a very good player of spin,” McDonald said. “So going forward to a World Cup in 2023 think he’ll be a part of that one-day team with a view to being on the big stage in 2023 assuming all goes well. His ability to play spin, fast bowling, rotate [strike], he’s a good fielder, so there’s a handy package there. A good find for the selectors who persisted with him – no one saw that, so full credit to those who picked him.”Australia’s ODI form during the 2019-2020 season – mostly away from home with series in India and South Africa – was poor as they suffered five defeats in a row before returning to winning ways against New Zealand at an empty SCG, in what became the final match of the Australian season as the coronavirus pandemic shut sport down.However, their T20I cricket was much more impressive as they comfortably defeated Sri Lanka and Pakistan early in the home summer before clinching a 2-1 victory in South Africa. The notable tactical shift at the start of the season was to play five frontline bowlers with left-arm spinner Ashton Agar at No. 7, putting the onus on specialists rather than allrounders, before Mitchell Marsh was recalled for the series in South Africa.McDonald suggested a flexible approach will continue as Australia look to build their T20 side – although the T20 World Cup in October is now in doubt due to the pandemic – and that the return of Glenn Maxwell to the top order would further bolster the options.”We’ve seen Australia play five out and out bowlers – two spinners and three quicks – and finish their batting at No. 6 with Agar at No. 7. In that combination you have five strong bowling options, so your all-round option in the top six isn’t that critical. Whereas if you flip it around and want to lengthen your batting slightly then clearly your allrounder becomes pivotal.”We’ve seen Mitch Marsh come back into the fold, so he looks as though he has a little handle on that position at the moment and there are some other options in Australian cricket as well. Glenn Maxwell is missing as well so he could be classified as a spin allrounder.”

The South Africa captain heaped praise on Kusal Perera, saying he was “just too good” for them

Liam Brickhill16-Feb-20194:50

‘We didn’t lose because of any mistakes we made’ – du Plessis

His team ended up on the losing side in one of the most dramatic finishes in recent memory, but after South Africa’s one-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka in the first Test at Kingsmead, captain Faf du Plessis insisted: “This is what Test cricket should be.”ALSO READ: Five great knocks in one-wicket wins“It should show people, whether it’s three or four or five days, that it is still the number one format if you see games of cricket like this,” du Plessis said. “It’s incredible the amount of times the game goes to the opposition and then comes to you and goes back. It’s always that to and fro. It’s great to be part of an amazing Test match.”South Africa have won just one Test match in Durban in the last 10 years and after their unlikely one-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka in the first Test, du Plessis also admitted: “We’ve got a terrible record here.”Du Plessis suggested that conditions might have a lot to do with that, and a pitch he described as “a piece of pudding” arguably benefited Sri Lanka more than it did the home side, offering sideways movement for most of the bowlers but precious little in the way of pace off the pitch.”The last conditions you want to play Sri Lanka on would be something like that,” he said. “It was a very slow wicket and perfectly set up for them to start their tour in South Africa. The spinner took a five-for, there were slow conditions, Duanne [Olivier] wasn’t as effective because the ball was stopping on a slow pitch.”But we still have to be a team that is adaptable and good enough to beat a team like Sri Lanka in our home conditions, even if we’re playing on a piece of pudding. We can’t point any fingers. We’ll look at the areas where we need to improve, and that’s more with the bat for me.”Du Plessis said that his team, having grown accustomed to gritting out runs on “more difficult surfaces” at home over the last two years, should have sensed an opportunity to build bigger innings in this match, but South Africa managed totals of only 235 and 259, with du Plessis top-scoring with his second-innings 90.”I’m disappointed with the runs that we scored in both innings and I think we were under par with both innings,” he said. “We’ve played on more difficult surfaces for the last two years and scored more runs so I thought there was an opportunity there. That’s more a controllable in this game where we could have been better.”Vishwa Fernando traps Faf du Plessis lbw•AFP

Their inadequacies with the bat aside, du Plessis was also at pains to emphasise the quality he saw in Kusal Perera’s innings. Perera shared a couple of match-defining stands, and none more so than the 78 runs he shared with No. 11 Vishwa Fernando. Du Plessis admitted that as the match drew to its thrilling conclusion, South Africa “tried everything and he was just too good for us.””I was out there thinking: try all the different tactics, try the spinner, try the seamers, try bringing the field up, try keeping the field out.
“He just manoeuvred beautifully with the whole tail and managed to get the strike. He probably faced 90% of the balls when you as the opposition are trying to bowl as many balls as you can at the No 11. When we got the chance to bowl at the No 11 he didn’t nick it. A few passed the edge. It’s very disappointing sitting here but I have to applaud him for a magnificent batting performance.”Du Plessis brushed off suggestions that his team had folded under pressure, highlighting the moments of luck that both Perera and Vishwa – who played and missed at umpteen deliveries – had during their stand.”I’m trying to think what we as a team could have possibly done better, but an innings like that is one that will be spoken about for years to come. He took the game on and similar to what Quinton [de Kock] does when he comes in towards the end, he takes a lot of risks. Some days it pays off and some days it doesn’t. To consistently hit the bowlers that we have over the fielders for six … all the risks paid off.”His consistency in taking risks and weighing up risks, when to do it, was incredible. To hit Kesh [Maharaj] over that long boundary in the middle of an over, he took a lot of risks. And it paid off. He deserves all the credit. We must focus on how good that innings was.”You’re bowling to one player the whole time and some days you just have to say ‘well played’. It wasn’t through our mistakes. It’s not like we dropped catches when the game was on the line. It was purely a super-human effort with the bat and when that happens in Test, T20 or ODI cricket then that’s got nothing to do with us and pressure. It’s got to do with how someone else plays.”

Pat Cummins, who suffered an injury similar to the one Mitchell Starc is carrying, says the nature of the bruised heel makes it a difficult one for the team management and medical staff to assess

Daniel Brettig23-Dec-2017Australia’s spearhead Mitchell Starc has no chance of playing the Boxing Day Test if the example raised by his fellow fast bowler Pat Cummins is any indication. Starc has a bruised heel on his right foot, the same injury Cummins suffered during his November 2011 Test debut and which then dogged him throughout the following summer – he did not play again for Australia until mid-2012.While Cummins was then a teenager and Starc is far more seasoned, the niggardly nature of the injury makes it a complicated one for Australia’s medical staff and selectors to assess. As Cummins described, it is a problem that requires rest, and with a four-Test tour of South Africa looming in February, there is little room for recovery should the injury be aggravated in either of the two remaining dead Ashes Tests, however much Starc may want to play.”I think that’s certainly part of the thinking of the selectors, the skipper and everyone around him,” Cummins said in Melbourne. “I know for him he just wants to play every game that’s in front of him but it’s a funny kind of injury. It’s not super common but if it’s not treated well it can drag on for a long time, a bruise where you have to walk all day and bowl on.”I chatted to him about it, I had a similar one on my Test debut and it’s one of those ones there’s no way around. You can’t strap it differently, you can’t try to bowl off the other foot, it’s hard to hide from, so it’s just trying to get it early enough and not really damage it. He knows all that, the staff know all that and I’m sure they’ll work it out.”He’s doing everything he can to get right, he’s been on crutches the last few days to try to take some weight off the heel. But hasn’t tried to bowl yet or anything, we’ve just got down to Melbourne so I think the next couple days they’ll assess that. He’s absolutely itching to get out there and play, but got to make sure he’s right.”With Starc highly unlikely to play, the breach is set to be filled by the Tasmanian seamer Jackson Bird, who has spent most of the year in reserve after playing the most recent of his eight Test matches in the 2016 Boxing Day fixture against Pakistan. Bird is less a fast bowler than a seam and swing merchant, but he knows how to bowl on the MCG’s drop-in pitch, having excelled there on his debut against Sri Lanka in 2012 and also having performed well at the ground for Tasmania.”The wicket is pretty flat, the drop-in wicket,” Bird said. “Whatever length you try and bowl, you have to really bowl the ball into the wicket. Hit the wicket as hard as you can – there usually is a bit of movement on the first day or two. I find whatever length you bowl you really have to hit the wicket. Then in the second dig it usually goes reverse swing, you just have to find the right length that’s going to hit the top of the stumps and try and stand the seam up, hit the wicket hard to get the most out of it.”Mitch has still got a couple of days of training to recover, or try to recover, hopefully for Mitch’s sake his heel isn’t too serious and he
does get up but in saying that, it’d be unbelievable to play an Ashes Test on Boxing Day. Either way, I’ll be ready and preparing as I normally would for any Test match.”In the first two Tests I left early and went and played Shield cricket for Tassie [Tasmania], so I got a fair few overs under my belt and felt like the ball came out really nicely in those couple of weeks I was away. I had a week in the Perth nets working on a few different things with Sakesy [David Saker, assistant coach]. I haven’t played a Test match since this game last year, so I’ve been ready to go for 12 months basically. If I get the opportunity, I’m really looking forward to it.”Bird said his year as a drinks waiter had been frustrating, albeit mitigated by the quality of the pace bowlers ahead of him in the queue.
“It’s a little bit frustrating to not get an opportunity but I’m completely realistic in where I sit behind the fast bowlers ahead of me,” Bird said. “They’re all world-class fast bowlers, I’m under no illusions where I sit.”I’ve just got to prepare as if I’m going to play. I just need to be ready to go if any of those guys don’t come up. That’s the spot I’m in at the moment. I’m not complaining, I’m in a better spot than some blokes are. So I can’t complain too much, it’s great to be around the Australian team, especially in the Ashes.”You can only have 11 players in the team and when we’ve got such good fast bowlers around at the moment, someone’s got to miss out. It’s just been me for the past 12 months and the conditions we’ve played in haven’t helped my cause – a lot of those Tests were in the subcontinent. It is frustrating missing out – and some of the circumstances of the last 12 months made it a little bit more frustrating, but that’s the way it goes. Sometimes you’ve got to cop it on the chin and can’t complain too much about it.”The wicketkeeper Tim Paine is expected to join the squad in Melbourne on Sunday after spending some extra time at home with his family after his father-in-law suffered a stroke. “Tim’s one of the most mentally strong players I’ve ever played with,” Bird said. “He’s shown that the last couple of weeks, to get back into the Test team and perform how he has after such a long period out with career-threatening injuries when he thought he might not get back. If there’s anybody who can compartmentalise that, I think it’s him.”

A round-up of the 2016-17 Sunfoil Series matches that ended on November 6, 2016

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Nov-2016Right-arm pacer Anrich Nortje’s career-best match haul of 9 for 98 helped Warriors pick up their second win of the season in their 2016-17 Sunfoil Series match against Knights in Port Elizabeth. Nortje bagged a career-best 6 for 44 in the first innings to rout Knights for 179 and give Warriors a 160-run first-innings lead. He then took three more in the final innings, and, along with new-ball partner Basheeru-Deen Walters, bowled Warriors to a 107-run win at St George’s Park.Warriors, after being put in, scored 339, courtesy identical scores of 71 from Colin Ackermann and Lesiba Ngoepe, as well as solid contributions from the rest of the order. Pacers Marchant de Lange and Shadley van Schalkwyk inflicted all of the damage, with de Lange removing the top-three and the latter accounting for the bottom-seven to finish with 7 for 82 – his best figures.Nortje then sent back Luthando Mnyanda and Theunis de Bruyn, the Knights captain, for low scores, but half-centuries from Michael Erlank and David Miller drove Knights to 126 for 2. From there, they fell away, losing their last six wickets for just 19 runs.Duanne Olivier’s five-wicket haul kept Warriors to 236 in their second innings, where they were lifted by a 70 from Lesiba Ngoepe at No. 7. Knights were set 397 and their captain de Bruyn fought hard with a century, but found little support as his team was bowled out for 289.A run glut between Dolphins and Cape Cobras was drawn at Boland Park. Cobras captain Justin Ontong’s double-century stole the show and pulled his team out of serious trouble; Cobras were reeling at 22 for 4 in reply to Dolphins’ 478 when Ontong rescued them through a 202-run fifth-wicket partnership with Keegan Petersen, the wicketkeeper, who contributed 86. Ontong added a further 60 with Dayyaan Galiem for the seventh wicket, and 144 for the eighth with No. 9 Dane Piedt (61). The stand ended with Ontong’s dismissal for 225 – a knock that contained 24 fours – but despite his career-best effort, Cobras were bowled out for 447 and conceded a lead of 31.When Dolphins batted, they lost wickets in a cluster on either side of an 83-run third-wicket stand between Divan van Wyk (38) and Vaughn van Jaarsveld (56). At 115 for 5, Khaya Zondo, who top scored with 157, and Morne van Wyk (79), the captain and wicketkeeper, came together for a 201-run stand. Dolphins were further boosted by contributions from the tail, led by Robbie Frylinck’s 58 at No. 9. Dane Paterson took 5 for 79.Zondo followed up his first-innings century with an unbeaten 57 in the second. Daryn Smit struck 82 off just 113 balls and put on 64 for the third wicket with van Jaarsveld (30). Van Wyk, unbeaten on 19, was giving Zondo company, having taken Dolphins to 207 for 4 when stumps were drawn on the final day.Titans captain Henry Davids’ unbeaten 150 gave them a 225-run first-innings lead over Lions in their drawn encounter at Senwes Park in Potchefstroom.When Davids walked out, a solid platform had already been laid by the Titans openers, Heino Kuhn (71) and Aiden Markram (53). Davids then built on it to take Titans from 130 for 2 to 431 for 6 declared. Davids was supported well by No. 8 David Wiese, who struck an unbeaten 71 and helped add 147 unbeaten runs for the seventh wicket.That, after Lions had been cleaned up for 206 after deciding to bat first. Right-arm medium pacer Malusi Siboto took 7 for 48 to direct the destruction. Lions were helped by contributions from the middle order, with Yaseen Valli (40), Dwaine Pretorius (72) and Mangaliso Mosehle (41) scoring 153 runs between them between Nos. 5 and 7.Lions put up a much-improved performance in their second innings. Reeza Hendricks (49) and Rassie van der Dussen (76 not out) stitched together 109 for the opening wicket. Nicky van den Bergh, unbeaten on 41, was giving van der Dussen company when play ended with Lions on 187 for 2.Titans are the current table-toppers with two wins from five matches.

Hampshire have preserved their Division One status on the final day of the season after defeating Nottinghamshire by eight wickets at Trent Bridge

ECB/PA24-Sep-2015
ScorecardMichael Carberry saw Hampshire home and kept their Division One hopes alive•Getty Images

Hampshire have preserved their Division One status on the final day of the season after defeating Nottinghamshire by eight wickets at Trent Bridge. They secured the victory needed to keep their hopes alive after chasing down a victory target of 200, and their perseverance was rewarded shortly after 3pm, when news filtered through from Headingley that Sussex had succumbed to the county champions, Yorkshire, by 100 runs.”I’m so happy right now. I don’t know what it feels like lifting a cup, but this probably feels just as good, if not better,” said Fidel Edwards, Hampshire’s former West Indies fast bowler whose match haul of 10 for 145 was instrumental in the victory.”To come here and win was a great effort where we showed our class,” Edwards told BBC Radio Solent. “It’s a great feeling to be staying Division One. It’s been a good team effort and we’re really happy right now. Come next year, it’s going to be hard to beat us.””We’ve played some really good cricket in the last few weeks,” said James Vince, Hampshire’s captain. “I think we’ve got the balance of our side right, and that will stand us in good stead for next season. Fidel Edwards has been outstanding. On a flat pitch like this one having someone like him who can get wickets makes a big difference.”Openers Jimmy Adams and Michael Carberry had laid the foundation for the win by putting on 89 together on the third evening and after a watchful half hour they took their stand into three figures. Adams moved to his 50 from 81 deliveries and Carberry followed shortly afterwards, running Stuart Broad for back-to-back boundaries to the vacant third man area to reach the milestone.The opening stand reached 129, at which point Jake Ball struck with two wickets in as many deliveries. Adams chopped on to his stumps after making 70 and then Lions captain James Vince was cleaned up first ball by his fellow squad member.Carberry’s half-century had arrived in 110 deliveries and he made sure there was no way back into the contest for the hosts as he unleashed a flurry of shots, before scampering a single to mid-on to clinch the contest.Carberry closed on 84 not out and Will Smith was unbeaten on 34 at the end. Nottinghamshire’s defeat, their first loss in eight matches, confirmed their third place finish in the table.

Pakistan’s raw attack dealt with the loss of Umar Gul and Junaid Khan well till tea, before fading in the final session

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran22-Feb-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Rahat Ali picked up three wickets, including the big one of Hashim Amla•Associated Press

Before the start of the Test Pakistan received the unpleasant news that two of their main bowlers won’t be available – Umar Gul out due to a sore throat and Junaid Khan still recovering from the injury that kept him out of the Newlands Test – leaving their pace attack with a total of only two caps coming into the match. South Africa also had an injury-related jolt as Jacques Kallis was forced out with a calf problem he picked up during an optional training session.Two sessions into the game, it was Pakistan who were dealing with the losses better than South Africa, having dismissed five of the home side’s mighty batting line-up. They gave it away in the final session, though, with AB de Villiers marching towards an easy-on-the-eye 16th Test century and South Africa’s lower-order again proving hard to dislodge.Before de Villiers took charge of the innings, it was Hashim Amla who troubled Pakistan. Amla extended the form that made him the world’s No. 1 Test batsman to serve up a stylish 92, and in the company of de Villiers, took South Africa to a position of strength before a double-strike from Rahat Ali lifted Pakistan, and denied Amla another Test hundred.Rahat had also provided the early wicket after Graeme Smith won his third toss in a row and for the third time took the slightly unpopular decision, this time to bat. Rahat began with a wayward over, in which he was caned for a couple of boundaries by Alviro Petersen, bringing back memories of his ineffective Test debut earlier this month in Johannesburg. He made amends in his second over, though, as an incutter had Petersen lbw for 10.The teenager Ehsan Adil, the third fast bowler to debut for Pakistan this series, had an even better start as he struck on the third ball of his Test career, getting Smith to nick a catch to a diving Younis Khan at second slip.South Africa were 38 for 2, and with Kallis missing, they were a batsman light. Pakistan’s raw attack, however, wasn’t consistently threatening and offered plenty of freebies. Amla led the recovery with an innings filled with the whiplash drives and the high-risk strokes that he makes seem routine. He was involved in a couple of substantial partnerships, first with Faf du Plessis and later with de Villiers to keep South Africa motoring along at four an over.The pressure Pakistan had applied through the early wickets quickly dissipated as their bowlers sprayed the ball around, regularly overpitching or providing too much width. There were plenty of boundaries and towards the end of the session, du Plessis took Rahat for three fours in four deliveries as South Africa took 35 runs off the final seven overs before lunch.Saeed Ajmal, Pakistan’s hero in the Newlands Test, was unable to keep the runs down initially, but he exerted more control after lunch. With only two runs coming off the first three overs after the break, du Plessis decided to try throw Adil off his length by skipping down the track but he could only nick the shortish ball through to the keeper.Still, there was no let-up in the scoring as Amla and de Villiers provided a treat of shots. De Villiers was felled by a beamer from Mohammad Irfan, but that didn’t prevent him from playing his usual inventive strokes, including reverse-sweeps and late dabs past slips. He also regularly picked up singles, and with Amla capitalising on the many overpitched, hit-me deliveries on offer, South Africa coasted towards 200.Amla showed how confident he was by skipping down the track and launching Ajmal over mid-on for four to move to 80. There was a lull in his scoring after that and he survived a loud appeal for caught-behind even after Pakistan used the DRS. Soon after, though, he attempted a drive away from his body – usually not advisable, but Amla plays it perfectly often – and feathered to the keeper. Dean Elgar’s dismissal soon after left South Africa at 196 for 5 and with their bowling allrounder Robin Peterson in the middle.Peterson had been pivotal to turning the Newlands Test South Africa’s way with a combative 84, and he again showed his value with the bat, playing sensibly to forge a 52-run stand with de Villiers. What wasn’t sensible was his running between the wickets, and despite a loud call of ‘No,’ from de Villiers he didn’t turn back from an attempted single till it was too late and was beaten by a direct hit from Mohammad Irfan.If Pakistan were looking to wrap the innings up quickly after that, they came up against Vernon Philander, who has hassled them repeatedly with the ball this series, and now frustrated them with the bat. There were no desperate-tailender swings, as he worked his way to an unbeaten 45, highlighted by a couple of imperious pulls for four.Towards the end of the day, there was plenty of interest around whether de Villiers could complete his century before stumps. He needed nine off the final over, and though he played a breathtaking upper cut for four, de Villiers ended unbeaten on 98.It wasn’t all one-way traffic, but yet again South Africa managed to find a way to emerge on top, as they have so often in recent years.