“It requires a lot of patience, especially as the ball gets older and softer. The wicket gets a little quieter but, to be honest, we went searching a bit,” Maharaj said in the post-play press conference. . . “Hopefully tomorrow we will get back to old Test cricket like we did in that period when we had those seven wickets in the morning.”
Maharaj was reflecting on the third day’s game, where South Africa forced a Sri Lankan collapse of 7 for 67 to take a 30-run lead in the first innings. Marco Jansen then got a good bounce and Dane Paterson bowled an excellent, accurate spell where he found late movement with the second new ball. This time, South Africa will have to wait 28 more overs before the second new ball arrives and they will have to apply their disciplines for longer, especially against batsmen who are prepared.
The partnership between Kusal and Dhanajaya has grown to 83, each with 39 not out. While their increasing ease at the crease may be causing some concern, South Africa know they are essentially one step off the back and if they get there the rest could fall apart. “Traditionally, wickets happen in clusters. There can be a period where the game goes nowhere and then suddenly a wicket is needed to basically be the catalyst,” Maharaj said. “It’s about being patient and hopefully reaping the rewards of hard work tomorrow morning.”
South Africa have already received two lessons in patience: the one in which Sri Lanka scored 242 for 3 overnight and then finished with 328 on the third day and the other on the fourth day. Sri Lanka looked comfortable at 117 for 3, with a partnership between Angelo Mathews and Kamindu Mendis standing at 53, when Maharaj played an important double knock. He removed Mathews and then Kamindu in successive overs and launched a plan that worked.
With Mathews, South Africa wanted to “encourage a shot” because they believed they had enough runs on the board for Maharaj to give him extra flight, and Mathews attempted to hit him over midwicket and was bowled. “It was a great wicket. It obviously led to Kamindu’s wicket a couple of overs later.”
Once Mathews was eliminated, South Africa tried something different against Kamindu. “It didn’t seem like he wanted me to stay on the street, so [I thought] Let me go around the wicket and keep it in the box,” Maharaj said. “And it paid off quickly. It paid off from the first ball I tried.”
Kamindu stepped forward while trying to play a delivery that swung towards him towards the leg side and Kyle Verreynne instinctively caught it with one hand. Maharaj pointed to Bavuma in celebration, an acknowledgment of how their assignments were earning them full marks.
At that time, South Africa had Sri Lanka 122 for 5 and could probably sniff out a victory. They tried some things because they felt they had “earned a little bit of the right to go searching, but probably not for as long as we did,” as Maharaj put it. Maharaj operated from his end to the last review of the session and continued to experiment with his lengths as he tried to find another breakthrough. At the other end, South Africa rotated between the seamers and although Kagiso Rabada and Paterson found some movement, Sri Lanka balanced caution with initiative and saw the day.
“We recognize the big picture of everything, but it’s a process. The guys are very comfortable focusing on the now and not the future,” Maharaj said.
Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo’s correspondent for South Africa and women’s cricket
