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South Africa's pace depth is simply scary

15th February, 2018
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South Africa's Kagiso Rabada. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
Expert
15th February, 2018
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Australia’s four-Test tour of South Africa kicks off on Thursday with their sole warm-up match. So what lessons for Australia emerged from the Proteas’ recent home series against Test number one team India?

SA’s pace bowling depth is even better than Australia’s
As if the quartet of Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, Morne Morkel and Kagiso Rabada wasn’t frightening enough, the Proteas unearthed a new potential spearhead against India, in Lungi Ngidi.

The 21-year-old made his Test debut having played only a paltry nine first-class matches, yet had an immediate impact, taking 6-39 in the second innings to lead his side to a 135-run win.

Ngidi was the quickest bowler in that Test, consistently operating above 140kmh and pushing the speed gun as high as 150kmh. The powerfully-built youngster is not just sharp, he also earns disconcerting lift thanks to his 193cm frame.

He was particularly impressive with the old ball, earning reverse swing on occasions, and getting it to leap off the surface even when it had gone soft.

Ngidi looks like the kind of quick who batsmen can never relax against because of his ability to produce the unexpected.

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SA’s middle-to-lower order is a weakness
With all-time greats AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla, skipper Faf du Plessis, and in-form openers Dean Elgar and Aiden Markram in the home side’s top five, it will be hard yakka for the Australian bowlers to break through.

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But once they do, the game could really open up.

The Proteas may well play five bowlers, just as they did in all three Tests against India, which leaves them with a seriously out-of-form Quentin de Kock at six, followed by the tail.

The Aussies have seen the best of De Kock, who was superb on their last tour Down Under, making 281 runs at 56. But that De Kock was almost unrecognisable to the version who floundered against India.

In the young keeper-batsman’s last eight Tests, he has averaged just 14 with the bat and appears to have lost sense of his off stump, regularly poking at deliveries which could be left alone.

Once the tourists get past him they could encounter five bowlers and, as they showed during the Ashes, Australia’s intimidating quicks are adept at scything through tails.

Which only makes their battle with the top five all the more pivotal.

South Africa's Quinton de Kock

South Africa’s Quinton de Kock. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

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Philander is the biggest bowling threat
South Africa have may have four genuinely fast and intimidating Test quicks – Steyn, Rabada, Morkel and Ngidi – yet it is the comparatively innocuous-looking Philander Australia should be most concerned about.

With the prospect of juicy pitches, Philander may well his side’s most important bowler. As we saw in the last Ashes in England, and in Hobart in 2016, on green pitches, precision always trumps pace.

No bowler in world cricket lands more deliveries in testing areas than Philander. That’s why he can terrorise batting line-ups despite bowling at a gentle pace and being just 176cm tall.

Philander took 15 wickets at 15 in the three Tests against India, taking his home record in Tests to an astonishing 113 wickets at 18.

He is a nightmare match-up for rookie Test opener Cameron Bancroft, who has a major weakness in his defence against pitched-up, straight deliveries.

South Africa's Vernon Philander tall

South Africa’s Vernon Philander. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Keshav Maharaj is not on the same level as Nathan Lyon
South Africa’s left-arm spinner has made a very impressive start to his Test career, taking 57 wickets at 27 from his 16 matches. Those are elite statistics over a 16-match period for a veteran, let alone a rookie.

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Yet those numbers flatter Maharaj. He is a solid spinner, no doubt, but remains a class below Australia’s Lyon.

Playing against India is arguably the biggest challenge for any modern Test spinner and, while Lyon excelled on the subcontinent last year, Maharaj flopped against them at home.

During Australia’s four Tests in India, Lyon matched the performance of the world’s number one ranked Test off-spinner Ravi Ashwin. Maharaj, meanwhile, in two Tests against India took 1-125 and going at 3.5 runs per over. Compare that to Ashwin, who took seven wickets at 30 and gave up only 2.8 runs per over.

Whereas the Indian batsmen frequently were beaten in the flight by Lyon last year, they had no such troubles reading the length of Maharaj.

If the pitches are as moist as the ones India received, Maharaj is unlikely to have an impact.

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